Kim's Geeky Side and the North Korean Military

I cannot help but admit that I found The Complete Idiot's Guide To Understanding North Korea by Dr. C. Kenneth Quinones and Joseph Tragert (Alpha Books, 2003) interesting.

Writing about Kim Jong-il's "geeky side", the authors said that the train Kim rode from North Korea to Moscow in 2001 was equipped "with an elaborate bank of computer and monitoring screens."

"With a click of his mouse, Kim could call up the daily weather forecast, get detailed data about any town in Russia, and track his gold transactions at the London and Zurich gold exchanges."

North Korea had also reportedly installed a nationwide network of advanced fiber optic telephone lines that linked Kim to all areas of the nation.

Buried underground, the transmissions are reportedly safe from being intercepted by electronic eavesdropping by US intelligence aircrafts.

On the country's military (pictured), Kim is said to rely "more on psychology than coercion to keep his army in line."

"He keeps the million-man army subordinate by keeping the generals loyal to him. He strokes the generals' egos with shiny medals and promotions. He bestows BMWs and Lexus cars on them and stuffs their pockets full of hard currency."

"They have access to the best apartments in the capital, villas in the countryside, and ample supplies of the best European booze. They and their visitors from abroad can also visit the so-called "happy houses" where they can enjoy karaoke and the favors of young ladies."