Kim Jong Un facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Respected Comrade
Kim Jong Un
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김정은
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Kim in 2019
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| General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea | |
| Assumed office 11 April 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Kim Jong Il |
| President of the State Affairs of North Korea | |
| Assumed office 29 June 2016 |
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| First Vice President | Choe Ryong Hae |
| Vice President |
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| Premier |
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| Preceded by | Himself (as First Chairman of the National Defense Commission) |
| Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army | |
| Assumed office 30 December 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Kim Jong Il |
| First Chairman of the National Defense Commission | |
| In office 11 April 2012 – 29 June 2016 |
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| Vice Chairman |
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| Premier |
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| Preceded by | Kim Jong Il (as Chairman) |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as President of the State Affairs) |
| Member of the Supreme People's Assembly | |
| In office 9 April 2009 – 11 April 2019 |
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| Constituency | Paektusan 111 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 January 1982 (per North Korean sources) Pyongyang, North Korea |
| Political party | Workers' Party of Korea |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 (unconfirmed), including Kim Ju-ae |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Kim family |
| Alma mater |
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| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | North Korea |
| Branch/service | Korean People's Army |
| Years of service | 2010–present |
| Rank | Marshal of the Republic |
| Korean name | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 김정은 |
| Hancha | 金正恩 |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Chŏngŭn |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Jeong(-)eun |
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Central institution membership
2012–present: Member, Presidium of the Political Bureau of the 6th, 7th, 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
2012–present: Member, Political Bureau of the 6th, 7th, 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea 2010–present: Member, 6th, 7th, 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Other offices held
2012–present: Chairman, Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea
2010–2012: Vice Chairman, Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea |
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Kim Jong Un (English: /ˌkɪm dʒɒŋˈʊn, -ˈuːn/; born 8 January 1982 or 1983) 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. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, who was North Korea's second supreme leader from 1994 to 2011, and Ko Yong Hui. He is a grandson of Kim Il Sung, who was the founder and first supreme leader of North Korea from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994.
Kim rules North Korea as a totalitarian state, and his leadership has followed the same cult of personality as his father and grandfather.
Contents
Early life
Kim Jong Un is the second of three children of Ko Yong Hui and Kim Jong Il; his elder brother, Kim Jong Chul, was born in 1981, while his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, is believed to have been born in 1987. He is a grandson of Kim Il Sung, who was the founder of and led North Korea from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Kim is the first leader of North Korea to have been born a North Korean citizen, his father having been born in the Soviet Union and his grandfather having been born during the Japanese colonial period.
All of Kim Jong Il's children are said to have lived in Switzerland, as well as the mother of the two youngest sons, who lived in Geneva for some time. First reports said that Kim Jong Un attended the private International School of Berne in Gümligen in Switzerland under the name "Chol-pak" or "Pak-chol" from 1991 to 1998. He was described as shy, a good student who got along well with his classmates, and was a basketball fan. He was chaperoned by an older student, thought to be his bodyguard. His elder brother Kim Jong Chul also attended the school with him.
Later, it was reported that Kim Jong Un attended the Liebefeld Steinhölzli state school in Köniz, near Bern, under the name "Pak-un" or "Un-pak" from 1998 until 2000 as the son of an employee of the North Korean embassy in Bern. Authorities confirmed that a North Korean student from North Korea attended the school during that period. Kim first attended a special class for foreign-language children and later attended the regular classes of the 6th, 7th, 8th and part of the final 9th year, leaving the school abruptly in the autumn of 2000. He was described as a well-integrated and ambitious student who liked to play basketball. However, his grades and attendance rating are reported to have been poor.
Most analysts agree that Kim Jong Un attended Kim Il Sung University, a leading officer-training school in Pyongyang, from 2002 to 2007. Kim obtained two degrees, one in physics at Kim Il Sung University and another as an Army officer at the Kim Il Sung Military University.
Leader of North Korea
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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". He was publicly declared Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army on 24 December 2011.
Kim is a member of the Presidium of the WPK Politburo, the highest decision-making body in the country. He has been promoting a policy of byungjin, similar to his grandfather Kim il Sung's policies from the 1960s, developing the national economy in parallel with the country's nuclear weapons program.
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 denuclearization. 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 many experts doubt this claim.
He has presided over an expansion of the consumer economy, including entertainment and cosmetics. His government has overseen the construction of amusement parks, aquatic parks, skating rinks, a dolphinarium and a ski resort. Kim has promoted projects to create and develop tourist attractions in North Korea.
Human rights violations
In 2014, a United Nations Human Rights Council report suggested that Kim could be put on trial for crimes against humanity. He has ordered the purge and execution of several North Korean officials. He is also widely believed to have ordered the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, in Malaysia in 2017.
Family
On 25 July 2012, North Korean state media reported for the first time that Kim Jong Un was married to Ri Sol Ju. 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 son in 2010. Dennis Rodman, after visiting in 2013, reported that they had a second newborn child, a daughter named Ju Ae. According to South Korean intelligence sources, the couple is believed to have had a third child, a daughter, in February 2017.
Kim is sometimes accompanied by his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, who is said to be instrumental in creating his public image and organising public events for him. According to Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, and others, the promotion of Yo Jong and others is a sign that "the Kim Jong Un regime has ended its co-existence with the remnants of the previous Kim Jong Il regime by carrying out a generational replacement in the party's key elite posts".
Interesting facts about Kim Jong Un
- North Korean sources claim that Kim Jong Un was born on 8 January 1982. However, the actual date is a year later. It is possible that Kim's official birth year was changed for symbolic reasons; 1982 marked the seventieth birthday of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, and forty years after the official birth of his father Kim Jong Il.
- Kim was described by classmates in Switzerland as a shy child.
- He distinguished himself in sports and had a fascination with the American National Basketball Association and Michael Jordan.
- Kim holds the titles of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs.
- In July 2012, Kim was promoted to the highest rank of Marshal in the Korean People's Army.
- North Korean state media often refer to him as "Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un" or "Marshal Kim Jong Un".
- The first official image of Kim as an adult was released on 30 September 2010. Prior to that, there was only one publicly known photograph of him taken when he was eleven.
- The term "Kimjongunism" is used to describe an independent ideological system centered on Kim.
Awards and honors
Jubilee Medal "75 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (Russia, 2020) — awarded for his efforts at preserving the memory of Soviet soldiers who died during the Soviet–Japanese War (1945) and were buried in North Korea
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Images for kids
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Portraits of Kim Jong Un's father and grandfather (Arirang Festival mass games in Pyongyang)
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A selection of Kim Jong Un's works, translated to different languages
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People in Pyongyang watch Kim Jong Un on North Korean TV, 2015
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North Korean soldiers saluting at the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery in Pyongyang, 2012
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Kim (holding envelope) with Chung Eui-yong. Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong (on the right) is said to be very close to him.
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See also
In Spanish: Kim Jong-un para niños
