April 30, 2007. Copyright 2007, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Kim Jong-il keeps the world guessing
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, April 30, Graphic News:  The White House had no hesitation in including his domain in its Òaxis of evilÓ, but such mystery surrounds Kim Jong-il that no one knows whether ongoing moves to reach a deal with North KoreaÕs leader could bring a breakthrough or risk a new crisis at a time when Washington is still reeling from its last attempt to bring a dictator to book.

To many in the outside world, Kim is merely a madman with his finger on the button. To his people, however, he remains the lynchpin of the worldÕs only communist dynasty whose quixotic ideology has left its country dangerously isolated and desperately poor. In February he turned 65, and many may be hoping for a mellowing with age.

At any rate, Kim faces a critical juncture in what has been a fairly straightforward career. Pyongyang missed a recent deadline to shut down its main nuclear reactor and allow UN weapons inspectors back in, and although U.S. diplomats expressed optimism that Kim would go along with the international community in exchange for the unfreezing of its assets and much-needed aid, including fuel oil, patience is running out.

Hopes were raised that the moves towards an understanding with the West might even help to lift the veil of secrecy from a leader who has been characterised as vain and remote. While his father Kim Il-Sung was a self-made deity whose death was mourned by millions of North Koreans, Kim reportedly relies more on brute force to ensure his people stay loyal.

According to official records, Kim was born at Mount Paektu in February 1942, and a double rainbow appeared in the sky to mark the glorious event. Other reports say he was born in Siberia a year earlier, when his father was in exile in the area.

It is known that Kim was groomed for succession from an early age. He was made head of the armed forces in 1991, and defectors have claimed that he used the position to sponsor global terrorist activities, including the 1986 bombing of the Korean Airlines jet in which 115 people died.

In 1994 he took over the running of the country after his father died suddenly of a heart attack. Kim inherited from him the Juche ideal of national isolation, an ideology that has translated into economic disaster for his people. In addition to relentless chronic food shortages, North Koreans are now bearing the brunt of UN sanctions imposed after their leader conducted a nuclear missile test in October.

If much in his life was mapped out, reports suggest that Kim has nurtured his own eccentricities, including a passion for movies that led him to order the kidnapping of a famous South Korean film director and his wife in the 1970s to make personalised films. The diminutive leader is also a reputed playboy with a fondness for cognac and fine food.

Dissenters are kept in check by three security forces, and human rights abuses are reportedly widespread.

At 65 Kim may be pondering which of his children will inherit the leadership when he dies, or he may be wondering whether it is indeed possible to sustain his regime. One thing seems certain: as his nemesis George W. Bush might say, it could be very dangerous to Òmis-underestimateÓ him.
/ENDS