Kim Jong-nam was the illegitimate son from fatherKim Jongil's affair with a married actress.

A historic meeting took place in 2000 between President Kim Dae-jung and ChairmanKim Jongil; Secretary Albright visited Pyongyang; and there was talk of a possible U.S.

I'm wedged in at a tiny table in a buzzing pub called Dansungsa, looking up at photos of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean juxtaposed withKim Jongil. A hint of cigarette smoke hangs in the air here in this 3 square miles of no-man's-land somewhere between America and Korea, just off Wilshire Boulevard.

THE STORY: In North Korea's recent past,Kim Jongil (who died in 2011) rules his Orwellian world with an iron thumb--and in this regime, individuals must constantly shift identities in order to survive.

Jang's wife andKim Jongil's sister, also received promotions

That kind of thing would make rulers like Hitler, Stalin,Kim Jongil, Ahmadinejad, and countless others fall out of their chairs laughing, for when an insignificant and powerless person causes trouble for a government that doesn't have restraints, he is just killed--sometimes in a public spectacle of torture or sometimes he just quietly disappears.

The ship sank in an area claimed by North Korea, days after the Communist leadership accused the US and South Korea of trying to topple despotKim Jongil and first reports said the Cheonan had been torpedoed.

North Korea's desire to shake off the sanctions is believed to rank ahead of concerns aboutKim Jongil's health as the reason for all the gestures of reconciliation.

France has called for fresh sanctions to be placed on the regime ofKim Jongil, while the US and Japan have urged strong action in light of new tests.