Kim Young-sik (born 1953) is a Seoul engraver of

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

seals who impersonates North Korean leader

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

. Ever since his sister-in-law teased the businessman's sagging form as a likeness to the chairman, Kim Young-sik has portrayed Kim Jong-il at every opportunity, in movies, television shows, commercials, and for personal appearances. "When someone tells me I don't resemble Kim Jong-il in certain respects, I'm unhappy," said Kim in '' The Korea Times''. Unlike his more cosmetically enhanced competitor

Bae Eun-sik Bae Eun-sik is a resident of Incheon, South Korea who has acted as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in movies, television shows, and commercials. Bae's career began in 2000 when he won a Kim look-alike contest in Seoul. "When inter-Korean relatio ...

, "I am a natural," Kim told the '' Los Angeles Times''. "I didn't have to perm my hair. I didn't need plastic surgery. Even my family name, Kim, didn't have to be changed. Sometimes I feel like I ''am'' Kim Jong-il." Kim, whose stated goal is to have the leader say, "Little Brother, come and see me," affirms, "I wouldn't want Kim Jong-il to be offended by anything I do. I don't want to portray him as an evil person."

References

The Korea Times interview
May 9, 2006
The Los Angeles Times interview
June 11, 2006

External links

* South Korean male film actors Living people 1953 births {{SouthKorea-actor-stub