Good leaders are all alike. It is the despots who really know how to innovate and shake things up. This is the 10th death anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il --- he died on December 17, 2011 --- and the government in North Korea has announced 10 days of mourning. However, many believe that Dear Leader --- as he was known --- had died in 2003. Japanese professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, who wrote the book The True Character of Kim Jong-il, claimed in 2008 that the real Kim had died of diabetes. Apparently, photographs taken by American spy satellites in 2006 had revealed that Kim — who otherwise was all of 5 feet and 3 inches — appeared to have grown taller by a couple of centimetres.

Let them eat missiles

That December 17, when his death was announced, the state TV footage showed an entire nation grieving hysterically. Even the news anchor was seen shedding tears. On December 17 this year, all business in North Korea was halted for five minutes. No one was allowed to do groceries. In the mid 1990s, when Kim assumed power from his father, the country was on the verge of famine. There were floods too. What did the new leader do? Well, he slashed farmers’ rations. After all, the military had to eat and so did he. Between 1994 and 1998, three million people starved to death. He sought aid too, and when it came he used it to shop for missiles and luxury goods.

Eternal Leader

Kim Jong-il loved the "good life". He liked to drink a certain Hennessy cognac and annually spent $6,50,000 to $7,20,000 on it. He lived in a seven-storey "pleasure palace” and recruited "joy brigades" comprising young women and schoolgirls. He also had a huge collection of Hollywood films and liked Bond films and Japanese monster movies. He once ordered the kidnapping of South Korea's most famous film director and his actress wife so they might recast the North Korean film industry. During the present mourning period, the state has forbidden its citizens from laughing, drinking, singing or dancing. They are not allowed to celebrate their own birthdays and police are on the lookout for those who are not suitably solemn. Should someone die, family and friends are not allowed to cry out loud and last rites must wait. Kim’s own body is on permanent display at Pyongyang. A month after his death, he was also designated the Eternal General Secretary of the Workers’ Party Of Korea. And in 2012, he was posthumously named the Grand Marshal of North Korea. As afterlives go, this one seems loaded with responsibilities.