ian williams takes a look back on the life of kim jong-il. >> they called him the dear leader, the iron willed commander. hits birth heralded by rainbows and a new star lighting the sky. but kim jong il has turned out to be mortal after all. kim jong il's north korea seemed isolated and unpredictable and at times was more like a cult than a country. at times bizarre, but sometimes dangerous, impoverishing his own people and threatening to annie late his neighbors. it was eager to poke fun at the portly d lly dictators. he liked fast cars and fine foods. myths easily flourish when so little is really known. diplomats describe kim as shrewd and calculating, well practiced at the use of that's and force to win concessions and aid. successfully fending off u.s. efforts to reign in his nuclear weapons program. he inherited the job in 1994 from his father, the founder of north korea, who though dead remained eternal president. as kim jong il's health deteriorated, his features ravished by at least one stroke, he groomed his youngest son to take over. the young kim's rise was accompanied by a

nbc's ian williams is there. >> reporter: until just a few weeks ago, this would have been inconceivable. the u.s. secretary of state in myanmar tonight meeting tzu chi. persecuted for years here for her pursuit of democracy but now planning to run for parliament. hillary clinton is the highest ranking u.s. visitor in more than 50 years. here to judge for herself reforms that are bringing unexpected change after decades of repressive military rule. censorship has been eased, political prisoners released, and restrictions on protests have been lifted. the changes and clinton's visit are generating enormous hope here. >> i hope that it is a good visit. >> reporter: the changes are all the more remarkable when you consider it's only been a year since tzu chi was released from house arrest where she spent 15 of the last 22 years. clinton met the leaders of what has been regarded as a pariah state. welcoming the changes but urging them to speed up the release of political prisoners and embrace further reform. >> i told the leadership that we will certainly consider the easing and elimination

but first, nbc's ian williams has a look at the man known to north korea as the dear leader. >> reporter: they called him the dear leader, the iron-willed commander. his birth heralded by rainbows and a new star lighting the sky. but kim jong-il has turned out to be mortal after all. kim's north korea was isolated and unpredictable and often seemed more like a cult than a country. at times, bizarre but also dangerous, impoverishing and enslaving his own people while arming himself with nuclear weapons and threatening to annihilate his neighbors. it was easy to poke fun at the paltry dictator with his buffon hairstyle, dark glasses and high heels. he was known to be a cognac-guzzling fan of hollywood with high heels and boots. >> i think some of his eccentricity was simply insecurity. he had a profound feeling of insecurity, and this is the fate of lone dictators. if you're alone on top of a dictatorship, you have power in your hands, you feel insecure, you feel that you might lose your power any day. >> reporter: diplomats who dealt with him describe kim as shrewd and calculating, well p

nbc's ian williams takes a look back on the life of kim jong-il. >> reporter: they called him the dear leader, the iron-willed commander, his birth heralded by rain bows and a new star lighting the sky, but kim jong-il has turned out to be marital after all. kim's north korea was isolated and unpredictable and often seemed more like a cult than a country, at times bizarre but also dangerous, impoverishing and enslaving his own people while arming himself with nuclear weapons and threatening to aannihilate his neighbors. it was easy to poke fun at the paltry dictator with his buffon hairstyle, dark glasses and high heels. he was rumored to be a fan of hollywood, fast cars and fine foods. easily flourished when so little is easily known. >> i think some of the eccentricity was simply insecurity. he had a profound feeling of insecurity, and this is the fate of lone dictators. if you're alone on top of a dictatorship, you have power in your hands, you feel insecure, you feel that you might lose your power any day. >> reporter: diplomats who dealt with him describe kim as shrewd and calcula

ian williams, nbc news, bangkok. >>> elsewhere weekend, the leader of a very different kind of union. the czech rep leader died after a long time communist rule. there was a peaceful uprising in november 1989 that ended soviet backed rule. just over a month later, havel became president. the sweden foreign minister called havel simply one of the greatest europeans of our age. >>> now to washington where the fate of the payroll tax cut is once again up in the air. after the senate and the white house agreed on a two-month extension, house republicans are now saying they're not on board. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that. tracy, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. house republicans led by speaker john boehner say they don't want a two-month extension, they want a full year extension and they'll vote down that temporary extension later today. this after 89 senate democrats and republicans compromised, voted on the two-month extension and then left town. even senate republicans are urging their fellow republicans in the house to do so today, but it looks like

ian williams, nbc news, bangkok. >>> elsewhere weekend, the leader of a very different kind of union. the czech rep leader died after a long time communist rule. there was a peaceful uprising in november 1989 that ended soviet backed rule. just over a month later, havel became president. the sweden foreign minister called havel simply one of the greatest europeans of our age. >>> now to washington where the fate of the payroll tax cut is once again up in the air. after the senate and the white house agreed on a two-month extension, house republicans are now saying they're not on board. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that. tracy, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. house republicans led by speaker john boehner say they don't want a two-month extension, they want a full year extension and they'll vote down that temporary extension later today. this after 89 senate democrats and republicans compromised, voted on the two-month extension and then left town. even senate republicans are urging their fellow republicans in the house to do so today, but it looks like

ian williams takes a look back at the life of kim jong il. >> reporter: they called him the dear leadermmander, his birth heralded by rainbows and a new starlighting the sky but kim jong il has turned out to be mortal after all. kim's north korea was isolated and unpredictable and often seemed more like a cult than a country. at times bizarre, but also dangerous. impoverishing and enslaving his own people while arming himself with nuclear weapons and threatening to eye anyway late his neighbors. it was easy to poke fun at the portly dictator with his hair style, dark glasses and high heels. he was rumored to be a cognac guzzling fan of hollywood, fast cars and find food. little is really known. >> i think his eccentricity was insecurity. he had a profound feeling of insecurity and this is the fate of lone dictators. if you are alone on top of a dictatorship, you have power in your hands. you feel insecure. you feel that you might lose your power in a day. >> reporter: diplomats describe kim as shrewd and calculating, well practiced at the use of threats and force to win concessions and

ian williams has the latest on her trip. ian, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt, from the lakeside home of ang san suu kyi. today she played host to the secretary of state. a stroll in the garden of a house that's also been a prison for 15 of the last 21 years during which suu kyi was kept in almost total isolation. this meeting comes a year after a her release. today talk of working to hasten the pace of democratic change. >> we hold the dream you have represented to many of us around the world. we want to be a partner with you, with the new government and with all people of goodwill. >> reporter: behind myanmar's stunning facade lies grinding poverty. they spoke of stepping up if u.s. and others to a closed state. suu kyi said she was happy with the u.s. engablging burma. >> this will be the beginning of a new future for all of us providing we can maintain it and we hope to. >> reporter: they appeared at ease together and it seemed a momentous moment for both of them. a short distance away, we witnessed t

nbc's ian williams is there this morning. ian, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. hillary clinton is the highest ranking u.s. visitor to myanmar for 50 years, coming here to judge for herself the progress of reforms that are bringing unexpected change after two decades of repressive military rule. until just a few weeks ago, this would have been inconceivable, a u.s. secretary of state in myanmar, meeting leaders of what had been regarded as a pariah state all in the surreal and isolated new capital, built from scratch in the middle of nowhere, and with so few people its vast eight-lane highways are almost deserted. until recently it was largely off limits to westerners. it's a world away from the old capital of yangon, a city of dilapidated, colonial era buildings and stunning pogodas where the reforms and clinton's visit are generating enormous hope. >> we are welcome and we are happy to see her. and i hope that it is a good visit for change in burma. >> reporter: until recently, this would have been a