North Korea's Kim lives in fear of assassination, says ex-bodyguard

SEOUL, Oct 14 (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il lives in constant fear of assassination and runs a fleet of decoy cars for security reasons whenever he travels, a former bodyguard said in an interview.

Kim makes it a rule to have five identical cars driving in convoy on his trips by road, Yonhap news agency quoted ex-bodyguard Lee Young-Kook as saying.

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"We were notified of Kim Jong-Il's destination only two hours ahead of time, " Lee said. "Kim is worried about his own safety."

Lee, 42, defected to South Korea in the mid-1990s after serving as one of Kim's loyalists bodyguards for more than a decade, Yonhap said.

The North Korean supremo has some 100 expensive foreign cars, including Mercedes Benzes and Cadillacs, with 10 each of the same model to ensure a supply of five identical cars for his motorcade, according to Lee.

North Korea is the world's most isolated country and Kim seals his people off from outside influence.

Kim fears assassination at the hands of his own people, according to Lee, saying the North Korean dictator is haunted by the fate of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu, shot dead along with his wife in a 1989 popular revolt.

"Kim knows how ... Ceaucescu died," Lee said. "Kim is in a serious dilemma because if he opens the country or doesn't open the country, he knows he could be killed."

Amid growing security fears, Kim has increased the number of loyalist bodyguards to more than 8,000 from 280 in the 1970s on top of 100,000 elite forces who are powerful enough to crush any military revolt, Lee said.

He said he had served as one of Kim's bodyguards for 11 years until 1988 and six years later he defected to South Korea.

In the impoverished Stalinist state, Kim's bodyguards were exceptionally "well-fed and well-clothed" to reassure loyalty to Kim, according to Lee.

Kim Jong-Il inherited power from his late father Kim Il-Sung who had ruled North Korea for 46 years till his death in 1994.

jkw/cw/nj

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