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CNN Live At Daybreak
Look at Kim Jong Il
Aired January 15, 2003 - 05:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We now take you inside North Korea for a look at the reclusive leader of the impoverished communist state. How is it that Kim Jong Il can spark a nuclear stand-off and blatantly threaten the United States?
Our David Ensor has some insights for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kim Jong Il, U.S. experts in and out of government say, is one of the strangest leaders on earth. Son of the founder of a Stalinist state, he was groomed from birth for absolute power.
JERROLD POST, FORMER CIA ANALYST: He was told from very early on that he was the son of god.
ENSOR: Pampered all his life, the 61-year-old Kim Jong Il lives, experts say, in a seven story pleasure palace.
POST: He has recruited at the junior high school level attractive young women to become members of what are called The Joy Brigades, to be providing pleasure and relaxation to the hard working officials of his inner circle.
ENSOR: In the late '70s, U.S. officials say Kim ordered the kidnapping of South Korean movie star Choy Unhui (ph) and her director husband. Madam Choy later described her first meeting with the portly 5'2" Kim.
POST: When he first met her, he said to her, "Well, Madam Choy, you must be surprised to see that I resemble the droppings of a midget." So there's a lot of insecurity, not just politically, but personally.
ENSOR: But U.S. officials and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who spent 12 hours with the man in 2000, say though he may be insecure, Kim Jong Il is definitely not crazy.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: It was possible to talk with him. He's not a nut. I think that's the main kind of point. But never forgetting that he is ruthless and that he knows that he's running a country that is on the verge of economic disaster.
ENSOR: Kim took Albright to a stadium to see 100,000 people dance in unison. ALBRIGHT: He said that he would really have loved to have been a movie director. He knew a lot about American movies and had suggestions for Oscar nominations and, you know, he also liked American sports. He liked Michael Jordan.
ENSOR: He is also a leader who has allowed literally millions of his own countrymen to starve to death, one reason President Bush has expressed, in his words, loathing for Kim and dropped the dialogue Secretary Albright and President Clinton started. Now, she hopes it will resume.
ALBRIGHT: I do not think that dialogue is appeasement and that it is absolutely essential to talk to someone or a leader that you want something from. We talked to Stalin, we talked to Mao Tse-Tung.
ENSOR (on camera): And like them, Kim Jong Il is clearly hoping to stay in power for a long time. After decades of heavy drinking, Tennessee cognac was his brand, he recently cut back on hard liquor, though U.S. officials say he still drinks a good deal of wine and champagne.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And tomorrow David will assess North Korea's nuclear threat and its military arsenal and compare it to the U.S. military. That's part four of our look inside North Korea tomorrow right here on CNN DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 15, 2003 - 05:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We now take you inside North Korea for a look at the reclusive leader of the impoverished communist state. How is it that Kim Jong Il can spark a nuclear stand-off and blatantly threaten the United States?
Our David Ensor has some insights for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kim Jong Il, U.S. experts in and out of government say, is one of the strangest leaders on earth. Son of the founder of a Stalinist state, he was groomed from birth for absolute power.
JERROLD POST, FORMER CIA ANALYST: He was told from very early on that he was the son of god.
ENSOR: Pampered all his life, the 61-year-old Kim Jong Il lives, experts say, in a seven story pleasure palace.
POST: He has recruited at the junior high school level attractive young women to become members of what are called The Joy Brigades, to be providing pleasure and relaxation to the hard working officials of his inner circle.
ENSOR: In the late '70s, U.S. officials say Kim ordered the kidnapping of South Korean movie star Choy Unhui (ph) and her director husband. Madam Choy later described her first meeting with the portly 5'2" Kim.
POST: When he first met her, he said to her, "Well, Madam Choy, you must be surprised to see that I resemble the droppings of a midget." So there's a lot of insecurity, not just politically, but personally.
ENSOR: But U.S. officials and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who spent 12 hours with the man in 2000, say though he may be insecure, Kim Jong Il is definitely not crazy.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: It was possible to talk with him. He's not a nut. I think that's the main kind of point. But never forgetting that he is ruthless and that he knows that he's running a country that is on the verge of economic disaster.
ENSOR: Kim took Albright to a stadium to see 100,000 people dance in unison. ALBRIGHT: He said that he would really have loved to have been a movie director. He knew a lot about American movies and had suggestions for Oscar nominations and, you know, he also liked American sports. He liked Michael Jordan.
ENSOR: He is also a leader who has allowed literally millions of his own countrymen to starve to death, one reason President Bush has expressed, in his words, loathing for Kim and dropped the dialogue Secretary Albright and President Clinton started. Now, she hopes it will resume.
ALBRIGHT: I do not think that dialogue is appeasement and that it is absolutely essential to talk to someone or a leader that you want something from. We talked to Stalin, we talked to Mao Tse-Tung.
ENSOR (on camera): And like them, Kim Jong Il is clearly hoping to stay in power for a long time. After decades of heavy drinking, Tennessee cognac was his brand, he recently cut back on hard liquor, though U.S. officials say he still drinks a good deal of wine and champagne.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And tomorrow David will assess North Korea's nuclear threat and its military arsenal and compare it to the U.S. military. That's part four of our look inside North Korea tomorrow right here on CNN DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
