Kim Jong-un (born 8 January 1983) was Supreme Leader of North Korea from 13 April 2012, succeeding Kim Jong-il.
Biography[]
Kim Jong-un was born on 8 January 1983 to the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, and he attended school in Switzerland under the name "Pak-chol" and "Pak-un" as an alias from 1993 to 2000. From 2002 to 2007 he attended Kim Il-sung University, an officer training school, and after his brother Kim Jong-nam's falling-out with his father in 2001, Kim Jong-un became the new heir to Kim Jong-il. On 17 December 2011 his father died, and he was declared the "great successor to the revolutionary cause Juche", an "outstanding leader of the party, army, and people", and a "respected comrade who is identical to Supreme Commander Kim Jong-il". On 11 April 2012 he was declared First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, making him the new Supreme Leader.
Kim Jong-un was an aggressive leader in the conflict with South Korea, the United States, and Japan, and he was responsible for escalating the crisis involving North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons. He tested nuclear bombs a few times, and in 2013 there was a crisis involving the possibility that North Korean missiles could be launched at the United States. He was also infamous for his purges, replacing three Ministers of Defense and four Chiefs-of-Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA), executing five out of the seven men who escorted his father's hearse (including his uncle Jang Sung-taek, and killing Minister of Defense Hyon Yong-chol on 30 April 2015; he wanted to erase all traces of his father's rule and replace his father's ministers with ministers loyal only to him. On 10 December 2015 he claimed that he had acquired a hydrogen bomb, although South Korea said that it was unlikely. Throughout 2016, North Korea tested multiple nuclear bombs, and Kim also purged members of the government who "disrespected" him; these offenses varied from criticism to falling asleep at a conference. Kim adopted a Stalinist style of governance, and he increased North Korea's isolation with its purges and bomb tests.