Kim Jong-il lookalike falls on hard times

I am a little late writing up on this but saw it a few weeks ago in the Guardian. Briefly summing it up, a South Korean shopkeeper made a nice side living impersonating the now former North Korean 'Supreme Leader' until last month and now is at a loss, perhaps in more ways than one.

An interesting quote in the article, "I feel very empty, as if a part of me died." Another article on this with more quotes and tracing the origin of his 'double life' can be found in The Daily Mail. Of all the looks to cultivate, Kim Jong-il wouldn't be most peoples top of the list.

I have always found lookalikes a most bizarre type of jobseeker. Being paid just because you often faintly resemble someone else but don't have their talent is for me a bit of a con but at least it puts bread on the table. In the UK we've had a plethora of them over the years but I didn't know they had them in Asia.

I find it a bit distasteful that someone could profit from impersonating (unless in a comic way) someone who is responsible for thousands of deaths. I didn't even know you could get away with doing this kind of think in South Korea anyway. But just for what purpose would you hire a Kim Jong-Il lookalike? To tour factories and dispense advise? Where was the demand? Perhaps he has a son who could join the family business like Kim Jong-Un.