When a teary eyed Kim Jong Un trudged beside a hearse carrying the body of his late father, Kim Jong Il, during a December 2011 funeral procession, even the most basic facts about the then-20-something North Korean heir apparent were obscured.
Although little has changed on that front — even his exact age still remains unclear, although he is believed by most observers to be around 37 years old — the North Korean leader has used his ensuing 10-year reign to defy early predictions of a quick demise as the isolated country’s dictator.
Although seen as inexperienced and lacking the support of key regime figures, Kim was able to cement his grip on power by unleashing a campaign of terror early in his reign, purging rivals and executing an estimated hundreds of people deemed threats — including his powerful uncle, Jang Song Thaek. Kim was also said to have been behind the February 2017 assassination of one of the last remaining potential challengers, his half-brother Kim Jong Nam, allegedly ordering the assassination of his sibling with the deadly VX nerve agent in a crowded Malaysian airport.
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