Kim Jong Un

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un
김정은
Kim in 2019
3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 December 2011
Premier	Choe Yong Rim Pak Pong Ju Kim Jae Ryong Kim Tok Hun
Preceded by	Kim Jong Il
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea[a]
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 April 2012
First Vice President	Choe Ryong Hae
Vice President	Hwang Pyong So Pak Pong Ju Choe Ryong Hae Kim Tok Hun
Premier	Pak Pong Ju Kim Jae Ryong Kim Tok Hun
Preceded by	Kim Jong Il
President of the State Affairs of North Korea
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 June 2016
Preceded by	Himself (as First Chairman of the National Defense Commission)
Commander-in-Chief of the Korean People's Army
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 December 2011
Preceded by	Kim Jong Il
First Chairman of the National Defense Commission
In office 11 April 2012 – 29 June 2016
Vice Chairman	Kim Yong Chun Ri Yong Mu Jang Song Thaek O Kuk Ryol Choe Ryong Hae Hwang Pyong So
Premier	Choe Yong Rim Pak Pong Ju
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
Constituency	Paektusan 111
Personal details
Born	(1982-01-08) 8 January 1982 (age 42)[b] Pyongyang, North Korea
Political party	Workers' Party of Korea
Spouse	Ri Sol-ju ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2 unconfirmed, 1 confirmed: Kim Ju-ae
Parents	Kim Jong Il Ko Yong Hui
Relatives	Kim family
Alma mater	Kim Il Sung University Kim Il Sung Military University
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	North Korea
Branch/service	Korean People's Army
Years of service	2010–present
Rank	Wonsu
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	김정은
Hancha	金正恩[1][2]
Revised Romanization	Gim Jeongeun
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Chŏngŭn
IPA	[kim dzʌŋ.ɯːn][c]
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

Kim Jong Un^[d] (born 8 January 1982, 1983 or 1984)^[b] is a North Korean politician and dictator who has been the third Supreme Leader of North Korea since December 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012.^[e] He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, who was the second supreme leader of North Korea, and a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of the country.

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". Kim holds the titles of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs. He is also a member of the Presidium of the WPK Politburo, the highest decision-making body in the country. In July 2012, Kim was promoted to the highest rank of marshal in the Korean People's Army, consolidating his position as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. North Korean state media often refer to him as "Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un" or "Marshal Kim Jong Un". He has promoted the policy of byungjin, similar to Kim Il Sung's policy from the 1960s, referring to the simultaneous development of both the economy and the country's nuclear weapons program. He has also revived the structures of the WPK, expanding the party's power at the expense of the military leadership.

Kim rules North Korea as a totalitarian state, and his leadership has followed the same cult of personality as his father and grandfather. In 2014, a United Nations Human Rights Council report suggested that Kim could be put on trial for crimes against humanity. According to reports, he has ordered the purge and execution of several North Korean officials including his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, in 2013. He is also widely believed to have ordered the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, in Malaysia in 2017. He has presided over an expansion of the consumer economy, construction projects and tourist attractions in North Korea.

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 then South Korean president Moon Jae-in and then U.S. president Donald Trump, leading to a brief thaw between North Korea and the two countries, though the negotiations ultimately broke down without progress on reunification of Korea or nuclear disarmament. 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 several independent observers have questioned this claim. Under his rule, North Korean soldiers have been deployed under Russian command in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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