Kim Jong-Il : North Korea's Dear Leader

Rating:
Summary: Not entirely objective but well worth reading
Review: After reading this book, there can be no doubt that author Michael Breen possesses as keen an insight to the North Korean system and the enigmatic nature of Kim Jong-il as any Westerner who has spent a significant amount of time in South Korea. Mr. Breen is well-versed with the Korean culture, the language, as well as the idiosyncracies of the respect North and South Korean societies. However, it is clear from the outset that Mr. Breen is openly hostile to the North Korean regime and perhaps that's the problem with Mr. Breen's account of the complexities of the Kim regime.

While the author does an admirable job of synthesizing a variety of materials covering the North Korean regime and the "Dear Successor's" ascent to power, Mr. Breen neither possesses nor offers any unique insight to the problems those on the outside - particualrly the United States, Japan and South Korea - face when confronted with the Kim Jong-il labyrinth. In fact, perhaps a failure to the credibility of Mr. Breen's presentation is his occasional attempt to satirize his subject.

Mr. Breen's cheekiness in describing Kim Jong-il causes him to fall into the same trap as many western journalists and political figures have fallen into when dealing with North Korea. They mock and parody Kim Jong-il, yet when pushed they dance for ways to appease him to prevent him from pushing the Korean peninsula to the nuclear brink. Admittedly, available alternatives arelimited.

That said, Mr. Breen's book is entertaining despite the references to Kim Jong-il's diminished stature, bouffant hairdo and other idiosyncracies. Drawing upon primarily North Korean publications and resources, Mr. Breen gives readers some background to Kim Jong-il, his childhood, his personality, as well as the forces that brought Kim Jong-il to power upon the death of Kim Il-Sung. We learn that Kim Jong-il is not a monolith but that he may have an inferiority complex, that he has a sense of humor, that he is cultured and that he is capable of compassion.

Unfortunately, given Kim Jong-il's enigmatic nature, these are all second-hand, highly propagandized accounts and necessarily replace any real ability by Mr. Breen, or perhaps anyone outside the regime, to provide an understanding of the Kim regime and what drives it. While Mr. Breen falls short of the mark, his attempt at insight is nonetheless commendable.

Lest Mr. Breen go too far to humanize his subject, Mr. Breen devotes an entire chapter to graphically cateloging the human rights abuses committed by both Kim regimes both in the North Korean gulags as well as in society in general. While the stories are compelling, delineating the crimes of the regime do not add much to Mr. Breen's professed goal of assisting the reader to understand Kim Jong-il.

One positive aspect of Mr. Breen's book is his humanization of the North Korean people, a feature that is often lost on the western media who tend to portray the North Korean people as a faceless horde of supporters of the Kim Juche Ideal rather than the victims they perhaps are.

Another positive feature of Mr. Breen's book is his analysis of the regime's attempts, albeit limited, to introduced controlled forms of a market economy to North Korea. While Mr. Breen seems to advocate a form of "constructive engagement" with North Korea, primarily with Sourth Korea and China taking the lead, this seems to be self-defeating where the North's xenophobia prevents any of the traditional quid pro quo we would expect from a trade relationship. This is couple with Mr. Breen's expose of Kim Jong-il's largesse, accusations of rampant drug trafficking by the regime and other forms of illegality that would make constructive engagement of Kim Jong-il potentially self-defeating for any country that attempts it.

After reading Mr. Breen's book we are no closer to addressing constructively the problem of North Korea and a possible solution than we were before. Eeven as Mr. Breen intimates, until Kim Jong-il goes away we only have two options for dealing with him: the military option that promises to destroy the sub-continent and the deaths of millions; or living with Kim while trying to neutralize and contain him. Kim Jong-il remains a short, enigmatic, possibly egomaniacal man, with big hair and a penchant for young women, a vast array of western movies, and the means to develop and deploy a nuclear arsenal. North Korea remains a closed, xenophobic society with approximately one quarter of its population in some form of conscripted military service. All told, learning to live with Kim may be the only solution to the "North Korean problem."

Rating:
Summary: Clever without being too simple
Review: Breen's outline of the Dear Leader is approriate for the bizzare, often silly nature of his subject. The author moves back and forth between academic and personal observations, happily mocking the disgusting powers that be in North Korea.

I agree with the review who did not like the "Is Kim Jong-Il evil?" chapter. It seemed like filler at one point. I also felt that the end of the book lacked some of the witty writing I found in the very well done introductory part.

All in all an enjoyable read- worth the cash for a few insights into a fascinating (but disturbing character).

Rating:
Summary: Clever without being too simple
Review: Breen's outline of the Dear Leader is approriate for the bizzare, often silly nature of his subject. The author moves back and forth between academic and personal observations, happily mocking the disgusting powers that be in North Korea.

I agree with the review who did not like the "Is Kim Jong-Il evil?" chapter. It seemed like filler at one point. I also felt that the end of the book lacked some of the witty writing I found in the very well done introductory part.

All in all an enjoyable read- worth the cash for a few insights into a fascinating (but disturbing character).

Rating:
Summary: North Korea's Dear Leader
Review: Having read several book's on North Korea this is by far the best of the selection. The book covers all of the questions the world is asking about North Korea and gives a fantastic insight into the life and mind of the man running this bizarre country.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I have to agree with the previous review .It was an outstanding book espcially with the begining sentence "If you scan Northeast Asia from the space at night-which the United States does,for obvious reasons ....etc" is really one of the best opening lines in most of the books i have read.But the two set backs were that in the preface he mentions his wife and boast's about her "professional editing skills" when their is alot of errors in the manuscript.But over all it was a must for bookshelves all over the world!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I have to agree with the previous review .It was an outstanding book espcially with the begining sentence "If you scan Northeast Asia from the space at night-which the United States does,for obvious reasons ....etc" is really one of the best opening lines in most of the books i have read.But the two set backs were that in the preface he mentions his wife and boast's about her "professional editing skills" when their is alot of errors in the manuscript.But over all it was a must for bookshelves all over the world!

Rating:
Summary: Horrible and ill-informed
Review: I purchased this book with the intent of providing some back ground on Kim Jong-Il as I was reading his official North Korean biography, and foolishly thought this would be one additional perspective.

I was wrong. This book essentially culls common western thought about Kim Jong-Il, references his state biography a few times and repeats many things from the press without note. Poor writing compounds. The only thing of interests were his personal experiences, which are fairly rare from North Korea and did shed some light.

Overall, one would be better off reading Bruce Cuming's work on North Korea, either his book Behind Closed Doors or his excellent survey history Korea's Place in the Sun.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Introduction to an Important Topic
Review: I've been interested in North Korea ever since the nuclear crisis flared up in late 2002. Yet my search for worthwhile books to read about that sad little country has not turned up very much. The literature seems to be divided up into ideological rants about how the Bush administration provoked the new crisis (given the fact that the North Koreans began cheating before Bush was president that makes no sense) or impenetrably dense academic tomes (I noticed a reviewer of Breen's other book sneering at the fact that it is a "popular" book).

In my view, I learned a great deal about Kim Jong-Il and the state that he runs by reading Breen's book. I thought the chapters on the North Korean slave labor camps and the one titled "Country of the Lie" were particularly enlightening. I'm starting to perceive North Korea as less a country than a cult and the typical North Koreans as the equivalent of abused children who persist in believing that the "Dear Leader" loves them, even as he lets them starve.

This being said the book is not perfect:

1. It could have been longer. It was only about 190 pages. I would have liked more information about the nuclear crisis and North Korea's arms and drug dealing enterprises.

2. The chapter "Is Kim Jong-Il Evil?" wavers from being highly perceptive to being annoyingly "new age-ish."

3. The author makes a few minor errors (understating a number or two by several orders of magnitude and stating that the average North Korean's weight is 16 kilograms -34 pounds which is impossible).

Still, I feel that I am far better informed having read this book. I believe it deserves a five star rating even with its faults because it fills such a yawning gap in public understanding of this strange little man and his strange little country.

Read it and learn!

Rating:
Summary: This Book is Rubbish
Review: It is not worth paying money for this book. Mr Breen offers no new insights into Kim Jong Il and has simply rehashed information available on the internet. I suggest anyone interested in North Korea and Kim Jong Il either select another book or save their time and money and spend 5 minutes doing a google search.

In describing North Korea and it's leader in terms such as a "dump" Mr Breen has reduced this book from simply being boring and worthless to nothing more than tabloid type gutter press.

Kim Jong Il is a major player in wrld politics and I was interested to see that finally someone had taken the time to write a book on him. I was sadly disapointed when I sat down to read the book. It was a waste of my time and my money. I hope Mr Breen makes no further attempts to insult our intelligence by writing more books.