Kim Jong Un (R) clapping during a military parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2010, as his father and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (L) leaves the reviewing platform. The parade was to mark the 65th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers Party of Korea.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2011
Pyongyang, North Korea
Kim Jong Un (C front), son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his successor, salutes as he walks beside the hearse carrying the coffin of the elder Kim in Pyongyang on December 28, 2011. The younger Kim's uncle and presumed guardian Jang Song Thaek (behind Kim Jong Un), a vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, and Ri Yong Ho (R front), chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, are also present.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2014
Chonji Lubricant Factory, Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiles during a visit to the Chonji Lubricant Factory, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang August 6, 2014. KCNA via REUTERS
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2014
Kangwon province, North Korea
Kim Jong Un visits the Songdowon International Children's Camp.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2014
North Korea
Kim Jong Un visits a newly built sports goods factory.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2015
Pyongyang, North Korea
Photo provided by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on October 14, 2015, shows top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un recently having a photo session with the delegates to the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2015
Wonsan Baby Home and Orphanage, Wonsan, North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides field guidance to Wonsan Baby Home and Orphanage, which is close to completion, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 22, 2015.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2015
Pyongyang Baby Home and Orphanage, Pyongyang, North Korea
Kim Jong Un poses for a picture with children during a visit to the Pyongyang Baby Home and Orphanage on New Year's Day.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2016
North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Visits the Kumkop General Foodstuff Factory for Sportspersons in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang January 23, 2016.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2017
Ryomyong Street, Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) cuts the tape at the opening ceremony for a newly constructed residential area on Ryomyong Street in Pyongyang on April 13, 2017.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2017
Kumsong Tractor Factory, Kiyang-dong, North Korea
Kim Jong Un gives field guidance to the Kumsong Tractor Factory in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang November 15, 2017.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2018
Panmunjom, South Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) are in talks during the Inter-Korean Summit on April 27, 2018, in Panmunjom, South Korea. (Photo by Korea Summit Press Pool)
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2018
Pyongyang, North Korea
Chung Eui-Yong (L), head of the presidential National Security Office shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (R) during their meeting on March 5, 2018, in Pyongyang, North Korea. South Korean envoys are to visit North Korea for two days to discuss issues.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2018
Capella Hotel, Sentosa island, Singapore
Kim Jong-un (L) with U.S. President Donald Trump (R) during their historic U.S.-DPRK summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island on June 12, 2018, in Singapore. U.S. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held the historic meeting between leaders of both countries on Tuesday morning in Singapore, carrying hopes to end decades of hostility and the threat of North Korea's nuclear programme. (Photo by Kevin Lim)
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2018
Pyongyang, North Korea
CIA director Mike Pompeo (L) shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in this undated image in Pyongyang, North Korea. Pompeo, now confirmed as Secretary of State, spoke with Kim for more than an hour during a secret visit.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2018
Bukhansan Peace House, Panmunjom, South Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) pose for photos in front of Bukhansan Peace House for the Inter-Korean Summit on April 27, 2018, in Panmunjom, South Korea.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2018
Panmunjom, South Korea
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) are seen during a welcoming ceremony within their meeting at the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea on April 27, 2018. (Photo by Inter-Korean Summit Press Corps)
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2019
Far Eastern Federal University, Russky Island, Primorsky Krai, Russia
Kim Jong Un (L) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin clink glasses during a reception on behalf of Russia's President Vladimir Putin following Russian - North Korean talks at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) on Russky Island. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Valery Sharifulin)
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2019
Presidential Palace, Hanoi, Vietnam
Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, left, shakes hands with Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's President, while posing for a photograph at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Friday, March 1, 2019.
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2019
Taesong Department Store, Pyongyang, North Korea
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un visits Taesong Department Store just before its opening, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 8, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS
Gallery of Kim Jong-un
2019
Potato Farina Production Factory, Samjiyon County, North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the Samjiyon Potato Farina Production Factory in Samjiyon County, North Korea, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 4, 2019.
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Jubilee Medal "75 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
Kim Jong Un (R) clapping during a military parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2010, as his father and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (L) leaves the reviewing platform. The parade was to mark the 65th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers Party of Korea.
Kim Jong Un (C front), son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his successor, salutes as he walks beside the hearse carrying the coffin of the elder Kim in Pyongyang on December 28, 2011. The younger Kim's uncle and presumed guardian Jang Song Thaek (behind Kim Jong Un), a vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, and Ri Yong Ho (R front), chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, are also present.
The photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visiting the General Satellite Control and Command Center on the outskirts of Pyongyang on December 12, 2012.
North Korea's new leader Kim Jong Un (R) and Ri Yong Ho, chief of the Korean People's Army General Staff, applaud while viewing a military parade in Pyongyang on February 16, 2012, part of a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il, the country's late leader and father of Kim Jong Un.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiles during a visit to the Chonji Lubricant Factory, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang August 6, 2014. KCNA via REUTERS
Photo provided by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on October 14, 2015, shows top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un recently having a photo session with the delegates to the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Wonsan Baby Home and Orphanage, Wonsan, North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides field guidance to Wonsan Baby Home and Orphanage, which is close to completion, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 22, 2015.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Visits the Kumkop General Foodstuff Factory for Sportspersons in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang January 23, 2016.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) cuts the tape at the opening ceremony for a newly constructed residential area on Ryomyong Street in Pyongyang on April 13, 2017.
Kim Jong Un gives field guidance to the Kumsong Tractor Factory in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang November 15, 2017.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) are in talks during the Inter-Korean Summit on April 27, 2018, in Panmunjom, South Korea. (Photo by Korea Summit Press Pool)
Chung Eui-Yong (L), head of the presidential National Security Office shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (R) during their meeting on March 5, 2018, in Pyongyang, North Korea. South Korean envoys are to visit North Korea for two days to discuss issues.
Kim Jong-un (L) with U.S. President Donald Trump (R) during their historic U.S.-DPRK summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island on June 12, 2018, in Singapore. U.S. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held the historic meeting between leaders of both countries on Tuesday morning in Singapore, carrying hopes to end decades of hostility and the threat of North Korea's nuclear programme. (Photo by Kevin Lim)
CIA director Mike Pompeo (L) shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in this undated image in Pyongyang, North Korea. Pompeo, now confirmed as Secretary of State, spoke with Kim for more than an hour during a secret visit.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) pose for photos in front of Bukhansan Peace House for the Inter-Korean Summit on April 27, 2018, in Panmunjom, South Korea.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) are seen during a welcoming ceremony within their meeting at the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea on April 27, 2018. (Photo by Inter-Korean Summit Press Corps)
Far Eastern Federal University, Russky Island, Primorsky Krai, Russia
Kim Jong Un (L) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin clink glasses during a reception on behalf of Russia's President Vladimir Putin following Russian - North Korean talks at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) on Russky Island. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Valery Sharifulin)
Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, left, shakes hands with Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's President, while posing for a photograph at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Friday, March 1, 2019.
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un visits Taesong Department Store just before its opening, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 8, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS
Potato Farina Production Factory, Samjiyon County, North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the Samjiyon Potato Farina Production Factory in Samjiyon County, North Korea, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 4, 2019.
Kim Jong-un is a North Korean political official who succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, as leader of North Korea. Since 2012, he also serves as the Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea.
Background
The birthdate and early childhood of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are shrouded in mystery. It is known that he is the third and youngest son of Korean military leader Kim Jong-il (also written Jong Il), who, under the Communist Worker's Party, had ruled North Korea since 1994; and the grandson of Kim Il-sung, his father's predecessor. North Korean authorities and state-run media have stated that Kim's birthdate was 8 January 1982, but South Korean intelligence officials believe the actual date is a year later. It is thought that Kim's official birth year was changed for symbolic reasons; 1982 marks 70 years after the birth of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and 40 years after the official birth of his father Kim Jong-il. The US Treasury Department lists Kim Jong-un's official birthdate as January 8, 1984.
Kim Jong-un's mother was opera singer Ko Young-hee, who had two other children and is thought to have campaigned for Kim Jong-un to be his father's successor before her death in 2004. Kim Jong-il reportedly took a liking to Kim Jong-un, noting that he saw in the youth a temperament similar to himself.
Education
It is thought that Kim Jong-un may have been educated abroad in Switzerland before attending the Kim Il-sung Military University (named after his grandfather) in the capital of Pyongyang in the mid-2000s.
As a young adult, Kim Jong-un began accompanying his father on military inspections. It was thought that he worked either for the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP; the country’s ruling party) or in the army’s General Political Bureau; both organizations were involved in surveillance of government officials.
Rumors began to circulate early in 2009 that he was being groomed as his father’s eventual successor. He was listed as a candidate for the Supreme People’s Assembly in 2009, and that April he was given a post on the powerful National Defense Commission (NDC); the chairmanship of the NDC, defined in the constitution as the country’s highest office, was held by Kim Jong Il. By mid-2009 Kim Jong-Un was being referred to within the country by the title “Brilliant Comrade,” and in June it was reported that he had been named head of the State Security Department, the government agency responsible for political control and counterintelligence. In September 2010 Kim Jong-Un was given the high rank of four-star general, although he was not known to have had any prior military experience. The timing of his appointment was considered significant, as it came shortly before the first general meeting of the KWP since the session in 1980 at which his father had been named Kim Il-Sung’s successor. Over the next year, his own position as a successor became clearer.
After the death of his father in December 2011, Kim Jong-Un was declared the country’s supreme leader, an unofficial title that nonetheless signaled his position as the head of both the government and North Korea’s military forces. In April 2012 his status was validated by the acquisition of several official titles: first secretary of the KWP, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and chairman of the NDC, which was then the country’s highest bureaucratic authority. Kim’s national strategy of byungjin (often translated as “parallel development”), which emphasized the development of the country’s economy along with its defense capabilities, was officially adopted during a 2013 meeting of the KWP central committee. In June 2016 the congress of the Supreme People’s Assembly revised the constitution to broaden and solidify Kim Jong-un’s position. The revisions created a new organization, the State Affairs Commission, with Kim as its head. The new commission replaced the NDC as North Korea’s most powerful governing agency.
Kim made his first public speech as North Korea marked the 100th anniversary of the birthday of founder Kim Il-sung on 15 April 2012, praising the "military first" doctrine and vowing the time his nation could be threatened was "forever over." Under him, the development of North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes has continued and appears to have made rapid strides. A flurry of diplomatic activity followed, with the two Koreas marching under one flag in the Olympic opening ceremony, and high-level meetings taking place between the two sides.
In July 2012, Kim Jong-un showed a change in cultural policy from his father by attending a Moranbong Band concert. The concert contained several elements of pop culture from the West, particularly the United States. Kim used this event to debut his wife to the public, an unprecedented move in North Korea.
In May 2014, following the collapse of an apartment building in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un was said to be very upset at the loss of life that resulted. A statement issued by the country's official news agency the Korean Central News Agency used the rare expression "profound consolation and apology." An unnamed government official was quoted by the BBC as saying Kim Jong-un had "sat up all night, feeling painful." While the height of the building and the number of casualties was not released, media reports described it is a 23-story building and indicated that more than a hundred people may have died in the collapse.
Yet, unexpectedly, Kim Jong-un offered an olive branch to South Korea in his new year's address, saying he was "open to dialogue" and might send a team to the February 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. On January 9, 2018, representatives from North and South Korea met at the Panmunjom truce village, on the border between the two countries, for their first discussions in more than two years. The talks led to an arrangement in which North Korea would participate in the following month's Winter Olympics.
In March 2018, Kim visited Beijing, meeting with General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping. According to Chinese and North Korean outlets, Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks at the Great Hall of the People. Additionally, Xi hosted a banquet for Kim and his wife and treated them to an art performance. Kim reportedly offered the toast, "It is appropriate that my first trip abroad is in China’s capital, and my responsibility to consider continuing NK-China relations as valuable as life."
At the April 2018 inter-Korean summit, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in signed the Panmunjom Declaration, pledging to convert the Korean Armistice Agreement into a full peace treaty, formally ending the Korean War, by the end of the year. On 26 May, Kim had a second and unannounced meeting the North Korean side of Panmunjom, meeting with Moon to discuss his proposed summit with Donald Trump in Singapore.
On 10 June, Kim arrived in Singapore and met with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. On 12 June, Kim held his first summit with US President Donald Trump and signed a declaration, affirming a commitment to peace, nuclear disarmament, and the repatriation of the remains of U.S. war dead.
In February 2019, Kim held another summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, which Trump cut short on the second day without an agreement. The Trump administration said that the North Koreans wanted complete sanctions relief, while the North Koreans said that they were only asking for partial sanctions relief.
On 25 April 2019, Kim held his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was “pleased” with the outcome of his summit meeting Thursday in the Russian city of Vladivostok with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he would discuss the results with China and the United States.
The early years of Kim’s reign were characterized by a ruthless consolidation of power. In December 2013 Kim executed his uncle Jang Song-Thaek, saying that he had “removed the scum” from the v. Jang was a member of Kim Jong Il’s inner circle and had served as a virtual regent for the younger Kim after his father’s death. Jang’s execution also marked a break with Beijing, as Jang had long been an advocate of closer ties with China. Although Jang was the highest-profile official to be purged by Kim, defectors and South Korean intelligence services reported that people who had displeased the regime were being executed on a routine basis. In several cases, individuals who reportedly had been killed in a spectacularly grisly fashion resurfaced years later; such instances provided a clear illustration of just how difficult it was to obtain accurate information about events inside North Korea.
Under Kim Jong II, North Korea’s nuclear weapons program had advanced in fits and starts. The country’s first underground nuclear detonation, in October 2006, came just months after a series of ballistic missile tests, but observers characterized these early forays as middling successes at best. After February 2013, which saw the first nuclear test of the Kim Jong-Un regime, the pace of both underground detonations and long-range missile tests quickened dramatically. By 2017 North Korea had conducted a total of six nuclear tests, including at least one of a device that North Korean officials claimed was small enough to mount on an intercontinental ballistic missile. With a significant part of the mainland United States now theoretically within range of a North Korean nuclear attack, a war of words erupted between Kim and United States President Donald Trump.
While Washington and P’yŏngyang engaged in a steady exchange of insults and bombastic rhetoric, Kim was initiating an unlikely charm offensive of sorts at home. The election of Democratic Party of Korea candidate Moon Jae-In as president of South Korea in May 2017 had opened the door for possible reengagement between North and South Korea. Moon had overseen previous “sunshine” policy overtures toward the North during the administration of South Korean Pres. Roh Moo-Hyun, but the escalation of the North Korean nuclear program led Moon to adopt a much more hawkish tone once in office. Nevertheless, in the weeks before the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in P’yŏngch’ang (Pyeongchang), South Korea, the two countries initiated a dialogue that led to North and South Korean athletes marching into the opening ceremonies as a single body and under a flag that depicted a unified Korea. Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-Jong, attended the games, becoming the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit the South since the end of the Korean War. In a historic meeting with Moon on February 10, Yo-Jong delivered a handwritten note from her brother that invited the South Korean president to visit him in P’yŏngyang “at the earliest date possible.”
The following month Kim hosted members of Moon’s administration at a dinner in P’yŏngyang, the first such meeting he had held with senior South Korean officials since taking power in 2011. At that time, Kim stated that he was open to discussing the elimination of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal if the United States was willing to guarantee the security of North Korea and his regime. That announcement was followed by talk of an unprecedented summit between Kim and Trump, which the Trump administration indicated would take place in or before May 2018. On April 27, 2018, Kim and Moon met for a historic summit at the “peace village” of P’anmunjŏm. It marked the first time that the leaders of the two Koreas had met face-to-face in more than a decade, and the pair discussed the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the conclusion of an armistice that would officially end the Korean War.
By mid-May the details of the meeting between Kim and Trump had begun to crystallize. The summit was scheduled to be held in Singapore. However, a fresh war of words broke out between Washington and P’yŏngyang. Expanding on earlier comments from national security adviser John R. Bolton, U.S. Vice Pres. Mike Pence threatened that North Korea’s government could meet the same fate as deposed and slain Libyan Pres. Muammar al-Qaddafi. North Korean officials responded that Pence’s statement was “ignorant and stupid.” On May 24 Trump announced that he was pulling out of the meeting, and Kim’s government immediately adopted a conciliatory tone, urging Trump to reconsider. Eight days later Trump reversed himself and announced that the summit would proceed as planned. On June 12, 2018, for the first time in history, the leaders of the United States and North Korea met face-to-face. Kim pledged to work “toward complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” while Trump promised to end joint United States–South Korea military exercises.
In April 2019 Kim had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok for the first time.
Views
In an attempt to re-brand Korea and turn it into a “children's heaven nation,” Kim Jong-un spent the early part of his reign endorsing foods like pizza, french fries, and hamburgers. The first pizzeria in North Korea was opened in 2009 during his father’s rule.
Quotations:
"It is the party’s steadfast determination to ensure that the people will never have to tighten their belt again."
"I know the Americans are inherently disposed against us, but when they talk with us, they will see that I am not the kind of person who would shoot nuclear weapons to the south, over the Pacific or at the United States."
"Those who do not cherish an affection for their parents, spouses, and children and for their homes, villages and workplaces cannot love their country and fellow people; they can never become genuine patriots."
"Construction is an important front for solidifying the foundations of a thriving country and creating bases for the people's happy life."
"Socialism is a sacred cause for realizing the demand and desire of the masses of the people for independence; it is a revolutionary cause that advances amid a fierce struggle against imperialism and all other counterrevolutionary forces."
Personality
Kim Jong-un, part of the cyber-generation, is seen as having a more mediagenic style then his father, with the younger Kim having given a New Year's broadcast, taking in musical performances with his wife and being seen as more engaging with soldiers and workers.
He has also embraced more Western cultural tastes, notably highlighted when former American professional basketball player Dennis Rodman paid North Korea a two-day visit in February 2013. During Rodman's stay, Kim accompanied him to watch a basketball game. Rodman claimed that he wanted to help improve relations between the United States and North Korea.
By 2018, when he was extending an olive branch to South Korea for denuclearization talks, Kim was also seeking to portray a kinder, gentler side of himself. The new version of Kim was apparent when he attended a concert for South Korean pop group Red Velvet in Pyongyang, which he called a "present" to his citizens.
Kim Jong-un is known to smoke cigarettes.
Physical Characteristics:
In 2009, reports suggested that Kim Jong-un was a diabetic and suffered from hypertension. Kim Jong-un did not appear in public for six weeks in September and October 2014. State media reported that he was suffering from an "uncomfortable physical condition." Previously he had been seen limping. When he reappeared, he was using a walking stick.
In September 2015, the South Korean government commented that Kim appeared to have gained 30 kg in body fat over the previous five years, reaching a total estimated body weight of 130 kg (290 lb).
Quotes from others about the person
"He's the head of a country, and I mean he's the strong head, don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same." - Donald Trump
Interests
Sport & Clubs
basketball
Connections
On 25 July 2012, North Korean state media reported for the first time that Kim Jong-un is married to Ri Sol-ju (리설주). Ri, who was believed to be in her early 20s, had been accompanying Kim Jong-un to public appearances for several weeks prior to the announcement. According to a South Korean analyst, Kim Jong-il had hastily arranged the marriage after suffering a stroke in 2008, the two married in 2009, and they had a child in 2010. Dennis Rodman, after visiting in 2013, reported that they had a daughter named Ju-ae. However, South Korean sources speculated that they could have many children.