Update: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died Saturday, December 17 after 17 years in power. It was announced that Kimg Jong-un will become North Korea's 'Great Successor'.
Kim Jong-un is the third and youngest known son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. His appointment as a military general on Monday comes ahead of Tuesday’s start of the biggest meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party in 30 years.
BIRTH
Kim Jong-un is thought to have been born on Jan. 8, 1984. His mother Ko Yong-hui, also written as Ko Young-hee, was an ethnic Korean born in Japan who went to the communist state and joined one of its elite dance troupes. Ms. Ko also gave birth to the North Korean leader’s second son, Kim Jong-chol, in 1981. Ms. Ko, who died in 2004, probably from cancer, was either Kim Jong-il’s official wife or mistress.
Kim Jong-un’s name in Chinese characters translates as “righteous cloud.”
EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION
Kim Jong-un attended an international school in Switzerland, where he learned to speak English, German and French. He is believed to have graduated in 1998. He later returned to North Korea and studied military science at Kim Il-sung Military University between 2002 and 2006. There are few known photographs of him. He has generally been more elusive than his two elder brothers, who have been spotted travelling outside the North.
CHARACTER
Kenji Fujimoto, who served as the personal chef for Kim Jong-il, wrote in a book that Kim Jong-un bears the closest resemblance to his father among his three sons.
Kim Jong-un is also reported to have a ruthless streak and the strongest leadership skills of the three. And, perhaps more importantly, he is thought to be his father’s favourite, Mr. Fujimoto and other informed sources have been reported as saying.
South Korean media have speculated that Kim Jong-un may also suffer from diabetes, something that is thought to have long plagued his father.
CULT OF PERSONALITY
There is none for Kim Jong-un, who has rarely been mentioned in the North’s state media and is virtually unknown to the North’s people. By contrast, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il was known for decades and lauded as a revolutionary hero by the North’s propaganda machine well before he took over after his father and state founder “Great Leader” Kim Il-sung died in 1994.
Behind the scenes, there have been moves to promote the young Kim. In 2006, badges with his face were reportedly distributed among senior North Korean officials. A year later he was reported to be working in one of the departments responsible for monitoring members of the party and military.
There have also been reports that songs praising the son are sung on special occasions, and he has been given the title of “Brilliant Comrade,” much like his father, the “Dear Leader,” and his grandfather, the “Great Leader.”
PROSPECTS FOR CONTROL
Kim Jong-un will likely not be able to run the state on his own given his youth, inexperience and lack of recognition among North Koreans, analysts say.
Kim Jong-il has promoted Jang Song-taek, his brother-in-law, to the powerful National Defence Commission, which many analysts take to be an attempt to establish a mechanism for the eventual transfer of power to Kim Jong-un, with Mr. Jang as caretaker and kingmaker.
