Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un has ruled North Korea since 2011, the third of his family to do so. Born in 1982 or 1983, the third son of Kim Jong-il by a dancer who was not his official wife, he was educated for several years under an assumed name at a school near Bern in Switzerland, where he was remembered as a quiet boy who liked basketball. He was almost unknown when his father had a stroke in 2008 and the succession became urgent. His eldest half-brother had been disqualified after being caught entering Japan on a false passport to visit Disneyland. He was made a four-star general in 2010 with no military service, and took power on his father's death in December 2011 at about twenty-eight. He consolidated it quickly and violently. His uncle and regent Jang Song-thaek was arrested during a party meeting, denounced and executed in December 2013; his half-brother Kim Jong-nam was killed at Kuala Lumpur airport with VX nerve agent in 2017. His stated policy of byungjin pursued nuclear weapons and the economy together. Four of the country's six nuclear tests took place under him, including a claimed thermonuclear device in 2017, alongside intercontinental missiles capable of reaching the United States. He then met Donald Trump three times in 2018 and 2019, the first meetings between the two countries' leaders, and the talks collapsed at Hanoi over sanctions relief. He permitted small markets to operate, closed the border entirely during the pandemic, and has supplied Russia with munitions and troops.
- Lived: 1984 CE – ?
- Nationality: North Korean
- Roles: dictator, head_of_state, military_leader
