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The Kim family, officially the Mount Paektu bloodline (Korean: 백두혈통), named for Paektu Mountain, in the ideological discourse of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), and often referred to as the Kim dynasty after the Cold War 's end, is a three-generation lineage of North Korean leadership, descending from the country's founder and first ...
- Introduction
- The Kim Dynasty
- Party Above All
- A Military Rebalance?
- The Economy and The Elite
- The Future of The Regime
North Korea has been ruled by one of the world’s longest-running dynastic dictatorships. Three generations of the Kim family have ruled with absolute authority, using heavy repression and a system of patronage that ensures support from elites and the military. The latest supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, appears to have deftly handled his early years at...
Three generations of Kims have held the position of supreme leader in North Korea since the end of World War II and Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Kim Il-sung was the founding father of North Korea, where he ruled from 1948 until his death in 1994. He was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-il, who served for seventeen years until a fat...
Chief policymaking comes from the WPK’s Central Committee and three subordinate institutions: the Political Bureau, or Politburo; the Control Commission; and the Executive Policy Bureau, which also controls surveillance and appoints top personnel across the party, cabinet, and military. The Central Committee’s Organization Guidance Department (OGD)...
Another ideological tenet, songun, or military first, was embedded as a guiding political philosophy in the 1990s, elevating the military above other elements in society. The military is made up of an estimated 1.2 million active personnel, including two hundred thousand special operations forces, as well as millions more in reserves and paramilita...
North Korea is among the world’s poorest nations, with widespread malnutrition. Its economic activity [PDF] centers on mining and manufacturing, as well as agriculture, forestry, and fishing. As heavy international sanctions intensified North Korea’s isolation, the economy grew at its slowest rate in over a decade in 2018, according to South Korea’...
Experts say Kim Jong-un has deftly navigated his rise to power. While drawing on nostalgia for his grandfather’s era and grandiose persona, “Kim Jong-un is also determined to be seen as a ‘modern leader’ of a ‘modern North Korea,’” writes the Brookings Institution’s Jung H. Pak. Economic development is fashioned as the vehicle for this modernizatio...
- Eleanor Albert
Kim Jong Un[d] (born 8 January 1982, 1983 or 1984) [b] is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since December 2011 and the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012.
Dec 10, 2021 · A new emphasis on consumer culture emerged in North Korea, with Kim Jong-un making televised addresses, embracing modern technology and meeting other world leaders in what appeared to be efforts to improve diplomatic relations.
- Sarah Roller
Dec 17, 2021 · Kim Jong Un’s first decade in power has seen a continuation of the deadly repression and failed policies that have kept North Koreans living in fear and under the threat of starvation for...
Nov 2, 2016 · It's been almost five years since Kim Jong-un became the leader of North Korea. He's the third in the Kim dynasty, following his father, Kim Jong-il, and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, before that.
Sep 11, 2023 · Mythology claimed that the Kims were a semi-divine dynasty who had a close affinity with the near-sacred Mount Paektu that sits on the Korean-Chinese border. By that logic, the young Kim...
