Kim Jong-il

He married Kim Young-sook, and had a daughter Kim Sul-song with her in 1974.

Apart from his official wife, he was known to have kept three mistresses. These relationships produced four children – son Kim Jong-nam, son Kim Jong-chul, son Kim Jong-un, and daughter Kim Yo-jong.

He died on a train during a domestic trip outside Pyongyang, due to a heart attack on December 17, 2011. His body was displayed in a glass coffin at Kumsusan Memorial Palace from December 20-28 for an 11-day mourning period.

In 1961, he entered politics by joining the Workers’ Party and after graduating in 1964, he rose to different ranks, becoming a member of Workers’ Party Central Committee to ensure smooth functioning of the party’s ideological system.

He initiated policies to bond party workers with people, launched Three-Revolution Team Movement where people were trained by political, technical and scientific technicians, and took steps to facilitate economic planning.

Just as his father was known as the ‘Great Leader’, he was given the title ‘Dear Leader’ and was often referred as ‘fearless leader’ and ‘the great successor to the revolutionary cause’.

During the Sixth Party Congress in 1980, he was appointed at senior positions in the Military Commission, the Politburo, and the Secretariat, thus holding control over all sectors of government.

He was assigned the Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army in 1991, despite having no military experience, and was made the Chairman of the National Defense Commission in 1993.

Kim Jong-Il had a net worth of $4 billion.

His fashion sense became a global phenomenon , especially his bouffant hairstyle and four-inch platform shoes which he wore to increase his height.

He is said to have composed six operas over a period of two years and was a die-hard movie buff, housing a collection of over 20,000 foreign films, including his favorites – ‘Rambo’, ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Friday the 13th’.

He was a great boozer, spending around $600,000 annually on Hennessy liquor, thus becoming its largest customer during early 1990s. He consumed cognac worth $700 per bottle in a country where the average annual income was $1000.

This North Korean leader displayed the ‘big six’ group of personality disorders – anti-social, paranoid, schizotypal, narcissistic, sadistic, and schizoid, which were exhibited by famous dictators Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

In 1994, he picked up a golf club for the first time and shot a 38-under par round with 11 holes-in-one. Such was his exceptional performance that he retired from the sport thereafter.