Kim Jong-il: Difference between revisions
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===Personality=== | ===Personality=== | ||
[[File:Kim-jong-il_june2000-summit_p1_05.jpg|thumb|left| | [[File:Kim-jong-il_june2000-summit_p1_05.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Jong-il in June 2000]] | ||
Like his [[Kim Il-sung | Like his father [[Kim Il-sung]], Jong-il had a pteromerhanophobia (fear of flying) and he always traveled by private armored train for state visits to Russia and China. The BBC reported that Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian emissary who traveled with Jong-il across Russia by train, told reporters that Jong-il had live lobsters air-lifted to the train every day. | ||
[[File:Kim_2001.png|thumb|Jong-il in 2001]] | [[File:Kim_2001.png|thumb|Jong-il in 2001]] | ||
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In a 2011 news story, ''The Sun'' reported, "Kim Jong-il was obsessed with Elvis Presley. His mansion was crammed with his idol's records and his collection of 20,000 Hollywood movies included Presley's titles — along with ''Rambo'' and ''Godzilla''. He even copied the King's Vegas-era look of giant shades, jumpsuits and bouffant hairstyle. It was reported in 2003 that Kim Jong-il had a huge porn film collection." | In a 2011 news story, ''The Sun'' reported, "Kim Jong-il was obsessed with Elvis Presley. His mansion was crammed with his idol's records and his collection of 20,000 Hollywood movies included Presley's titles — along with ''Rambo'' and ''Godzilla''. He even copied the King's Vegas-era look of giant shades, jumpsuits and bouffant hairstyle. It was reported in 2003 that Kim Jong-il had a huge porn film collection." | ||
Although Jong-il enjoyed many foreign forms of entertainment, according to former bodyguard Lee Young Kuk, he refused to consume any food or drink not produced in North Korea, with the exception of wine from France. | Although Jong-il enjoyed many foreign forms of entertainment, according to former bodyguard Lee Young Kuk, he refused to consume any food or drink not produced in North Korea, with the exception of wine from France. However, his former chef Kenji Fujimoto has stated that Jong-il sometimes sent him around the world to purchase a variety of foreign delicacies. | ||
Jong-il reportedly enjoyed basketball. Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended her summit with Jong-il by presenting him with a basketball signed by | Jong-il reportedly enjoyed basketball. Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended her summit with Jong-il by presenting him with a basketball signed by Michael Jordan. Also an apparent golfer, North Korean state media reports that Jong-il routinely shot 3 or 4 holes-in-one per round. His official biography also claims that Jong-il composed six operas and enjoys staging elaborate musicals. Jong-il called himself an Internet expert. | ||
United States Special Envoy for the Korean Peace Talks, Charles Kartman, who was involved in the 2000 Madeleine Albright summit with Jong-il, characterized him as a reasonable man in negotiations, to the point, but with a sense of humor and personally attentive to the people he was hosting. However, psychological evaluations conclude that Jong-il's antisocial features, such as his fearlessness in the face of sanctions and punishment, served to make negotiations extraordinarily difficult. | United States Special Envoy for the Korean Peace Talks, Charles Kartman, who was involved in the 2000 Madeleine Albright summit with Jong-il, characterized him as a reasonable man in negotiations, to the point, but with a sense of humor and personally attentive to the people he was hosting. However, psychological evaluations conclude that Jong-il's antisocial features, such as his fearlessness in the face of sanctions and punishment, served to make negotiations extraordinarily difficult. | ||
The field of psychology has long been fascinated with the personality assessment of dictators, a notion that resulted in an extensive personality evaluation of Kim Jong-il. The report, compiled by Frederick L. Coolidge and Daniel L. Segal (with the assistance of a South Korean psychiatrist considered an expert on Jong-il's behavior), concluded that the "big six" group of personality disorders shared by dictators [[Adolf | The field of psychology has long been fascinated with the personality assessment of dictators, a notion that resulted in an extensive personality evaluation of Kim Jong-il. The report, compiled by Frederick L. Coolidge and Daniel L. Segal (with the assistance of a South Korean psychiatrist considered an expert on Jong-il's behavior), concluded that the "big six" group of personality disorders shared by dictators [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], and [[Saddam Hussein]] (sadistic, paranoid, antisocial, narcissistic, schizoid, and schizotypal) were also shared by Jong-il — coinciding primarily with the profile of Hussein. | ||
The evaluation found Jong-il appeared to pride himself on North Korea's independence, despite the extreme hardships it appears to place on the North Korean people — an attribute appearing to emanate from his antisocial personality pattern. This notion also encourages other cognitive issues, such as self-deception, as subsidiary components to Jong-il's personality. | The evaluation found Jong-il appeared to pride himself on North Korea's independence, despite the extreme hardships it appears to place on the North Korean people — an attribute appearing to emanate from his antisocial personality pattern. This notion also encourages other cognitive issues, such as self-deception, as subsidiary components to Jong-il's personality. | ||