Dictator of the Month:
July, 2005Dictator of the Month:
July, 2005
| Kim
Jong Il
Take me to the picture gallery Fact Sheet Name: Kim Jong Il
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Biography
Kim Jong Il's Earlier Life The birthplace and date of Kim Jong-Il are uncertain, some sources quote his birth to have been in a log cabin on Mount Paekdu on 16 February, 1942; other sources name his birthplace to father Kim Il-Sung and mother Kim Chong-suk on 16 February 1941 in Viatskoe near Khabarovsk, Siberia, in the then Soviet Union. His birthname was Yuri Irsenowich Kim, and in his childhood his nickname was Yura. Kim commenced his primary education in 1948, but was sent to China for his education during the Korean War for the sake of safety. He was also schooled at the Namsan School in Pyongyang, which typically caters to elite communist party members, and other revolutionaries. He graduated from Kim Il Sung University (named after his father) in 1964, majoring in political economy. It is thought the he had also studied in East Germany for a time to attempt to become a pilot, but this stint was short-lived. Ascent to Power After his graduation in 1964, Kim worked in the Organisation and Guidence Department of the Communist Party until he became a member of the politburo in 1968. In 1969 he was promoted to Deputy Director of the Ideological and Propaganda Department. Through the early to mid 1970's Kim's influence in the Communist party increased with guidance from his father; at the Sixth Party Congress in October 1980 he was elected to first secretary of the Central Committee as well as to other high ranking functions, and he became the head of the Communist Party. By February 1982 it was obvious that Kim Jong Il would succeed his father as head of state. In 1991 Kim Jong Il was appointed to the role of commander of the armed forces. One year later, Kim Il-Sung aka "Dear Leader" made the announcement that Kim Jong Il was the responsible for internal matters. On 08 July 1994, Kim Il Sung or "Great Leader" died, creating the opportunity for Kim Jong Il to become head of state; after the official mourning period of three years for his father was finished, Kim Jong Il took control of the government on 08 October 1997. Kim Jong Il's Regime Economics North Korea has never been a strong country economically, and through the 1980's the situation worsened slowly until 1989 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. After this event, Communist Soviet backing of North Korea was discontinued, leaving North Korea to fend for itself. Since Kim Jong Il took control of the North Korea as head of state, conditions in the country have considerably worsened; in all fairness, although some of the economic collapse can be attributable to Kim Jong Il's rule, certain factors well outside his control also contributed to the horrible conditions in the country, such as flooding and other natural disasters. Moreover, the government had attempted some rash and short-sighted measures to stimulate the economy, such as felling large numbers of trees, which caused widespread flooding due to topsoil erosion. Also the country's diplomatic isolation has left it basically bereft of strong allies, with which it can attempt to modernize and import more agricultural efficiency. During 1995 and 1996 floods wiped out more than 16% or North Korea's arable land, which proved ruinous for the already starving North Korean population ; widespread famine broke out, killing an estimated 2 million North Koreans. To add to the woes, severe draughts in the west coast of North Korea in 1997 and 2000 increased hardships for the already troubled population. Not surprisingly, this has led to extreme corruption and bribery at all levels of the government; however it is reported that Kim Jong Il himself personally hates graft, and has not been directly implicated to any bribe-taking. Human Rights Abuses and "Freedoms" Kim Jong Il has North Korea under very tight control, and international human rights groups attack the government for engaging in public executions, torture, slavery, forced abortions, and the establishment of concentration camps. Reports allege more than 200,000 political prisoners are currently being held in North Korea, and numerous allegations from Japanese officials accuse North Korea of kidnapping Japanese citizens to be brought into N. Korea. Mass Media in North Korea is completely controlled by the government, and propaganda is played around the clock by TV and radio stations; listening to foreign broadcasts is strictly prohibited, with stiff penalties for violations. Kim Jong Il is blamed for involvement with the shooting down of KAL flight 858 in 1987, which caused the deaths of 115 civilians. Although Kim Jong Il was not directly linked to the bombing, a North Korean agent did confess to having planted the bomb. Foreign Policy and the Military Tensions with South Korea have raged since the Korean War in the early 1950's. Relations with the United States are extremely poor, and President George W. Bush included North Korea in his famous "Axis of Evil" speech of March 2001, signaling an end to the Clinton Administration's policy of negotiation and appeasement of North Korea. The number one priority of North Korea seems to be developing a strong military, for which a very disproportionate amount of money is spent, relative to the GDP of the country. North Korea has made numerous hostile overtures against Japan and South Korea, using them as a pawn to thwart the USA's attempts to contain Kim Jong Il. Not surprisingly relations with Japan and South Korea have been extremely bad, a legacy that continues from hundreds of years of hatred between the Japanese and Korea. Pyongyang has responded by keeping the world aware of her sovereignty by threatening to develop and test nuclear weapons; in fact in February of 2005 Kim Jong Il officially announced that North Korea does currently possess nuclear weapons. The threat of developing nuclear power had always seemed to be a bargaining chip that North Korea had used to attempt to gain foreign aid prior to this announcement. North Korea has made numerous ballistic missile tests in the Sea of Japan, starting in 1998 and occurring as recently as April 2005. North Korea has also alleged that they have the capability to make missile strikes onto USA territory. Personal Kim Jong Il is a very secretive man, and does not like details of his personal life to become known. Kim is an avid film fan, and reportedly has a collection of over 20,000 movies, including all of the James Bond movies. His favourite drink is Hennessey cognac. He is rumoured to be somewhat of a playboy, having a wine cellar with more than 10,000 bottles and a collection of sports cars. He is also known to be a womanizer, having relationships with an undisclosed number of women before and after his ascent power, and he allegedly has a personal troupe of female strippers for his entertainment. There are numerous accounts of his excessive drinking, but his adopted daughter reports that they she never saw him drunken or out of control. In fact opinions of him vary so greatly that it is difficult to tell what is fact and what is legend. Some describe him as pragmatic and practical, while others accuse him of insanity and excess. He reportedly has a genius IQ and is very creatively and artistically inclined, having personally written no less than 6 operas, and designed at least one major structure. Kim Jong Il does not typically appear publicly; it is thought that this came about partially out of respect for his father during the latter years of his rule when Kim Jong Il was in control of the party, and his father was in control of the state, so the public did not get the impression that Kim Jong Il was in control. He has never spoken at public events . He also does not like to be photographed. Kim is 5'2" and wears 4" platform shoes to disguise his shortness. Original article written by www.dictatorofthemonth.com
in May 2005 Sources: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/kim/etc/cron.html http://www.answers.com/topic/kim-jong-il http://www.asiasource.org/society/kimjongil.cfm http://www.kimsoft.com/1997/namok.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1131421.stm
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