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CNN Live At Daybreak
A Look at North Korean Leader Kim Jong II
Aired August 06, 2001 - 07:44 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.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, for the most part, presidents and other world leaders are very public people. We often know more about them then we care to, but that is certainly not the case for North Korean leader Kim Jong II. He's known as a very secretive and private man, doesn't like flying, either, we're told. He's in Moscow right now, and just look at how he got there. We've got a map for you.
He went by train more than 5,000 miles, right across Russia to get into Moscow because he doesn't like to fly. It was his -- it is his first official visit to any foreign country other than China. He's been there since last Friday.
So let's take a closer look now at this communist leader.
Robert Suettinger is a policy analyst with Rand. He joins us with a behind the scenes look at this man.
Mr. Suettinger, "TIME" magazine called Mr. Kim the weirdest leader in the world. Does he top your list, too?
ROBERT SUETTINGER, POLICY ANALYST, RAND: Well, he's right up there. Kim is a very secretive individual about whom we know very little. A lot of the stories that circulate about him come from the period when he was the heir apparent, and he has changed a bit since he took over in 1994.
MCEDWARDS: Well, and what are the stories?
SUETTINGER: Oh, there are stories about wild drinking parties. There are stories about comfort brigade of women who service his needs. There are stories about just odd behavior in lots of different circumstances.
MCEDWARDS: And his stature -- he's short and I've read that he's sensitive about that, how strange.
SUETTINGER: Well, a lot of short people are sensitive about their height, I might add. But he has been known to wear platform shoes and he does wear a hairdo that accentuates his stature somewhat.
MCEDWARDS: And what about the fear of flying? I had read also that he took a trip to Indonesia in 1965 on a plane, I believe it was with his father who was alive then, and that was enough, that was it. He said no more -- no more flying.
SUETTINGER: Well, I think both of them probably said that. Kim Jong II's father also refused to fly and apparently his son takes that cue from his father.
MCEDWARDS: How much is known about his family?
SUETTINGER: Not a whole lot. He's known to have been married and has a couple of concubines by whom he's had a few children. He is known to have a sister and several half brothers and sisters by his father's second wife.
MCEDWARDS: And I mean in all seriousness we talk a lot about his eccentricities, his garish glasses, his bad hairdos, the jumpsuit he wears, that he seems to have an affection for some of the finer things in his life despite the way his people live. But still this is a dictator who has watched thousands of his own people starve.
SUETTINGER: Yes, quite right.
MCEDWARDS: So what -- I mean, the fact that so little is known about him, to what extent does the West misunderstand him?
SUETTINGER: Well that's an excellent question. There is a tendency to sort of give him short (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because we know so little about him and because his behavior has, in the past, seemed so bizarre. But in fact, since 1994 he has tried to comport himself with a great deal of dignity. He's been very conscious of his image and he's been reaching out to South Korea, to China and now to Russia in order to enhance his visibility and his -- and his importance.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, and he's in Russia now. And I'm wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about that? Russia wants to talk to North Korea about nuclear power, some other issues, but there he is meeting with President Vladimir Putin, laying wreaths, all the trappings of a state visit here. I mean is Russia, in a way, trying to say to the United States here, hey, you know you can't -- you can't write this guy off as a rogue leader of a wacky nation?
SUETTINGER: Well that's quite right. Russia, of course, used to be the -- or the Soviet Union used to be the principal benefactor of North Korea and the relationship has become strained as Russia -- as the Soviet Union dissolved and Russia moved off in different directions. But now Putin seems to be interested in reestablishing a more normal relationship and perhaps affecting the outcome of political discussions in the Korean peninsula.
MCEDWARDS: All right, Robert Suettinger, thanks very much for your insights this morning. Appreciate it.
SUETTINGER: Thank you.
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