[Also see: North Korea’s Strategic Disengagement Explained]

Although not a topic in the news at the moment, every once in awhile news reports will surface on the topic of Kim Jong-il and the question of his sanity, especially when some prominent figure makes comments or implications to that effect. A trend associated with this is that for the past few years it seems that authors (especially academics) writing on North Korea go out of their way to make an obligatory, ‘Kim Jong-il is not crazy’ statement.

The answer to the question of whether or not Kim is crazy depends on how one defines ‘crazy.’ If by crazy you mean a foaming-at-the-mouth lunatic that needs medication to function somewhere near normal, the answer is a categorical no, Kim is not crazy. As Madame Secretary will testify, Kim Jong-il can be ‘charming,’ and as odd as it may seem, he has been skillfully maneuvering to remain in power for decades, consolidating power internally while keeping external forces at bay.

Yet this answer does not satisfy – no sane person would run gulags, have people shot for leaving the country without permission, or wear their hair like that; Kim is more than just an eccentric. And not all mental disorders are of the stereotypical schizophrenic type. For example, consider the definition of a sociopath (a.k.a. psychopath): A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse. Why not - Johh McCain agrees. More of the profile:

Characteristics of the profile:

1. Glibness/Superficial Charm
2. Manipulative and Conning
3. Grandiose Sense of Self
4. Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
5. Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
6. Need for Stimulation
7. Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
8. Callousness/Lack of Empathy
9. Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
10. Irresponsibility/Unreliability
11. Shallow Emotions
12. Pathological Lying
13. Incapacity for Love
14. Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
15. Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency

Realistically we cannot know for sure about all of the conditions above, but Kim Jong-il does appear to exhibit most of these traits to a greater or lesser extent. Of course so does much of Hollywood, which may explain Kim’s affinity (although it’s important to note that there are no known death camps in Hollywood).

Items 1-9 are either positive or very likely. Although most sociopaths are not highly intelligent (unlike the movies), and Kim Jong-il certainly appears to be highly intelligent, we can find multiple examples of behavior that do fit the profile above. A few quick examples; his meeting with Madeline Albright (1 and 2, perhaps 12), his ‘pleasure teams’ (5 and 6), how North Korea earns hard currency (9), his response to the famine (8, perhaps 11), and of course the entire cult and his lifestyle (3 and 7).

Items 10-15 fall more within the realm of unknown/unproven. Fore example, we can’t prove if he is capable of loving or not, or has shallow emotions. Likewise, we don’t have enough information to say that he is or isn’t a pathological liar.

Historically Kim hasn’t done anything particularly worse than (except perhaps on scale) what been done by powerful European or Asian nobility at some point in the past, although he appears to be anywhere from several decades to centuries behind on what is contemporarily considered an appropriate extreme.

Could Kim perhaps be criminally insane? I don’t think so, since an element of criminal insanity is the inability of, “a person to understand the wrongfulness of his acts or, even if he understands them, to distinguish right from wrong.” These are the people you hear about who kill a family and then walk around with blood all over their clothes. North Korea would not go to such extraordinary lengths to hide the gulags (including from its people), the system of indoctrination, or to avoid the simple yet effective protocols the WFP had in place, if they thought what they were doing was morally correct. No, Kim and others in leadership know what they are doing is wrong, but doing what’s right would mean losing power. This is clearly both actus reus and mens rea.

It seems that Kim does fit the profile of a sociopath, except for that they have, “an inability to live by the rules, customs, and laws of the society in which they live.” Again, we can not be certain on these points since Kim has always been outside the law and excepted from most custom. Having said that, he did act as the filial son both before and after his father’s death in 1994, yet that could merely be part of his ability to manipulate others.

Given what we know of Kim’s actions and behavior, I think it is safe to say that he is not criminally insane, but is probably a sociopath, that is, he knows right from wrong but he just doesn’t give a damn (although according to the DSM cautionary statement, I shouldn’t be saying this – I hope they don’t diagnose me with something). And those who know right from wrong but act regardless are culpable.