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In North Korea, young Kim Jong Eun will test age-old reliance on maturity
By Marc Fisher, Published: December 23
At 28 or 29, Kim Jong Eun, the presumed new leader of North Korea, will be the youngest person ever to have authority over a nuclear arsenal.
At that age, neuroscientists say, the brain is still in the final stages of development. Developmental psychologists say there’s a good reason that America’s Founding Fathers set 35 as the minimum age for a president: People younger than that just don’t have the experience or skill to deal with complex decision making. Historians warn that the track record of young leaders is weak. The Bible puts it bluntly in Ecclesiastes: “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child. . . .”
“Kim Jong Eun is not the same man that he will be in 10 years, or even in five years,” said Sam Wang, a Princeton University neuroscientist and author of “Welcome to Your Brain.” “The ongoing maturation we all have observed in people in their 20s is reflected in changes in brain structure.” The connections in the frontal part of the brain “are not quite done growing and developing. The frontal parts of the cortex are important for restraining impulses and making long-term plans.”
In the ranks of world leaders, the age-old reliance on old age — or at least middle-aged maturity — remains very much the rule.
Most world leaders these days take office at age 50 or older; President Obama was unusually young when he was sworn in at 47.
But there are a dozen or so rulers who came to power before age 30. About half are sons who succeeded their fathers. Their performance, today and through history, is less than impressive.