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Subject:
Kooky Kim, a profile
Herc the Merc
10/9/2006 2:55:52 PM
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WASHINGTON: The entertainment world may have its "Wacko Jacko" to decipher, but the mystery man of the diplomatic world is "Kooky Kim," Communist North Korea?s leader who gives American officials the creeps.
It's hard to separate fact from fiction (or friction) in what Washington serves up about Kim Jong II. From being a purveyor of pornography to an unstable sociopath, the epithets have flowed thick and fast in the United States about North Korea?s "Dear Leader".
There is controversy even about his date and place of birth. His official biography states that he was born at Mount Paektu in northern Korea on February 16, 1942; that his birth was foretold by a swallow; and that it was heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow over the mountain and a new star in the heavens.
But regional specialists also say Soviet records show he was born in the Siberian village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk, on February 16, 1941 (where his father, Kim Il-sung, served as a commander in the Soviet 88th Special Rifle Brigade, which was made up of Chinese and Korean exiles) and that his date was doctored so he would be 50 at the time of his father's 80th birthday.
What is more certain is that he is a man of short stature, around 5?3 and he wears platform shoes and a bouffant hairstyle to appear taller. Korean TV footage never shows him from below his waist.
He is also said to suffer from fear of flying and on the few visits he has made to China and Russia, he commandeers a special armoured train.
But the most colourful accounts relate to his personal life. One story goes that he has a harem of Korean and European beauties known as the "pleasure squad".
He is also said to be a big drinker with a taste for Hennessy VSOP cognac. He was seen downing 10 glasses of wine during his 2000 summit with the South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.
Although he has said in rare interviews that he seldom watches movies, western accounts credit him with having a library of 20,000 films, including an enormous pornographic collection.
But those who have met him, including some senior U.S officials, have come back with the impression that western caricatures are exaggerated.
Former U.S Secretary of State Madeliene Albright, among those who made a crack about Kim's fondness for pornography, later said he was far from a nut case and was very well informed. |
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