The online version of the Chinese state newspaper and government mouthpiece appears to have been fooled by the American satirical website, The Onion—“America’s Finest News Source”.

The People's Daily Online has taken one story by The Onion seriously, which declared that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is “Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.”

It ran a 55-page photo spread of Kim on Tuesday and cited satirical comments describing Kim's "air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side," his "impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and that famous smile."

"With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-born heart-throb is every woman's dream come true," the website quoted The Onion as saying.

The People’s Daily took the story down on Wednesday.

CNN said China has been fooled by the "mysterious Western art of satire," as one Twitter user wrote on Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, The Onion said: "please visit our friends at the People's Daily in China, a proud Communist subsidiary of The Onion, Inc. Exemplary reportage, comrades."

Chinese netizens mocked People’s Daily Online and felt embarrassed.

Lao Rong, a user from Sina Weibo, China’s biggest microblogging site, said, “So People's Daily took it seriously? I thought it has joined the “Mocking North Korea And Kim Jong-un” group when I first read this story on its website!”

The article named previous winners of The Onion’s sexiest man award including Bashar al-Assad, “Unibomber” Ted Kaczynski, and fictional Onion publisher T. Herman Zweibel.