Kim Jong Un
Based on Wikipedia: Kim Jong Un
In the Swiss Alps lies a small private school where, in the late 1990s, a quiet boy named Pak-un attended classes. He was shy, awkward with girls, and spent hours meticulously drawing Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan. His classmates didn't know it then—but this unremarkable student would one day become the third supreme leader of North Korea.
Kim Jong Un's birthdate remains disputed—officially listed as January 8, 1982 by North Korean state media, while South Korean intelligence and U.S. sources suggest he was born a year later in 1984. His aunt, Ko Yong Suk who defected to the United States in 1998, confirmed the 1984 date based on her son's age.
He is the second of three children from Kim Jong Il's relationship with Ko Yong Hui, and his elder brother Kim Jong Chul was born September 25, 1981. As grandson of Kim Il Sung—the founder who led North Korea from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994—Kim Jong Un represents the dynasty's third generation to hold power.
He studied at Switzerland's International School of Berne under assumed names like "Pak-chol" and "Chol-pak," with later documents revealing he attended the Liebefeld Steinhölzli school near Bern from 1998 until 2000 under the name "Pak-un." Teachers described him as well-integrated but academically poor, socially awkward around girls, obsessed with basketball and American cinema. Authorities confirmed a North Korean student—his bodyguard—accompanied him during his studies.
He briefly attended Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang between 2002 and 2007, while also earning degrees in physics at the same institution and military officer training at Kim Il Sung Military University. By 2009 he emerged as successor to North Korea's leadership, with state television declaring him "great successor to the revolutionary cause" after his father's death in December 2011.
In July 2012 he rose to Marshal of the Korean People's Army, consolidating command over armed forces and chairing the Central Military Commission. His regime has been accused of severe human rights violations, including purging and executing officials—particularly his uncle Jang Song-thaek in 2013—and allegedly ordering his half-brother Kim Jong-nam's assassination in Malaysia in 2017.
His governance shifted from his father's military-first "Songun" policy to prioritize what he calls a people-first approach while maintaining the nuclear weapons program. Under his leadership, North Korea conducted its four most recent nuclear tests and extensive missile testing—including its first intercontinental ballistic missile—intensifying tensions with South Korea, the United States, and China throughout the 2017-2018 crisis period.
He participated in historic summits beginning in 2018, meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump—the first such encounters between North Korean and American heads of state—yet negotiations collapsed without progress toward reunification or disarmament.
North Korea claimed successful COVID-19 management, reporting no confirmed cases until May 2022, though independent analysts questioned these figures. In December 2023 he formally abandoned reunification efforts and destroyed the Arch of Reunification, then in June 2024 signed a security treaty with Russia while providing materials for the conflict in Ukraine.
By October 2024, North Korean soldiers were assisting Russian forces in Kursk. His birth year was likely altered for symbolic reasons—1982 marked his grandfather's 70th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his father's official birth.