Nathan Thornburg, a reporter with the U.S. weekly magazine Time, said on CNN on December 18, “It is said that ‘Desperate Housewives’ DVDs are brought into North Korea for their leader.” Thornburg also added, “(Kim) is known for his sunglasses and hairstyle, and is known to be a fan of American pop culture.”

These comments were made when Thornburg and Time’s Managing Editor, Richard Stengel, was on CNN to explain Time’s selection of its 2006 Person of the Year: “You,” the people around the world for having led the new Internet revolution.

Stengel said, “Many people recommended Kim and nuclear proliferation as the Person of the Year. Kim created a big change in the international nuclear balance with his unexpected nuclear tests.”

Time’s Person of the Year has been a topic of controversy for its choices of people who have impacted the news and daily life both positively and negatively.

This year, the candidates were: Kim Jong Il for his missile launch and nuclear tests, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is pushing ahead with uranium enrichment programs despite opposition from the U.S, ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who has been sentenced to death for mass killings, and James Baker, the former U.S. Secretary of State who led the Iraq Study Group (ISG).