Understanding North Korea's Leader

July 5, 2006 — -- While the world reacts to North Korea for testing seven missiles in the past two days, public opinion polls within the nation regarding that country's leader, Kim Jong Il, are unlikely to change. After all, the people of the communist country are not allowed to express opinions publicly or have access to any outside information.

The Asian nation's self-proclaimed "dear leader" has isolated his country unlike any other dictator in recent history.

"He is more like the leader of a cult than he is the leader of a country," said Ambassador Wendy Sherman of the Albright Institute. "Most people in North Korea believe that all good things come from the 'dear leader' as they came from the great leader, Kim Il Sung, his father."

As a master propagandist, he helped turn his father from a president into a deity. When the elder Kim died, the son took over as a demi-god.

Since then, every event -- from military parades to children's dance recitals -- is designed to glorify the man in charge.

Life in a Pleasure Palace

While access to foreign media is strictly forbidden to the people of North Korea, Kim is a satellite television junkie with a home video library of 20,000 films.

And while at least 2 million North Koreans have starved to death under his reign, he has spent roughly $750,000 a year on cognac.

"He lives in a seven-story pleasure palace," said Jerrold Post, a professor of political psychology at George Washington University.

Post prepared a psychological profile of Kim for the U.S. government and calls him a "malignant narcissist."

"He has every grain of rice he is going to eat hand inspected and any that are chipped will be discarded," Post said. "He has no conscience that we've been able to identify, and will use whatever aggression he can to accomplish his goals. That's a very dangerous combination."

But beyond his bouffant hairdo and platform shoes, those who've met the leader call him anything but mad. Instead, they call him a shrewd, calculating leader who is determined to stay in power.

"He's crazy like a fox," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. "He's unpredictable, he's reckless. But you have to take him seriously."