Kim Jong Il is a shrewd, calculated despot. No doubt about that, but I very much doubt he is mentally ill. He has ruled Nth Korea with an iron fist since 1994, and if he were mentally ill he would of been deposed by one of his henchmen by now. He can be compared I guess to Hitler in a way - cold, ruthless and with scant regard to humanity, but certainly not lacking in intelligence. The problem the US faces is that on the one hand he is a prickly thorn thats needs to be removed, yet the US needs china as a trading partner and, as has come to light more recently, as a banker of sorts, so the US isnt going to do anything to overly get the chinese angry, and Kim knows this and keeps the Nth Korea/China relation strong. China are Nth koreas main (maybe only) ally. China sees North Korea as a bit like the naughty little brother, and treats it accordingly. The US policy now, and in the future will be of containment. China and the US have too much to lose by a conflict in North Asia and I doubt it would happen. I think we will see the Chinese starting to come down a little bit harder on North Korea in the coming months.
