A former North Korean colonel has divulged the lavish lifestyle of late North Korean founder Kim Il-sung which included luxury car collections and private chefs.

Kim Jong-ryul spent 16 years in hiding in Austria after having worked in Europe as a procurement officer for the North’s dictator for 20 years up until 1994.

The former colonel says in a new book published by two Austrian journalists that the late Kim, who died in 1994, owned a dozen huge mansions complete with crystal chandeliers, silk wallpaper and luxury furniture.

According to the former colonel, a number of the villas were built underground and had a ventilation system that could outlast a nuclear attack.

The former colonel said Kim Il-sung only ate foreign cuisine and sent a number of chefs to Austria to be trained in the culinary arts.