His birthday is a joyous event for fellow global leaders, his every act inspires millions and he’s so great he rivals the sun itself. Could this be Jesus? Mohammed? Moses? No, it is North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il, who turns 61 on Sunday. Everyone loves a birthday party, especially when your guest of honour is considered a demigod and you have no choice. But, by any standard, this celebration comes at a tough time. ‘‘You have to wonder what’s going on inside Kim Jong Il’s head,’’ said Hahm Chaibong, a professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University. ‘‘Everyone will do their best to put on a happy face, but they’re in crisis and it’s very strange timing.’’ While turning 61 is a major milestone, a time for people to reflect on their life, Kim’s 60th was more heavily celebrated since it was also the 90th anniversary of the birth of his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, who died in 1994. You’d never know that North Korea was under international pressure from the hyperactive state-run media, which trips over itself to explain how some 60 nations have sent him congratulatory messages and presents, and dispatched envoys, including the likes of Syria, Congo and Cambodia. On Wednesday, normally blank TV screens in the power-starved nation burst to life for a news flash: Russia had just sent a present of three horses. Glowing felicitations are not unusual for a country that still lives by the cult of personality. Year after year, praises are heaped on the ‘‘Great Leader,’’ the ‘‘sun of the 21st century,’’ a great comrade, a man of ‘‘immortal exploits, matchless courage and iron will,’’ and the supreme statesman who overwhelms his people’s lives with joy and optimism. Buried deep inside South Korea’s Unification Ministry are three rooms filled with TVs, VCRs and radios. Kim Tae Won, a member of the Ministry’s Information Analysis Bureau, has been monitoring North Korean birthday celebrations for the past quarter of a century. ‘‘To tell you the truth, it gets pretty boring,’’ he said. ‘‘The best way to spur anti-communism would be to make people listen to this stuff for a week.’’ ‘‘Sometimes I imagine what the best job would be in North Korea, and one would be penning these diatribes,’’ said Michael Breen, expert and author of the book The Koreans. (LATWP)
