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Kim Jong Un winning Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ reader voting

Gregg Re Editor
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Supreme North Korean dictator and international sex symbol Kim Jong Un is currently leading Time magazine’s online voting for the person who most influenced the news this year “for better or worse” — by more than 1.5 million votes.

Every year, the magazine’s editors select a Person of the Year, but Time also allows readers to vote for their own selections for “most influential person” until Dec. 12. Both will be revealed this month.

According to Time’s website, Un has attracted a whopping 1,970,711 votes in the “definitely” column for the honor. Only 94,710 voters have opposed Un by logging “No way” counter-votes.

The current second-place candidate, Egyptian President and former Muslim Brotherhood head Mohammad Morsi, has 354,741 “definitely” votes in his favor, according to the magazine’s website. 630,121 voters cast “No way” ballots for Morsi.

Morsi has been a newsmaker for transitioning from the Muslim Brotherhood to the presidency of Egypt, but Un has relied heavily on his body to make headlines.

Last week, the satirical newspaper The Onion named Un the “sexiest man alive” in a gushing feature that was reprinted by Chinese state media outlet The People’s Daily — without any hint of irony, but with an added multi-page photo spread of the dear leader. (RELATED: Maybe one country’s dictator is another’s sexy sex symbol)

“With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true,” The Onion wrote. “Blessed with an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side, Kim made this newspaper’s editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and, of course, that famous smile.”Un assumed office as the supreme leader of North Korea in Dec. 2011. He has since instituted sweeping economic reforms but otherwise stayed mostly out of the Western media spotlight. (RELATED: North Korea says it has discovered ancient secret unicorn lair)

Despite Un’s infectious charisma and gloriously impeccable leadership, though, sarcastic Internet forum 4chan appears to be the primary driver of the skewed results.

Last year, Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, won Time’s reader poll for most influential person with 122,958 votes.

But in 2009, 4chan founder Chris Poole won the voting for the honor, beating out more likely candidates like Bernie Madoff and President Barack Obama.

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