A Kim Jong-Il impersonator mourns

The death of North Korean supremo Kim Jong-Il has brought great sadness to a South Korean merchant and part-time Jong-Il impersonator.

"I feel very empty, as if a part of me died," the impersonator, Kim Young-Sik, told the French outlet AFP.

"People try to comfort me, saying some figures are more famous when they're dead, but I don't think it will be the case with Kim."

Apparently this merchant, who shares an unfortunate natural likeness to the diminutive dictator, was full-on obsessed with his muse. According to an L.A. Times article from 2006, Young-sik "often wears his full Kim Jong Il regalia to the store, attracting double-takes from customers and passersby."

For a fuller exploration of this guy's obsession, read the AFP piece, in which Young-Sik laments that his son doesn't look at all like Kim Jong-Un.