Kim Jong-Un | Facts, Biography, & Nuclear Program
Kim Jong Un[c][d][e] (English: /ˌkɪm dʒɒŋˈʊn, -ˈuːn/;[2] Korean: 김정은; born 8 January 1982, 1983 or 1984)[f] is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012.[g] He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, who was the second supreme leader of North Korea, and a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of the country.
From late 2010, Kim was viewed as the successor to the North Korean leadership. Following his father's death in December 2011, state television announced Kim as the "Great Successor". Kim holds the titles of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs. He is also a member of the Presidium of the WPK Politburo, the highest decision-making body in the country. In July 2012, Kim was promoted to the highest rank of Marshal in the Korean People's Army, consolidating his position as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. North Korean state media often refer to him as "Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un" or "Marshal Kim Jong Un". He has promoted the policy of byungjin, similar to Kim Il Sung's policy from the 1960s, referring to the simultaneous development of both the economy and the country's nuclear weapons program. He has also revived the structures of the WPK, expanding the party's power at the expense of the military leadership.
Kim rules North Korea as a totalitarian state, and his leadership has followed the same cult of personality as his father and grandfather. In 2014, a United Nations Human Rights Council report suggested that Kim could be put on trial for crimes against humanity. According to reports, he has ordered the purge and execution of several North Korean officials including his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, in 2013. He is also widely believed to have ordered the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, in Malaysia in 2017. He has presided over an expansion of the consumer economy, construction projects and tourist attractions in North Korea.
Kim expanded the country's nuclear weapons program, which led to heightened tensions with the United States and South Korea, as well as China. In 2018 and 2019, Kim took part in summits with South Korean president Moon Jae-in and US president Donald Trump, leading to a brief thaw between North Korea and the two countries, though the negotiations ultimately broke down without progress on reunification of Korea or nuclear disarmament. He has claimed success in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea, as the country did not report any confirmed cases until May 2022, although several South Korean observers have questioned this claim.
The young daughter of Kim Jong-un is seen as her father’s heir apparent, South Korea’s spy agency has said, after speculation that the North Korean ruler is grooming her to become the fourth member of the dynasty to lead the country since its foundation more than seven decades ago.
There has been intense international speculation about Kim Ju-ae, who is reportedly about 10 years old, since she made her first public appearance in November 2022 when she watched a long-range missile test launch with her father.
The assessment by the National Intelligence Service came soon before residents of two South Korean islands close to the countries’ tense maritime border were ordered to seek shelter after North Korea fired artillery rounds into the sea on Friday.
“The North Korean military conducted over 200 rounds of firing today from about 9-11am (1200 to 0200 GMT) in the areas of Jangsan-got in the northern part of Baengnyeong island and the northern areas … of Yeonpyeong island,” a South Korean defence ministry official said at a briefing.
Officials on Yeonpyeong said civilians had been asked to evacuate, describing the order as a “preventive measure”.
The ministry would not confirm if the order was prompted by artillery fire from North Korea or by South Korean drills conducted in response. However, a text message sent to residents and confirmed by an island official cited “naval fire” to be conducted by South Korean troops from 3pm on Friday.
The waters near the disputed Northern Limit Line have been the site of several deadly clashes, including the sinking of a South Korean navy corvette early in 2010 by what is believed to be a North Korean torpedo.
In November 2010, North Korean artillery fired scores of rounds at Yeonpyeong killing four people, including two civilians, in one of the heaviest attacks on its neighbour since the Korean war ended in 1953.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said it was not unusual for North Korea to fire artillery into the sea near the maritime border during its winter exercises.
“What’s different this year is that the two Koreas have recently backed away from a military confidence-building agreement, and Kim Jong-un has publicly disavowed reconciliation and unification with the South,” Easley said, adding that Pyongyang could “miscalculate that its claimed nuclear weapons give it control over escalation in case of a deadly incident”, despite warnings from the South’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, that any attack would be met with a stern response.
Kim Ju-ae has since accompanied Kim Jong-un to major public events, with state media calling her the North Korean leader’s “most beloved” or “respected” child and releasing footage and photos proving her rising political standing and closeness with her father.
South Korea’s spy agency made its assessment of her future role citing a comprehensive analysis of her public activities and the state protocols provided to her.
A senior general knelt and whispered to her when she clapped while watching a military parade at a VIP observation stand in September. She was photographed standing in front of her father at one point during a visit to the air force headquarters in November, with both Kims wearing sunglasses and long leather jackets. In a New Year’s Eve celebration at a packed Pyongyang stadium on Sunday, Kim Jong-un kissed her on the cheek and she did the same to her father.
Most of these scenes had been unimaginable in North Korea, where Kim Jong-un uses ruthless means to secure loyalty among officials and the country’s 26 million people.
The spy agency’s public affairs office said it still considers all possibilities regarding the North Korea’s power succession process because Kim Jong-un, who turns 40 on Monday, is still young, has no known major health issues, and has at least one other child.
The agency has an imperfect record in confirming developments in North Korea, one of the world’s most secretive nations. North Korea’s state media has yet to make any direct comments on succession or whether Kim Ju-ae has any siblings.
Du Hyeogn Cha, an analyst at the Asian Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said few could predict whether Kim Ju-ae would eventually become the North Korea’s next leader, adding that she lacked the political achievements essential to be formally anointed.
Since North Korea’s foundation in 1948, it has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family. Kim Jong-un inherited power after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in late 2011. Kim Jong-il had become leader after his father and North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung, died in 1994.
The name of Ju-ae matched what the retired NBA star Dennis Rodman called Kim’s baby daughter, whom he said he saw and held during a trip to Pyongyang in 2013. The spy agency told lawmakers in a private briefing last year that Kim Ju-ae had an older brother, as well as a younger sibling whose gender the agency had not confirmed.
The agency said at the time that she had never been enrolled in an official education facility and was getting homeschooled in Pyongyang, according to some of the lawmakers who attended the briefing.
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