It would be rather surprising if Kim Jong Il was not mad; he was born into a mad world.

His dead father, Kim Sung, known as the "Great Leader", is still technically president of North Korea, a title that Kim Jong has never assumed. The 22 million people whom he has brought to disaster have only heard his voice once, in 1992, when Kim Jong stepped up to the microphone while attending a military parade, to declare:

"Glory to the heroic soldiers of the People's Army."

Even the facts of Kim Jong's birth are disputed. It is most likely that he was born in Siberia in February 1941, when his father was commander of a Korean and Chinese rifle brigade of the Red Army. But North Koreans have always been told that Kim Jong was born at Mount Paektu, a sacred mountain in North Korea. An eagle and a double rainbow were said to have appeared at his birth, and a new star to have entered the heavens.

There seems to be no doubt that Kim Jong was Kim Sung's eldest child. After the second world war ended, the family moved back to Pyongyang and lived in a luxurious villa recently vacated by a Japanese military commander. The villa had a swimming pool and it was in this swimming pool that Kim Jong's younger brother drowned. Within 12 months, their mother, Kim Jong Suk, died either during pregnancy or in childbirth. Kim Jong had a sister, and several half brothers and sisters by his father's second wife. One of these half brothers, Kim P'yong Il, was sent as ambassador to countries in eastern Europe, presumably to prevent him challenging Kim Jong's path to the succession.

Kim Jong's education probably took place in China; he is thought to have been sent there for his own safety during the Korean War. He also visited Malta in the early 1970s, with the approval of its then prime minister, Dom Mintoff, in order to learn English.

At this time Kim Jong was regarded as a bit of a joke . . .

unless you happened to be a suffering citizen of North Korea.

An avid film fan, in 1978 he arranged the kidnapping of a South Korean film director and his actress wife. Kim Jong is said to have a collection of 20,000 films on video tape, although he has denied this.

He is very small . . . just five foot three inches, or 160 centimetres . . . and is much given to wearing platform shoes. At one stage he permed his hair. He loves Mercedes cars and collects Bianchi racing bicycles.

He also likes American basketball . . . Madeleine Albright presented him with a basketball signed by Michael Jordan. He was said to be one of Hennessy's most important international customers, and to have live lobster flown to him each day on one of his long train trips to China. Like his father, Kim Jong is terrified of flying. All of this left him ripe for parody and ridicule . . . but not in his own country.

Also in the 1970s, the socalled Pleasure Brigades were formed, made up of female highschool students, who were at the disposal of the Great Leader and the Dear Leader. Kim Jong has been married three times and, again like his father, is rumoured to have fathered children out of wedlock. One of his mistresses, with whom he had three children, defected to South Korea in 2002.

His eldest son, Kim Jongnam, is regarded as a disaster.

In 2001, Kim Jong-nam was arrested at Tokyo airport, trying to visit the Japanese Disneyland. His younger brother Kim Jong-chul is now thought to be designated successor. One of their cousins, Chang Geum, a niece of Kim Jong's, committed suicide earlier this year while studying in Paris. Kim Jong is now said to be living with the woman who has been his personal secretary for many years.

In 1991 his father named him supreme commander of the North Korean armed forces. On his father's death in 1994, according to defectors, it soon became apparent that Kim Jong would preside over an even more centralised regime. Kim Sung used to discuss matters with his terrified advisers . . . Kim Jong didn't bother. He is widely blamed for the bombing of Korean Flight 858 in 1987.

Kim Jong Il has been called the Last Emperor, and North Korea the last Stalinist state.

His main problem is an economy that has been in freefall ever since the collapse of the old Soviet empire, which provided it with vital support in the form of food, oil and cash. Kim Jong's policy of juche, or self reliance, (the term could also be translated as 'sinn fein') has brought the country to disaster. The poverty in North Korea cannot be hidden totally, even by one of the most repressive regimes in the world. Things are so bad in North Korea, with its famines and its death camps, that its citizens risk their lives in order to defect . . . frequently to China.

In this desperate condition, North Korea has just become the ninth member of the nuclear club, presumably in order to shore up the crumbling defences of a vicious dictator.

In 1994 North Korea said it would let its nuclear programme stall, in exchange for oil and non-military nuclear reactors promised by the Clinton administration. It is said that the Americans never expected Kim Jong Il to survive; they fell behind on their commitments and the Bush administration included North Korea in its Axis of Evil speeches.

The Korean armed forces have been declining for years.

Like George Bush Jnr, Kim Jong Il has rendered no military service himself, but is strongly in favour of physical force. Still, in the fifth round of the nuclear non-proliferation talks, North Korea said it would abandon its nuclear programme gradually, in exchange for security guarantees. The US wanted full disarmament first . . . and so the stage was set for this month's nuclear explosion.

US scientific tests con"rm North Korea claim

PRELIMINARY results of scientific tests confirm that North Korea did carry out a nuclear test last Monday as it claimed, US officials have said.

A vote on sanctions was expected late last night at the UN Security Council but Russia and China are still querying the US-drafted resolution.

Ban Ki-moon, who will be the new UN secretary-general, called for a "clear and strong" resolution to be adopted. Ban was formally elected by the UN General Assembly on Friday to replace Kofi Annan at the end of the year.

The apparent confirmation that Pyongyang did carry out a nuclear test could make the passing of the UN resolution more likely.

US scientists found that there were traces of radioactive gas in the air near the site of last Monday's alleged nuclear test.

White House officials cautioned that this result alone did not confirm a successful test but it could mean a nuclear test had been attempted.

One official quoted by the Associated Press said the results could indicate a "nuclear fizzle, " rather than a full test. The agency also quoted an unnamed official as saying the sample had been collected above Qunggye, near the area of the claimed nuclear test.

Both South Korean and Chinese scientists said earlier they had detected no evidence of radioactivity in air, soil and rainwater tests.

The US has revised a draft resolution to remove the threat of imminent military action in an effort to allay Chinese and Russian concerns.

The US envoy to the UN, John Bolton, said he expected the vote to be held late last night but it depended on Russia and China's stance. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the current draft still had "elements that should be discussed and clarified."