VIENNA - A North Korean colonel who spent two decades on European shopping sprees for his country's rulers said Thursday the late dictator Kim Il Sung lived in luxury while many people struggled to survive in his impoverished, communist nation.
Kim Jong Ryul, who spent 16 years undercover in Austria, also described how the "great leader" and his son and successor, Kim Jong Il, spent millions pampering and protecting themselves with Western goods - everything from luxury cars, carpets and exotic foods to gold-plated handguns.
The colonel's account - told in a new book by Austrian journalists Ingrid Steiner-Gashi and Dardan Gashi - shows the deep divide between the lifestyles of the North Korean leaders and their citizens, who sometimes must subsist eating tree bark, knowing they will be sent to labor camps if they criticize the government.
Kim said this injustice was what motivated him in October 1994 to fake his death and start a secret life in Austria in the hope that the oppressive regime would crumble within years.
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Kim Il Sung died in 1994, after grooming his son to replace him.
With no change in sight in North Korea's leadership, the colonel decided to come clean and tell his story.
"Without this book, I didn't want to die," he told The Associated Press. "Now I can die with a clear conscience."
Kim Jong Ryul said the late dictator had dozens of sprawling villas - some of them underground - filled with crystal chandeliers, silk wallpaper and costly furniture.
In some of the villas, Kim - who had studied mechanical engineering in the former East Germany - even developed special ventilation systems which, in the event of a nuclear attack, would continue to function and act as filters, the colonel said.
It was in these palatial homes that Kim Il Sung and his family would feast on an immense array of fine foods - including Austrian specialties.
"He only ate foreign food," the colonel said. "In Vienna, there was a special attache, a friend of mine, who only procured special foreign food for the dictator."
Kim Il Sung's craving once led to a delegation of cooks being sent to Austria to visit renowned culinary schools and some of the country's finest restaurants to collect recipes.
The colonel, who speaks German fluently, served as translator.
" 'Learn everything' - that's what they were told," the defector said. "The crazy dictators heard rumors that Austrian cuisine was world famous, and that's why they wanted (the cooks) to come here."
He also described how Kim Il Sung - while publicly denouncing "Western decadence and imperialism" - had an extensive luxury-car collection that included Mercedeses, Lincolns, Fords, Cadillacs and Citroens. Kim Jong Il, who liked fast sports cars, appeared to share his father's passion.
