The Kim family has a unique and interesting history. It’s a political family that’s known for its ruthless political manoeuvring and personality cult. The Kim family also has a unique connection to their father, Kim Jong Nam. Kim Jong Un’s father and half brother were murdered in Malaysia in February 2017, which was suspected to be a North Korean plot.
Kim Jong Il’s ruthless political manoeuvring
Since his emergence as North Korea’s leader in 1994, Kim Jong Il has sought to strengthen ties with other countries. At first, it appeared as though Kim was following through on an agreement with the United States to completely dismantle the country’s nuclear programme and to construct two nuclear reactors. The nuclear reactors were to be built with South Korea as the primary contractor.
As a child, Kim Jong Il was a skinny boy in jeans and a Chicago Bulls sweatshirt. While he didn’t excel academically, he loved video games and played soccer, basketball and skiing. His idols included basketball star Michael Jordan.
As a child, Kim Jong Il grew up in a cocoon of privilege and indulgence. However, in later years, he has had to deal with the changing relationship between his country and China and with tense nuclear negotiations with the United States. As a result, Kim has chosen to double down on his nuclear weapons.
The kwanliso camps, which held alleged enemies of the state, were a legacy of Kim Jong Il’s regime. An estimated 200,000 North Koreans were detained in these camps. Conditions in the camps included near-starvation and brutal abuse. Former prisoners testify of the horrific conditions in these camps.
Kim Jong Il has been suffering from ill health for years, and he is keen to ensure his son will succeed him. The succession of Kim Jong Il to his son is expected to be formalized in the near future.
Kim Jong Il’s personality cult
The North Korean personality cult developed when Kim Jong Il became the country’s leader. He was often the center of attention in the DPRK, and his birthday is a major public holiday. Kim was regarded as the greatest successor of the revolutionary cause and a “peerless leader”. By the end of his reign, Kim became the most powerful person in the DPRK, second only to his father.
Kim’s personality cult has been on the decline in recent months, and China and Japan are concerned about a change in the country’s power structure. Although the DPRK is shielded from western media, some reports suggest that the Kim Jong Il personality cult is becoming less pronounced. One such report claims that the South Korean military is concerned that Kim is losing control of the DPRK.
In the 1980s, North Korea was in an economic crisis. Its state-controlled command economy stagnated due to juche policies, which isolated the country from traditional partners and external trade. Kim Jong-il took bizarre measures to raise hard currency, such as running a drug-dealing network through embassy offices. The DPRK also has a state security department that functions very much like the Office of the Interior.
Kim Jong-il’s rise through the ranks of the ruling Korean Worker’s Party began in 1964. His first post was in the party’s Organization Department. He was later named a member of the Politburo and named deputy director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department.
The CIA World Factbook describes North Korea’s government as a “Communist state with a one-man dictatorship”.
Kim Jong Nam’s son
The son of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Nam, is a controversial figure. He is known for his love of gambling and clubs and for running the family fortune overseas. It is unclear what his plans are for the future. His remarks are unlikely to win him any favors within North Korea.
He was the firstborn son of Kim Jong-il and grew up in a luxurious mansion surrounded by 500 guards and 100 servants. At an early age, he was sent to an elite private school and given a general’s uniform. Later, he was assigned posts in the secret police and ruling political party. As a young adult, he rose to high positions in the state, including head of the military.
He has the potential to inherit the leadership of North Korea. As an IT industry executive, Kim Jong Nam spent time studying in Switzerland and was appointed to the state Computer Committee in 1998. He was tasked with implementing several technology initiatives, including the use of the country’s “intranet”–a kind of Internet that does not connect to the outside world. Kim Jong Nam is also an accomplished traveler.
Kim Jong Nam’s father, Kim Jong Il, believed that he would be his son’s natural successor. However, in his rare interviews, he declared that he had no interest in assuming the leadership. After all, his father had deemed him too meek to take over the country.
Kim Jong Nam’s uncle Jang Song Thaek, who promoted economic opening in closed North Korea, was also a proponent of liberalizing the country’s borders and opening special economic zones on the border between China and North Korea. He supported the decision to relax the border controls in the late 1990s and allow more North Koreans to travel to China.
