10 Interesting Facts about Kim Jong Il

These following facts about Kim Jong Il should better make you more admired him. As you know, Kim Jong Il was the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or commonly called North Korea, from 1994 to 2011. He succeeded his father and founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, following the elder Kim’s death in 1994. Kim Jong Il was also the General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world. To get to know more about him, here are the other facts about Kim Jong Il you may consider interesting.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 1: Divine Birth

Kim Jong Il inherited cult following from his father, the founder of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, His official biography stated that his birth, in a secret military camp on Baekdu Mountain in Japan-occupied Korea on Feb. 16, 1942, was prophesied by a swallow and heralded by a double rainbow over the mountain and a new star in the sky. But according to Soviet records, he was born in the village of Vyatskoye, Soviet Union, in 1941.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 2: Fear of Flying

Dead in train, Kim Jong Il also inherited his fear of flying from his father and always traveled in armored private trains. His death, according to the North Korean television, occurred during a rail journey to a region outside North Korean capital Pyongyang.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 3: Kim Shu Ra’s Drowning

When Kim Jong-il was five years old, his younger brother Kim Shu-ra drowned in the family’s swimming pool in a mansion in Pyongyang. According to unconfirmed Soviet reports, Jong-il caused the accident.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 4: Weather Controlling Myth

Kim spread the myth among citizens that he had magical power to control the weather depending on his mood.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 5: Movie Buff

Kim owned a vast collection of more than 20,000 videotapes and DVDs and was particularly fond of movies starring Elizabeth Taylor. His other movie favorites included the Friday the 13th, Rambo and Godzilla movies and Hong Kong action cinema.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 6: Kidnapping Film Director

In a bizarre act stemming from his love for cinema, Kim ordered the kidnapping of South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee in 1978 to build the North Korean film industry.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 7: Favorite Foods

Even though Kim refused to consume foreign food and drinks publicly, his former chef, the Japanese Kenji Fujimoto, reported in 2004 being sent to foreign nations in search of delicacies for the leader. Kim developed a liking for fine wines from France, roasted donkey meat and freshly cooked lobsters. He reportedly imported $700,000 worth of Hennessy cognac per year.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 8: Personality Disorders

A personality evaluation report of Kim Jong-il, compiled by Frederick L. Coolidge and Daniel L. Segal, suggested that the big six group of personality disorders — sadistic, paranoid, antisocial, narcissistic, schizoid and schizotypal — shared by dictators Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein — were dominant in the North Korean leader.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 9: No Motherland Without You

The song, No Motherland Without You, proclaiming the dictator’s wisdom and virtues, was written in 1992 upon his orders. The song containing the phrase, “We cannot exist without you, Comrade Kim Jong-il! The motherland cannot exist without you!” was frequently broadcast through radio and loudspeakers in Pyongyang.

Facts about Kim Jong Il 10: Internet Expert

Kim considered himself an Internet expert, even though North Korean citizens were banned from using mobile phones or the Internet. “I’m an Internet expert too. It’s all right to wire the industrial zone only, but there are many problems if other regions of the North are wired,” he said during summit talks with South Korea’s president in 2007.

Those following facts about Kim Jong Il would probably open your mind up about how Kim Jong Il was. His life and his leadership were sometimes controversial, but he did really great to North Korea. Hope you would find these Kim Jong Il facts interesting and useful.