Story highlights Former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung wanted to live to 100, his doctor says.

He ordered a "Longevity Center" be set up to fulfill this aim

Methods included blood transfusions and laughing at cute kids

Elder Kim's physician defected to South Korea in 1992

Seoul (CNN) North Korea's revered founder, Kim Il Sung, ordered his doctors to find a way to make him live to 100, taking treatments to stay young that ranged from the bizarre to the sinister.

Kim So-Yeon, his personal physician for many years before she defected to South Korea in 1992, led research at a "Longevity Center" set up to help in Kim's quest for a longer life.

It didn't work -- he died at 82 -- but that's still far better than the average 64-year life expectancy for the country.

The doctor's team devised many different ways to ensure a longer life.

"We did a lot of research," says Kim. "But we only gave him the treatments he had chosen from our list of options."

Read More