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Kim Jong Il is the absolute ruler of North Korea (officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea). He acquired this position after the 1994 death of his father Kim Il Sung, the founder of the founder of the current regime. Kim was apparently born in 1941 in the Siberian village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk, on February 16, 1941, where his father was a captain and battalion commander in the Soviet 88th Special Rifle Brigade, which contained Chinese and Korean exiles. His mother, Kim Jong Suk, was Kim Il Sung's first wife, . Kim probably received most of his education in China, where he was sent for safety during the Korean War. His official biography says that he attended Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, where he majored in Political Economy and graduated in 1964. According to numerous sources, Kim enjoys a life of extreme luxury, including the finest imported foods, an extensive movie collection and immediate access to the most beautiful women in the country. This luxury occurs against the background of the lack of freedom, suppression of news from the outside world, and extreme poverty that characterizes North Korea, including severe malnutrition in much of the country and possibly hundreds of thousands of deaths from starvation. Despite his great power and wealth, or perhaps because of it, Kim has serious health problems, according to some reports. He is obviously severely obese and is said to be a heavy and frequent drinker. He is also said to have diabetes, liver and kidney problems. As there is no clear line of succession, his debilitation or passing could result in considerable turmoil in North Korea and possibly beyond. Created October 23, 2006. |