Kim Jong Un

Kim Jong-Un is the son and successor of Kim Jong-Il. Not much is known about when or where the dictator was born, much less anything about his early life. Reportedly, Kim Jong-il had supposedly taken a special liking to his youngest son, Jong-un, which put him in line after his father. After his father’s death, Jong-Un assumed the position of Supreme Leader of North Korea in 2011. Since then, Jong-Un has implemented reforms in an attempt to reignite the North Korean economy.

However, he has also been criticized as one of the worst dictators in modern history due to human rights violations and tyrannical suppression of any opposition to his dictatorship. Jong-Un would execute and remove many senior officials and relatives who could become a potential threat to his position, even his family, such as his uncle and his older half-brother, who was a critic against the Kim regime.

Jong-Un is notoriously known for expanding testing of and research on nuclear and missile technology, which causes international tension and foreign criticism. Even after an initial agreement to stop nuclear testing and long range missile launching in February 2012, Jong-Un launched a satellite in April and December of the same year. In 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2019, he continued to test nuclear weapons and launch ballistic missiles, which sparked international outrage. Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a small yet existing possibility, as Jong-Un has already met with Donald Trump three times in peace treaties to denuclearize in exchange for the US’s security promises.

Despite being devastated by severe famines and food shortages since the 90s, Jong-Un made vows to focus on educational, agricultural and economic reforms to better the quality of life for the North Korean people. However, there seems to have been no decline in the abuse of human rights. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people are being kept in political prison camps facing treatment comparable or even worse than that of the victims of the Holocaust. Regardless of the advocacy against these camps by South Korea and the US, Jong-un has made little to no changes to his tyranny.

Kim has begun to seemingly attempt to restore North Korea’s international relations. He has met with major international leaders, such as the US, South Korea, Russia, and China. He even attended K-Pop concerts, visited Chinese art shows, and advocated for peaceful unification during Pyeongchang 2018. Even behind the controversies, many see hope that Jong-Un will restore North Korea’s relations with the rest of the world.

Aaron B