News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Following the revelations by Kim Jong-Il's personal shopper rhow the North Korean leader lives in luxury while his people starve, Mirror.co.uk lists ten more of his maddest moments...

1) Last November, Kim Jong-Il banned the World Cup from being broadcast in his country unless they win.

The communist country's state-run TV stations have been ordered not to broadcast live matches or games involving other nations, with only heavily edited highlights of North Korean victories permitted to be screened.

2) You may not be aware of this, but Kim Jong-Il is in fact the world's greatest golfer.

According to an official government handout marking his 62nd birthday, its claimed Kim celebrated by demolishing a par 72 course in just 34 strokes, managing a world record five hole-in-ones on the way.

To top it all, the superhuman round was apparently the first time he had actually played the sport.

3) In 2006, German giant rabbit breeder Karl Szmolinsky was contacted by Pyongyang, asking if they could buy 12 of the bumper bunnies.

Having seen the massive rabbits in a newspaper, Kim planned to set up a breeding programme to boost meat production in the famine-hit country.

Despite Szmolinsky warning that the rabbits would make the situation worse - they only yield about 15 pounds of meat and have a huge appetite for carrots and potatoes - Kim insisted the animals should still be sent.

Szmolinsky claims once the animals arrived Kim ate them himself as part of his birthday celebrations.

4) In 2004, a former chef for Kim revealed that the North Korean leader employs staff to make sure that the grains of his rice served to him are absolutely uniform in size and colour.

5) His official biography claims that his birth was foretold by a swallow and led to the appearance of a double rainbow along with the emergence of a new star in space.

6) Hacked off by the lack of film-makers in his native land, in 1978 Kim arranged for two South Korean directors to be kidnapped from Hong Kong and brought to him. They tried to escape but eventually relented, making a string of movies for him including the cult Godzilla rip-off Pulgasari.

7) After being told by doctor's to give up smoking in 2007, Kim quit then decided he needed to go one step further to protect his health and so outlawed fags for the rest of his compatriots with a nationwide ban.

8) According to Russian emissary Konstantin Pulikovsky who travelled with Mr Kim by train across Eastern Europe, Kim had live lobsters air-lifted to the train every day which he ate with silver chopsticks.

9) After suffering a back injury following a horse riding accident, Kim was prescribed painkillers.

Fearful of becoming addicted, he ordered a half-dozen of his closest staff to receive the same injection under the logic that if he became dependent, he wouldn't be the only one.

10. As well as being something of a foodie, Kim knows his booze. According to Hennessy, Kim is one their single biggest customers, importing $350,000 worth of the cognac every year.