January 12, 2012. Copyright 2012, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Kim Jong-un: same family, different ideology for North Korea?
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, January 12, Graphic News: If there were ever hopes that Kim Jong-un might steer North Korea on a different course to his late father, these appeared to be swiftly extinguished with a statement that there will be no policy changes under the new "supreme leader". But questions remain about the intentions -- and abilities -- of the man now leading the most reclusive nation on Earth.

Since Kim Jong-un -- the youngest son of Kim Jong-il -- stepped into his father's boots following his death on December 17, the propaganda machine has geared up to present him as a "military genius" whose natural talents equip him to lead the communist dynasty's 1.2 million soldiers, as well as to hold numerous party positions. An amnesty for prisoners has been announced to bolster loyalty to the new young leader.

Kim Jong-un's destiny has been chosen for him, but what does the future hold for his 23 million people?

Outside North Korea, not much is known about the chubby-faced Kim Jong-un, whose remarkable resemblance to his father may be one reason he was chosen as his successor. He was born in either 1983 or 1984, the son of Kim Jong-il's third wife Ko Yong Hiu, and was educated in Switzerland before attending military academy back at home. He is believed to have been a shy, reticent child with a love of sport, especially basketball.

For many years, his older brother Kim Jong-nam had been expected to succeed but he reportedly fell out of favour after being caught travelling with a fake passport to visit the Japanese Disneyland. In 2009 it became known to foreign diplomatic services that Kim Jong-un was being groomed to succeed his father, and soon he was being introduced in person to ordinary people as he escorted his father on "field trips" around North Korea.

The transition to power may have been orchestrated to appear seamless to outsiders, but some analysts believe Kim Jong-un -- now the world's youngest head of state -- will be encouraged by the country's military authorities and ally China to introduce urgent economic reforms in a country where famine and disasters have exacerbated severe food shortages, and more than a million people are estimated to have died of starvation since 1995.

A more pressing concern for many North Korea watchers will be the new leadership's nuclear strategy, as well as its simmering relations with South Korea. His father defied the world to build nuclear weapons while his people starved, and Kim Jong-un's best way to prove himself as a capable leader would surely be to dismantle that legacy.
/ENDS