North Korea is a country shrouded in mystery. They do not allow their citizens to leave,
and they cannot receive information from the outside world. The very few people who are allowed inside
are under strict supervision. From the perspective of the United States,
all we see of Kim Jong-un in the media is a Communist leader who is threatening nuclear
war and violating human rights. He has had his hand in a number of assassinations
of his enemies, as well. For many people, that’s all they need to
know to form an opinion, and they imagine that his an evil dictator on par with Adolf
Hitler. But the truth about this man is far more complicated. Family Background, and Early Life
Before we get into the details of Kim Jong-un, it’s important to understand a little bit
of history about North Korea. During World War II, Japan was occupying Korea,
and the country fell into a state of extreme poverty. They became independent again in 1945, but
the country was now at rock bottom. It was extremely difficult to raise their
economy out of the depression, especially since they were years behind the western world
in manufacturing and transportation. This desperate time made some citizens open
to the ideas of Communism, where the government is responsible for providing food, shelter,
and employment to its citizens. The USSR was eager to help, so Russia provided
weapons to North Korea, and it split off from the South in 1948. Their leader was a man named Kim Il-Sung. In the beginning, things were actually going
very well. Kim Il-Sung kept his promises. He improved agriculture, and no one was hungry
anymore. He brought industrialism to the country, which
gave the citizens jobs. They built up the capital city of Pyongyang,
and the country was progressing very quickly. For years, North Korea was far ahead of South
Korea’s progress. People loved Kim Il-Sung so much, they called
him “The Supreme Leader”, and began making up legends that he was a God with supernatural
abilities. In 1950, the Korean War began, and the USSR
and China teamed up with North Korea in their attempt to take over the South. The United States fought on the side of democracy,
and they helped South Korea win back their territory. American soldiers are still stationed at the
border to this day, even though the war was nearly 70 years ago. In the North Korean version of history, America
attacked first, and they were just defending themselves. This triggered years of anti-American propaganda,
and a ban on all American made products. The feeling was mutual. The United Nations created trade embargoes
against North Korea, and refused to work together with Communist nations. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, North
Korea ran out of money, and it triggered a widespread famine where citizens were starving
again, and people struggled to survive. This was no longer the utopia that Kim Il-Sung
had envisioned, and his son, Kim Jong-il, was doing very little to fix anything during
his reign. If anything, he exploited his power to the
fullest extent, and did things that were truly evil, which only made North Korea’s reputation
worse. Kim Jong-il had several children with multiple
mistresses. At least three sons and two daughters are
known to the public. Kim Jong-un was his third son, born in 1983. Switzerland is one of the few neutral countries
who was willing to work together with North Korean diplomats, so Kim Jong-il sent his
children to boarding school there. Un was given the alias of “Pak Un”. He got to experience a normal childhood living
in an apartment with a family who worked at the Swiss embassy. He was given lessons on how to speak German,
but he had to enter a class of students who were two years younger than him in order to
catch up to the reading level. At first, he struggled, but he was eventually
able to make good friends with the other kids. His teachers say that he enjoyed playing gameboy,
and that his favorite sport was basketball. He was an average student who enjoyed gym
class far more than academic subjects. He wore different Nike tracksuits every single
day to school. At home, he loved watching the NBA and American
action movies. His mother was one of Kim Jong-il’s mistresses-
an opera singer named Ko Young-hee. She would fly back and forth from North Korea
on a private jet to visit him, sometimes staying for several weeks at a time. He was able to visit several countries in
Europe, and Japan, and spent most of his young life learning about the world outside North
Korea. When he was 17 years old, he was taking High
School classes, and preparing for graduation. One day, “Pak Un” didn’t come to class. Everyone assumed he was out sick, but days
turned into weeks, and he never came back. He was ordered to leave so suddenly, that
he never got to say goodbye to his friends. He began taking college classes in North Korea. He was never allowed to tell anyone about
the secrets of the outside world, since the entire nation was still living like it was
frozen in a time capsule of the 1960’s. His older brother, Kim Jong-nam, was originally
supposed to become the new leader of North Korea. The second son, Chul, is described as being
very effeminate, and not “appropriate” for a fierce leader. Un was third in line for succession, so growing
up, he would have never expected to take on that responsibility. However, the eldest brother Nam got himself
into a lot of trouble. In 2001, Nam was caught using fake passports
while trying to take his family to Tokyo Disneyland, and it was all over the news. His carelessness made members of the North
Korean elite lose trust in his abilities. For the next two years, Nam would openly criticize
the way his father was running the country. In 2003, he was exiled from North Korea, and
20-year old Un was told that his older brother was gone. He would need to become the next “Supreme
Leader”. When Kim Jong-Il had his first stroke, Un
was 25 years old. His advisors knew it was time to begin teaching
him how to become the new leader. However, his father died in 2011. Un only had about a year of political training
at this point, but it was too late. At 26 years old, he became the dictator of
North Korea. Once he was revealed to the nation as their
new Supreme Leader, people were skeptical about his young age, but they also loved him
right away. He was very friendly and mild-mannered, and
he reminded a lot of people of his beloved grandfather, Kim Il-Sung. The superstitious Korean people began a rumor
that Un was actually a reincarnation of his grandfather who came back from the dead to
bring North Korea back to its former glory The New Regime
There are few people living outside of North Korea who know Kim Jong-Un well enough to
be able to testify for his character. Kenji Fujimoto is a chef from Japan who was
hired by Kim Jong-Il to cook his meals, and they became good friends after Un returned
home from studying abroad. Fujimoto was one of the very few people who
he could talk to openly about the outside world. He marveled at the fact that foreign grocery
stores were always filled with food, but in North Korea, they are always empty. Un knew there was something deeply wrong with
his country, and he wanted to make it better. He confided in Fujimoto that when he became
the new leader, he planned to model North Korea’s economy after China, whose wealth
boomed from their production and world-wide distribution. In 2012, when he gave his first speech as
the new leader, Kim Jong-Un declared that this would be a “new” North Korea, and
all of the struggles were behind them. When he came into power, children were still
dying of malnutrition. His first mission was to make sure his people
had enough to eat. He spoke about his immense respect for the
loyalty of his people, and how they deserve so much better. He said, “Our people should never have to
tighten their belts again.” From day one, Kim Jong-Un has made an effort
to be the polar opposite of his father. Kim Jong-il never made a single public speech
during the course of his reign. He kept his citizens out of the loop, and
completely avoided interacting with them. His father and his friends in the elite class
enjoyed a life of luxury. Any help from charities from the outside world
went to feeding the rich, while babies continued to die of starvation every day. Kim Jong-Un had to undo decades of damage
done by his father. It would take time, but he kept his word. Un set out new economic and agricultural reforms
that brought more food to the people. Within a year or two, people were healthy
again. Un was a young, possibly naive man with big
hopes and dreams. He truly did want to use his position of power
fix his country. But he would soon find out is that even in
the position of Supreme Leader, some problems are far too complicated for one person to
fix. The Attempted Coup
Before Kim Jong-Un came into power, generals were national heroes, and they were all apart
of an elite class in North Korea. A lot of the power and in the government was
going to these military leaders. Many people don’t realize that North Koreans
call their country “The DPRK”, which stands for “The Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea”, but the people’s republic was clearly lacking the funding and power that
it needed. One of Kim Jong-Un’s first executive decisions
was to remove all of the power from the military, and give some back to the people and their
representatives. His uncle, Jang Song-thaek, was a decorated
general, so this executive order stripped away much of his political power. Before Kim Jong-il died, there was some speculation
that Jang Song-thaek would become the new leader of the country, since Un was still
so young. For the first year of Un’s reign, Jang Song-thaek
offered his nephew some guidance in how to run the government, but it was clear that
he was just trying to be a puppet-master. This only lasted for about a year. In 2013, Kim Jong-Un ordered the execution
of his uncle. He was shot by a firing squad. In the past, whenever there was a sudden death
of a member of the elite, everyone knew that it was an execution, but the government would
explain it away by saying it was a car accident or a heart attack. Kim Jong-Un shocked the public by admitting
that he had his uncle killed because he was attempting to overthrow him and take the position
of Supreme Leader for himself. In North Korea, if someone commits a serious
crime, there are really only three options- send them to a prison camp, kill, or exile. Considering how much power Jang Song-thaek
had in the North Korean military, killing him was really the only option. Kim Jong-Un also killed many of the men who
were helping his uncle plan the coup. For the other military leaders running the
government, Kim Jong-un forced them into retirement, and replaced them with people that he knew
he could trust. It was later revealed in the world-wide press
that Jang Song-thaek was a pedoephile, and he had an arrangement with Kim Jong-il when
he was still alive. They targeted extremely young girls who would
audition to be apart of some artistic role, only to become Song-thaek’s play things. He had these young girls bathe his naked body
daily. Basically, while we’re not trying to promote
murder, killing Jang Song-thaek with a firing squad was letting him get off easy compared
to what inmates would have done to him in the US prison system, for example. However, the western media latched onto this
story, saying he went on a “killing spree”. This was also very shocking for North Korean
citizens to hear, because they are a culture that deeply respects their elders. Bringing The DPRK To the 21st Century
While North Korea is still very sheltered from the outside world, Kim Jong-Un has actually
made a lot of effort to slowly incorporate modern life into the DPRK. He has invited in groups from around the world
to entertain and teach people in things they have never seen before, like a group called
Surf North Korea. However, these are special privileges reserved
for the elite class. .
He allowed North Koreans to gain access to smartphones, computers, and HD televisions. Students are also learning computer programming
in university. However, they cannot gain access to The World
Wide Web, and there is only one TV channel used to spread propaganda. Their phones are only good for making local
calls, and all of this still only affordable for people in the upper class. Kim Jong-Un began sending his country’s
current and future leaders to schools in Singapore, Vietnam, Canada, and Hong Kong to receive
a proper education in economics and politics. He hopes that they will return with a better
understanding on how to help change the North Korean government, and help transition their
economy into a free market. Many people get access to DVD’s and flash
drives smuggled in from China with South Korean TV shows and movies. It is now common for citizens who own TV’s
and computers to see what the outside world is truly like, even though they are not allowed
to leave. Un made an unlikely friendship with the professional
basketball player Dennis Rodman. In a 2018 interview with CNN, Rodman explained
that he wanted to give Kim Jong-un a present for his birthday by flying over an American
basketball team to North Korea. No one in their country had ever seen an NBA
game before. Despite the difficulty getting into the country,
Rodman was able to pull it off. Kim Jong-un told him, “This is the first
time someone has ever kept their word to me.” He went on to explain that people usually
spout false promises about trying to make peace with his country, and that makes it
nearly impossible to trust any outsiders. For the people who have defected into South
Korea, they say that the transition came as a shock. There were so many more lights, cars, and
people than they were used to. Actress Yeon-Mi Park says that she is always
studying very hard to catch up to her peers by learning how to read and write the Korean
language and catch up to everything there is to know about the outside world. We will never be able to read Kim Jong-un’s
mind to see his long-term goals. If the truth of the outside world was brought
to these people who have been living an isolated and oppressed life in for so many years, there
would be a revolt, and Kim Jong-un would lose his power. If he wants to open North Korea up to the
rest of the world, it’s not something that can be done overnight. Remember that these people are essentially
stuck in a time capsule. At this point, exposing them to the outside
world all at once would be incredibly overwhelming, and it may lead to bloodshed. We don’t know if he is more concerned with
keeping people oppressed to maintain his power, or if he knows that this process of globalization
in North Korea will take time. Personal Life
When he was still alive, Un’s father helped himself to a harem of actresses and singers,
and he arranged for his three sons to have the ability to sleep with any woman they wanted. But according to Kenji Fujimoto, the teenaged
Un simply wasn’t interested in sleeping around. He was very protective of his younger sister,
and showed a lot of respect towards women in general. He preferred to read books, watch movies,
and play basketball over partying and going on dates. Fujimoto was so shocked by the boy’s disinterest
in the harem that he often wondered if he was actually gay. One day, however, Un made a comment that confirmed
to Fujimoto that he did, in fact, like girls just as much as any other teenage boy. He just wanted to fall in love. Kim Jung-Un is married to a woman named Ri
Sol Ju. She was a singer in her younger years, but
after marrying Kim Jung-Un, she began pursuing a college degree in science, and completed
her PhD. The details about their relationship were
kept secret, and their marriage was only announced in 2012, after he became the new leader of
North Korea. However, some say that they had already been
married for years before then. As First Lady, Ri Sol-Ju enjoys organizing
events for her husband, and she is often seen accompanying him in public. While this seems totally normal to the outside
world, Kim Jung-un is actually the first North Korean leader who allowed his wife to be seen
in public. He also brings along his sister, aunt, and
one of his father’s former consorts with him to events, because they are part of his
inner circle of advisors. While we may never know the intimated details
of his marriage, their body language shows that they are very loving with one another. According to Dennis Rodman, he met one of
their daughters, a little girl named Ju-ae. Many have speculated that he has multiple
children, but they are never shown in the public eye to protect their anonymity. They are receiving a private education abroad,
just like he did. Instead of relying on a male heir to take
over his throne, Kim Jong-Un has been paying for the training of his younger sister, Kim
Yo-jong, so she can become the new Supreme Leader of the country, if anything should
happen to him. She is usually present during very important
meetings with national leaders. Nuclear Power And Oppression
While he is better than his father in just about every way, Kim Jong-Un is far from being
the perfect leader. North Korean citizens are still not allowed
to come and go from the country as they please. As a Communist nation, people are not allowed
to choose their own career. They do not have freedom of speech or religion,
and the press is a never-ending propaganda machine. One of the main criticisms he receives is
for the harsh treatments of prisoners in the Gulags and concentration camps. Prisoners are being used for uranium mining,
and their bodies have been riddled with radiation. Considering that he wants to keep up with
his nuclear arsenal, uranium mining has become a necessary evil. Then, of course, there is the fact that Kim-Jong-Un
has made multiple threats of nuclear war against the United States. This is an incredibly frightening thing to
think about, and it has had Americans on edge. However, when you interview South Koreans,
not many people are worried, despite the fact that they live right next door. They believe that Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear
threat is the only thing the country has for leverage to prevent a more powerful nation
from invading them. Remember that there are thousands of American
troops at their border, and with all of the other major powers in the world owning nuclear
weapons, this is just a way for them to become on-level with “mutually assured destruction”,
meaning that no President in their right mind would attack a country who has nuclear weapons
at their disposal, because it would mean both countries would be obliterated. Even though military training is a requirement
for every citizen of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un never received any, himself. But the North Korean propaganda machine has
built up this myth that he was sent away to receive some of the best military training
in the world, so he runs military drills to keep up this illusion. He was given the equivalent ranking of a 3-star
general. None of the young soldiers have ever been
to war, and the military leaders from the Korean War are all but gone. North Korea has outdated weapons that were
given to them by the Soviet Union decades ago, and while they are dangerous, there is
no way they would ever win a war if they took on South Korea. A man named Robert Carlin is a CIA negotiator
with North Korea. He summed up this grand show up nuclear power
perfectly. “One thing every North Korean leader has
understood, and (Kim Jong-un) does too, is that if they lower their guard, they will
be treated by the major powers as the used furniture of history. The will simply be discarded, walked over,
ignored. Otherwise, why pay any attention to them? So, they have to make sure people care about
them.” In 2018, Kim Jong-Un met with the President
of South Korea, Moon Jae-In, and the President of the United States, Donald Trump, in order
to bring their countries to a place of peace, where progress can soon be made. We can only hope that there will be a solution
to this incredibly complicated situation without ever going to war.
I also recommend loyal citizens of Pyongyang in Seoul.
Pretty convenient how he left out MacArthur triggering Chinese intervention!
Also the fact that his brother was assassinated should be worth mentioning, even though there is no concrete evidence that NK is behind it.
Still, I don't disagree that he's NK's best chance, compared to CIA's messy regime changes.