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PROFILE: KIM JONGILKim Jongil is the eldest son of Kim Ilsung and his first wife, Kim Jongsuk. The North Korean government claims that Kim Jongil was born on Mount Paektu, a fabled peak on its border with China, and that his birth was announced by birds, a double rainbow and the birth of a new star. In reality, Kim Jongil was born on February 16, 1942 in Khabarovsk, Soviet Union, 30 miles from the Chinese border and near North Korea while his father was in the Red Army, without birds, rainbows or a new star. His family moved to Pyongyang in 1945 when Second World War ended, and with it the Japanese occupation of Korea. When Kim Jongil was 7 years old, his mother died during childbirth. The following year, Kim Ilsung sent him to China just before invading South Korea. The boy returned to Pyongyang as an 11 year old when the war ended in 1953. Kim Jongil graduated from university in 1964 and began to be groomed for political succession. Four years later, he was made a member of North Korea's Politburo, and in 1974, Kim Ilsung officially designated his 32-year old son as his successor. Fifteen years later in 1991, the 47 year old was given control of the North Korean army, effectively making him the country's leader. When his father died three years later in 1994, Kim Jongil made him the country's 'Eternal President' on whose behalf he would rule. Kim Jongil has had one wife, Kim Youngsuk, at least three mistresses, and at least four children by his wife and first two mistresses. His oldest son is Kim Jongnam, born in 1971 to his first mistress. Kim Jongil owns 17 luxury palaces, 20,000 movies, 10,000 bottles of fine wine, and is the single largest customer of Hennessey Cognac in the world. Meanwhile, the vast majority of his people live in poverty. The World Food Programme annually needs to feed 6 to 8 million North Koreans. |