Kim Jong Il’s nuclear bombshell

SINCE inheriting power in 1994, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has gained an international reputation for being an unpredictable leader, as his intransigence deepened his country’s isolation.

Abroad, many consider the pudgy, bouffant-haired Mr Kim a ruthless dictator who seeks atomic weapons, while starving his people. At home, state-run media hails the “Dear Leader” as a prodigious general and an ace film director.

Mr Kim’s nuclear standoff stretches back to 2002, when Washington accused North Korea of having a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of an earlier agreement, and US president Bush branded the communist country part of an “axis of evil,” alongside Iraq and Iran.