Kim Jong Un, Secret Basketball Fanatic?

Not much is known about the heir apparent. On December 19^th, North Korean state news agencies reported that Kim Jong Il had died. This event has catapulted Kim Jong Un into the seat of power and into the role of “dear leader”.

So what do we really know about Kim Jong Un? According to the Washington Post, he loves Michael Jordan. Other than that? Not much. Most people assume he was born in 1983 or 1984, however, his mere existence was a moderately guarded secret until 2009 when he was named as the eventual successor to his father. As a child, he was educated in the west at a private school in Switzerland under an assumed name. No one, except for possibly a few officials, knew of his true identity. And while it was reported that he studied and received his college degree from Kim Il-Sung Military University in 2007, he was largely kept out of the public eye until his designation as the next “dear leader” of North Korea. Jong Un was given the military rank of general but, until the Worker’s Party anniversary celebration in 2010, only one picture was known to have existed of Kim Jong-Un in the West; it was from when he was eleven years old (front row, right).

Even the decision to name Jong Un the successor was not free of controversy. Jong Un’s oldest half brother, Kim Jong Nam, was originally expected to take over power after his father’s passing. But he was passed over after he attempted to enter Japan with a false passport (he was on his way to visit Disneyland).

The unification of Korea has been both a dream and a sore spot for the North Koreans since the end of the Korean War. In recent days, the North Korean military has been involved with multiple attacks on South Korean troops. With a new leader, we could see several different scenarios play out in the Korean Peninsula. Because so little is known about the new leader of the DPRK, one can merely speculate as to how he will act on the world stage. Many experts speculate that he could be as hardline and merciless as his father, and it is also believed that his uncle, Chang Sung Taek, will serve as regent until Kim Jong Un is prepared to lead North Korea on his own. The Kim Jong family’s hardline military actions could bring more tension to the region, but who knows? Maybe his western education will influence Jong Un to favor a different approach to governance.

Until they’ve shown otherwise, it would be wise to assume that North Korea will remain a rogue nuclear state. It appears as if they will continue to bully South Korea, strengthening both their conventional and nuclear arsenals. Kim Jong-Un’s little-known reputation as fiercely competitive and a heavy drinker leads me to believe that it is incredibly unlikely that the region will become more stable. But for now, all we can do is wait and see.

Mark Mayberry // University of Tennessee at Chattanooga // @MarkMayberry85

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Oh, my oh my. Where to start?

No personal offense meant, however, the article is riddled with errors which must be pointed out, and adhering to simple journalistic principles, facts simply must be checked before posting.

1) Kim Jong Un has not been catapulted in the role or even the specific title of Dear Leader (either upper case or lower case), according to all reports. He has always been referred to upon coming onto the transitional scene as "Brilliant Comrade" [영명한 동지] , or "Brilliant Comrade General". Now they use the term ryongdoja (leader) reserved only for Kim Jong il previously, for Kim Jong Un. But I have seen no "Dear Leader" assigned to Jong Un.

2) Much more is known about this man than the fact he likes Michael Jordan and basketball, with all due respect to the inference gained from the article.

3) MAJOR MISTAKE: The family photograph is from August 1981, and does NOT include Kim Jong Un, who was not even born at that time. This is a previous family of Kim Jong il, from a previous wife Song Hye-Rim (deceased), and the little boy on the small couch with Kim Jong il is the eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, who is in exile in Macao. Photo is in error. Kim Jong Un was born of Ko Young Hee (actress). Additionally, there are other photos of Kim Jong Un when he was younger, these have been commonly seen in the South Korean press, and in days before he was fattened up and groomed by the DPRK elite.

4) There is no such thing as a "Kim Jong Family" (sic). Kim is the family name, but "Jong" is only 1/2 of the first, given name.

5) Some of the worst dictators in the world have had experiences as foreign students somewhere. It does not follow that because he was educated in Switzerland that he will be any more open to change and liberalization. Cases in point, one of the world's most brutal communist dicators, Saloth Sar (better know as "Pol Pot") was a Cambodian foreign student in French in the 1950s, along with Khieu Samphan who even received a doctorate in Paris and returned to Phnom Penh. Twenty years later, these two and long with other elites, went on to oversee one of the most brutal torturing and murdering communist regimes on the planet, under the elite leadership of the Maoist Khmer Rouge. They were fluent in French and enjoyed an afteroon European coffee as much as the next guy, in their villas discussing fine intellectual points and how to control the masses for their own good. (Kinda' like Obama?)

Just my take, you mileage may vary. I would polish it up a lot more and triple fact check. Good luck, nice start. Sorry for the bluntness perhaps, just wanted to fact check.

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