Nuclear Bombast
Is North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il ready to trade away his growing nuclear arsenal, or is he just playing for time?
Kim believes his radiance shines beyond the frontiers of North Korea. "Why should I pay visits to large nations when they come to see me in Pyongyang?" he asked South Korean media executives. The pudgy strongman also revealed he has become health conscious. He has cut back on his drinking, and for exercise he swims and rides sturdy Orlov Trotter horses from Russia.
Still, Kim conceded that "my power derives from [the] military." With the officer corps the only conceivable source of a coup, Kim set about placating them with a "military first" policy, funneling precious resources into their coffers. He doles out Mercedes-Benzes, TVs, and fine liquor to loyal officers. It seems to work. Senior generals showed no hint of indignation when told to pour drinks for Albright's entourage. "They were snapping to as though they were privates," says Jack Pritchard, who attended the banquet and was later a special envoy to North Korea. "This is a man of unquestioned authority."
Misstepping. But Kim is not a man of unquestioned judgment. Recent missteps may have hurt his standing inside the military and the party. To curry favor with Japan, he admitted that his agents kidnapped Japanese citizens in the past; the revelation prompted a backlash in Japan, disrupting moves toward rapprochement. He named a Chinese-born tycoon to run a free-trade zone on the North Korea-China border, only to be snubbed when China arrested the man on fraud charges. His diplomats admitted to a clandestine weapons program to enrich uranium, hoping to force direct talks with the United States, but President Bush refused to negotiate without other countries. "All three moves failed," notes Lee Hong Koo, a former prime minister of South Korea. "In North Korea's desperate situation, the only thing remaining in its arsenal is the nuclear threat."
Some analysts detect a streak of insecurity beneath the chatty confidence Kim exudes with visitors. He stands just 5 feet, 3 inches tall, using lifts in his shoes and a bouffant hairdo to raise his stature. "Small as a midget's turd, aren't I?" he asked the kidnapped South Korean actress. She must have replied with great care. Kim, by some accounts, was also stung when Bush consigned him to the "axis of evil" and later added that he loathes Kim for presiding over starvation and political prisons. U.S. officials link Kim to terrorist bombings against the South Korean cabinet and a civilian airliner in the 1980s, and hawks hanker for the fall of his regime, perhaps with a U.S. nudge.
Kim ducked out of sight for 49 days around the time of last spring's war in Iraq, possibly fearing a U.S. pre-emptive strike. "I think he thinks we're going to try to take him out," observes a senior U.S. official. Kim again dropped out of sight from September 9 to October 21. This time, U.S. News has learned, the CIA believes he was battling an illness. Its type and severity are unclear, but he has privately made reference to throat surgery. Back in June, says an official, Kim assembled regime elites to demand they stop speculating about his demise. "I will rule until I'm 80!" he thundered.
Past rumors of sickness have not panned out, and Kim has disappointed U.S. officials before with what one concedes is "remarkable resilience." If he keeps his drinking down and his exercise up, his prediction might prove right.
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