Kim Jong-un Height, Weight, Age, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kim Jong-un

• His year of birth has always been a matter of debate. Many sources claim that his year of birth was changed to 1982 for propaganda purposes as 1982 marked Kim Il Sung’s birth anniversary.

• Kim became the first Supreme Leader of the Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK) who was born in North Korea as his grandfather was born in Soviet Russia, and his father in Unified Kora (during Imperial Japan’s occupation).

• His grooming as the future dictator of North Korea began at an early age. His father got him a three-star general’s uniform stitched when he was six and asked senior military officers to salute him whenever they saw him.

• At the age of 11, he started carrying a firearm with himself and was reportedly well-versed in firing all types of pistols and assault rifles used by the North Korean military.

• Kim Jong-un has often been spotted smoking a cigarette during public meetings. According to his cook, Kenji, who worked for Kim when he was a teenager, Kim began smoking in his early teens and had a liking for the Yves Saint Laurent menthol cigarettes.

• He also developed a liking for McDonald’s Big Mac at a very young age, and he often asked Kenji to get him some from China on a private aeroplane.

• He began driving a car at the age of 7. His father gifted him his first Mercedes when he was just 10 years old.

• Kim Jong-un is an equestrian. He learned horseriding at an early age.

• He drinks alcohol. Several reports suggest that he has alcohol and nicotine dependency.

• Kim Jong-un secretly attended the school in Switzerland.

• At the International School of Berne in Switzerland, he took up the name Chol-pak or Pak-chol.

• He developed a liking for basketball there and became a fan of the American NBA team Chicago Bulls. Many of his classmates claim that he used to spend hours sketching the players of the team. He also developed a passion for computers.

• He once again changed his name to Pak-un or Un-pak after he shifted to the Liebefeld Steinhölzli State School in Switzerland. He studied there as the child of a North Korean diplomat serving in the embassy.

• Even though he was outside North Korea, Kim was well protected. It is claimed that his bodyguards were present as students in the school where he studied.

• Kim’s mother never forced him to study to get good marks. According to his classmates in Switzerland, teachers did not force Kim to improve his grades. A school friend of his talked about it, in an interview, and said,
  

  We weren’t the dimmest kids in the class but neither were we the cleverest. We were always in the second tier … The teachers would see him struggling ashamedly and then move on. They left him in peace.”

• While some sources claim that Kim was very reserved as a child, some claim that he was very aggressive and used to boss other kids around him.

• He did not perform well academically and barely managed to complete his schooling. In the final year of schooling, he failed in Natural Sciences and received poor grades in mathematics. However, he did score well in music and technical studies.

• He has also studied English, Swiss, and German languages.

• In Switzerland, he used to stay in a luxurious rented apartment that was guarded round the clock. Only a few people were allowed to visit him in the apartment.

• Kim developed a liking for the well-known Swiss cheese during his time in the country. He spends a lot of money to import cheese from Switzerland on a private jet.

• According to his chef, Fujimoto, Kim used to ask about the lives of the common citizens of the DPRK. In an interview, he said,
  

  We are here, playing basketball, riding horses, riding Jet Skis, and having fun together. But what of the lives of the average people?”

• After completing his formal education, he underwent a short military training module at the Kim Il Sung Military University.

• He underwent cosmetic surgery numerous times to resemble his Eternal Leader Grandfather Kim Il-Sung.

• It is reported that Kim Jong-un had a fake passport in which his name was Josef Pwag, a Brazillian citizen. Kim and his father used such fake passports to visit foreign countries as many countries do not give visas to the North Koreans.

• There are many photos of his childhood on the internet but only a few have been confirmed to be his actual photos while others have been debunked. His first official image was released by the authorities in 2010.

• It is claimed that Kim Jong Nam, Kim’s elder half-brother, was in the line to take over as the supreme leader of North Korea. However, in 2001, after Nam illegally tried to go to Japan, he fell out of favour. Nam died in 2017 in Malaysia.

• Another elder brother, Jong-Chol, who was next in line to succeed Sung after Nam, fell out of favour due to being “too feminine.”

• Kim Jong-il began showing more favouritism towards Kim Jong-un because he saw himself in his son.

• In 2006, Jong-il ordered the circulation of badges with Kim Jong-un’s photo on it among the North Korean politicians and diplomats.

• In June 2009, Kim Jong-il appointed Kim Jong-un as his successor and the President of the Korean Workers’ Party.

• According to the BBC, he contested his first Supreme People’s Assembly election in the same year. However, according to the North Korean Election Commission’s list of candidates, Kim Jong-un did not contest the elections.

• In May 2009, he was appointed to the Korean People’s Army’s National Defense Commission.

• The news of his selection as the successor of Kim Jong-il began circulating in the mid-2009 following which many countries’ intelligence agencies began gathering information about him.

• Soon after, the Korean Workers Party composed a propaganda song praising Kim and passed a law making it mandatory for the DPRK citizens to sing the song in public gatherings.

• In June 2009, he visited China, where he met Hu Jintao, the then President of China. However, China denied having hosted Kim Jong-un and other senior politicians of the DPRK.

• To showcase his power as the next leader of North Korea, he is claimed to have masterminded the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean Navy vessel, and the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong, in 2010.

• In September of the same year, Kim was made a four-star general, known as Daejang in Korea, despite having no political or military handling capabilities due to lack of experience. Thus, becoming the only no-experience general in the world.

• His name was revealed to the public for the first time during a political meeting in Pyongyang in 2010.

• He later was appointed to the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party and the Central Military Commission.

• He was introduced to the world when he attended the 65th-anniversary celebration of the Workers’ Party with his father on 10 October 2010. For the first time, the DPRK authorities allowed foreign media to cover the event.

• When his father died, he made sure that the whole country grieved his father’s death wholeheartedly. Those who failed to cry were punished and sent to concentration camps for six months. Kim is also reported to have asked the citizens to “cry him a river.”
  

  North Korean citizens weeping on Kim Jong Ill’s death

• In December 2011, he came to power in North Korea.

• Before taking over from his father in 2011, many sources claimed he would be a more liberal ruler than his predecessors, having studied outside of the DPRK. It was also said that Kim would initially work under the guidance of Jang Song Thaek for some time due to a lack of administrative and political experience.

• Kim later passed a law according to which citizens staying outside of Pyongyang needed a pass to enter the city and only upper-class business families and high-ranking politicians and military officials were allowed to stay in it.

• When he was 29 years old, the Onion newspaper announced him as the “Sexiest Man Alive” for the year 2012.

• In the same year, Kim signed a Leap Day deal with the U.S. according to which North Korea would temporarily halt its missile development program in return for food. Kim, however, violated the deal after he launched a satellite into space on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

• Kim has played a vital role in the reorganisation of North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration. In 2012, under his leadership, the country launched a satellite.

• Following his election to the 4th Conference of the Workers’ Party of Korea in 2012, the Party received a notification from Kim to declare his father, Kim Jong-Il, as the Eternal General Secretary. The party appointed him as the First Secretary.

• Security officials found a loaded AK-47 buried under a tree near the route from where Kim Jong-un’s convoy was to pass in 2012. This was shown by the DPRK media as an attempt to assassinate him.

• The North Korean security agencies, in 2012, executed and detained more than 200 high-ranking officials to eliminate any chances of anyone challenging Kim’s ascension. Many, including Kim Jong-il’s brother-in-law, were also killed.

• Kim promoted many generals and politicians to solidify support for his regime, seeking their loyalty to him. The general working committee of the Worker’s Party was quoted saying “We vow with bleeding tears to call Kim Jong Un our supreme commander, our leader.”

• He is considered to have brought some modernisation to the idea of Juche (a political ideology seeking economic and military self-reliance). He has also uplifted the tourism sector by allowing foreigners to visit DPRK and by constructing many hotels and resorts for travellers to stay.

• Kim has a liking for pop songs. He created an all-girl pop band named Moranbong Band in 2012. He brought his wife into public for the first time during a concert of the band.

• Thereafter, Kim was appointed the Central Military Commission’s chairman. He started sitting in his father’s seat in the Korean parliament.

• After coming to power, Kim founded a cyber warfare unit with 6,000 soldiers in it. This unit is based in Russia and the People’s Republic of China to conduct hacking operations from there as North Korea lacks the resources to sustain such work.

• He combined the principles of Kimilsungism and Kimjongilism as Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and replaced old terms like Juche and Songun (the military-first policy of DPRK) in April 2012. These amends were also made in the constitution, making him the first Korean dictator to be named in the constitution.

• In July 2012, Kim Jong-un was promoted and made a Wonsu (highest military rank).

• His first speech titled Let Us March Forward Dynamically Towards Final Victory, Holding Higher the Banner of Songun was adapted into a patriotic song titled Onwards Toward the Final Victory in 2012.

• After coming to power, he worked on reducing the power of the military and began allocating more powers into the hands of the politicians.

• In 2012, under Kim’s leadership, the regime, for the first time, revealed a rocket failure. Earlier the regime used to hide its missile and rocket failures.

• The North Korean agencies tested their first thermonuclear warhead on an Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in 2013 under Kim Jong-un’s leadership.

• After the testing, the relations between DPRK and China worsened and Kim received a letter from Xi Jinping, who expressed his dissatisfaction over it. China even banned the import of coal from North Korea in 2017 owing to the nuclear tests.

• In the same year, Kim passed a law approving a set of haircuts for males and females; 10 for men and 18 for women.

• In 2014, Kim reportedly ordered North Korean hackers to attack Sony’s mainframe over the release of The Interview, a comedy film that parodied him. The hackers demanded an apology, but cybersecurity experts questioned North Korea’s ability to do such an attack.

• On 10 December 2015, Kim Jong-un claimed that his country had developed a hydrogen bomb and he also threatened the USA to attack it with a Hydrogen Bomb.

• In the same year, Kim had his Defence Minister executed by a firing squad after he was caught sleeping in a meeting with Kim.

• Kim ordered the destruction of Western music and films to control dissent against him.

• On 29 June 2016, Kim took over the State Affairs Commission (SAC) as its first chairman after abolishing the National Defence Commission (NDC).

• In June 2016, the United States put personal sanctions against Kim for the first time for his involvement in crimes against humanity.

• In the same year, an American citizen named Otto Warmbier was arrested. Otto died due to a brain injury that he received while he was in the custody of North Korean law enforcement agencies. After his death, the relations between the DPRK and the US government worsened. Donald Trump raised the issue with Kim when they met in 2018.

• In 2016, he had two politicians executed publically with anti-aircraft guns for reportedly speaking against Kim Jong-un’s succession to power.

• Kim ordered over 340 executions between 2011 to 2016.

• In 2017, he oversaw the testing of a nuclear bomb that had a nuclear yield of 100 to 150 kilotons. Ten times stronger than the bombs dropped by the US in Japan in 1945.

• In the same year, DPRK accused the United States and South Korea of plotting his assassination with the assistance of a North Korean worker whom they hired to kill Kim with a biochemical weapon.

• In 2017-2018, Trump and Kim Jong-un exchanged heated words over North Korea’s missile and nuclear program. While Trump called Kim Rocket Man, Smart Cookie, and Little Rocket Man, Kim called Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire.”

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018

• In 2018, Kim met the then-President of the US Donald Trump in Singapore. They discussed the removal of the economic blockade on North Korea in return for stopping its nuclear program. The meeting failed.

• In the same year, the relations between North and South Korea began showing some signs of improvement. For the first time, Kim sent a delegation led by his sister to South Korea for bilateral discussions. Kim also proposed establishing a joint ice hockey team to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

• In April 2018, Kim visited South Korea and met President Moon Jae-in at the Inter-Korea Summit. In it, they agreed on converting the Korean Armistice Treaty (a ceasefire treaty signed between the Allies and North Korea in 1953) into a peace treaty to officially end the Korean War. However, the plan to do so failed.

• He went on an official trip to China in the same year to work on uplifting the strained ties with China.

• In 2019, Kim decided not to contest the parliamentary elections. By doing so, he became the first Korean ruler to not contest the elections.

• In the same year, Kim again met Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam. The second round of the talks also failed. Reportedly, Kim had agreed to stop its nuclear development program and dismantle some of its nuclear facilities; however, the US wanted Kim to destroy all of its centres including the Yongbyon nuclear facility, considered to be the main facility leading DPRK’s nuclear program.

• Kim met Trump at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the same year. The meeting failed to conclude.

• North Korea’s relationship with Russia under Kim’s rule has improved significantly. In 2019, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang and later Kim met Putin in Moscow. In the meeting, Putin agreed to help Kim build satellites. Kim stated,
  

  Now Russia has risen to the sacred fight to protect its sovereignty and security against the hegemonic forces that oppose Russia. And now we want to further develop the relationship. We will support Russia’s sacred fight against the West.”

• In 2021, the Worker’s Party made him the General Secretary of the party, a position that was given “eternally” to his father, Kim Jong-il, in 2012.

• In the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea in 2021, Kim is said to have presented a 9-hour-long speech in which he criticised the functioning of the party and blamed the party for DPRK’s economic downfall.

• In the same year, Chinese Premiere Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang on a two-day visit on Kim’s insistence.

• Under his leadership, the authorities have renamed many government buildings and organisations to more modern names to keep up with the world.

• His haircut is pretty popular in the country and has a name- “Ambitious!,” and it was reported that male university students in North Korea were asked to copy the haircut. However, later, the government passed a law according to which no one was allowed to copy Kim’s hairstyle.
  

  Hairstyle of Kim

• In 2020, a report was published according to which the total number of concentration camps and political prisons had increased manifold in North Korea and that there were more than 43,000 prisoners in total serving their sentences in such camps.

• Many international human rights observation groups have criticised the North Korean government for indulging in human rights violations, such as sexual assault, torture, and starvation, in the camps. Inside sources from DPRK also claim that not only the offenders but also their three generations are sent to prison for “political re-education” and “forced labour.”

• In February 2022, after the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, the DPRK expressed its support for Russia and said that Russia had to invade Ukraine because of the interference of the US in Eastern Europe.

• As per the North Korean government, the country recorded only 168 cases of the COVID-19 pandemic up till 2024 with only 74 deaths. This, however, has been claimed to be factually incorrect by many global medicare agencies.

• On 21 November 2023, North Korea launched its first spy satellite.

• The GDP of North Korea when Kim took over was estimated to be $15,907 million. However, after years of liberalisation of the economy, the GPD increased to $24.5 billion in 2023.

• As per a 2024 report, Kim has tested around 90 ballistic missiles, capable of hitting Washington, D.C., and has accumulated over 60 nuclear warheads, including hydrogen, thermonuclear, and multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV).

• He loves skiing and owns many private skiing resorts in the snowy mountainous regions of the DRPK.

• Kim has been accredited with uplifting the living standards of the citizens living in the capital city of Pyongyang. However, many sources claim that the situation outside the capital city is the same as it was during his grandfather’s reign.

• As of April 2024, North Korea has reportedly sent 7,000 shipping containers with ammunition, clothes, spare parts, and other types of heavy weapons to Russia ever since its war with Ukraine began in 2022. However, DPRK has denied selling weapons to Russia.

• To maintain his image of being an advisor, Kim is often seen surrounded by military and political officials taking notes as he guides. Many experts also claim that Kim does this to maintain the cult image of the “Kim Dynasty” that his predecessors created.

• Kim has implemented various economic policies such as allowing interference-free operation of small-scale businesses, implementing SERMS, and amending the banking policy. One amendment was the distribution of credit cards, leading to increased revenue.

• Kim is considered to be a close friend of the former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman. He has met him many times in North Korea. It is said that Dennis played a vital role in securing Otto Warmbier’s release from DPRK.

• He is also known for his liking towards technology and has allowed the residents of Pyongyang to own cars and mobile phones. He has also introduced four new channels instead of just the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Some of the channels offer entertainment programs which were earlier banned in the country.

• In the last few years, Kim has been spotted with his daughter at various events. This has led to speculations that Kim is preparing her as the next dictator of DPRK.

• Kim has allowed the stores in the country to be stocked with foreign products from China and Russia, which was earlier banned in the country.

• In January 2024, Kim called for amending the constitution to designate South Korea as its “number one enemy.” Kim also said that the Korean Reunification was no longer possible due to the hostile intent of the South towards the DPRK.

• In the same year, President Vladimir Putin presented Kim Jong-un with a luxurious Russian-made Aurus Senat limousine.