North Korea's Kim likes beautiful revolutionaries

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il waves to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun after a farewell lunch in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, October 4, 2007. Kim, portrayed as a man of god-like wisdom and talents at home, has defined the characteristics of the ideal woman -- beauty, a big heart and a communist fighting spirit.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, portrayed as a man of god-like wisdom and talents at home, has defined the characteristics of the ideal woman -- beauty, a big heart and a communist fighting spirit.

"Of course women have to be beautiful in appearance, but it's not the whole of true beauty," Kim was quoted as saying in the pro-Pyongyang periodical Joguk.

The diminutive Kim, 65, known for his bouffant hair-do, jumpsuits and pot belly, is a widower. Also, two actress companions who gave birth to his three known sons, have passed away.

"It is the women who can give up their youth, love and family for the fatherland and the nation ... those who can put the mass and their comrades before themselves for the happiness of the people and the prosperity of the nation that are true beauties," he told the magazine published in Japan and made available in Seoul on Wednesday.

North Korea's official media likes to call Korean women the flowers of the peninsula who honor their country by marrying wounded soldiers and are able to fight off 100 invaders while achieving breakthroughs in science.