Who is Kim Jong-un?

Confirmation of events and situations from North Korea – aptly named the Hermit Kingdom – is near impossible due to the secretive nature of the state.

However, Euromoney Skew has put together some information from sources on the little-known Kim Jong-un, who takes over from his deceased father Kim Jong-il and is dubbed the "Great Successor" (according to "clear indications on North Korean state television").

Firstly, Jong-un  is the youngest of Kim Jong-il's three sons (the other two are his full-brother Kim Jong-chol and half-brother Kim Jong-nam) but even his exact birth date cannot be confirmed. Reports range from 1983 to 1984.

Little is known about the elusive Kim Jong-un but after Kim Jong-il's reported stroke in 2008, Kim Jong-un was seen as being groomed to become heir to the empire after a succession of high-level appointments, including at North Korea's National Defence Commission, which is the country's most important governmental institution.

Subsequently, there have been other indicators pointing to Kim Jong-un being the successor.

According to BBC reports:

" ... on June 2, 2009, South Korea's intelligence agency reportedly briefed legislators that North Korean officials had been ordered to support the choice of Kim Jong-un as the next leader."

South Korean TV also said in August 2010 that when Kim Jong-il visited China, Kim Jong-un also accompanied his father.

However, little else is known about the "Great Successor".

Today, media reports say that:
 

The body of North Korea's long-time ruler Kim Jong Il was laid out in a memorial palace on Tuesday, as weeping mourners filled public plazas and state media fed a budding personality cult around his third son, hailing him as "born of heaven". Indicating the leadership transition in the world's only communist dynasty is on track, Kim Jong-un – Kim's youngest known son and successor – visited the body with top military and Workers' Party officials and held what state media called a "solemn ceremony" in the capital, Pyongyang, as the country mourned.

Again, while not much is known about Kim Jong-un, according to Euromoney Country Risk (ECR) , North Korea’s country risk score fell by 2.5 points on Monday as news broke of the death of its leader.

According to the report, Allan Dwyer, professor of finance at Mount Royal University and a participant in ECR’s poll, says:

“The suddenness of Kim’s unscheduled passing may prove to be enough of a shock that elements in favour of either increased openness, or those with a stake in criminal enterprise, may gain the upper hand. Either way, a watershed event has unfolded.”

Only time will tell what the rest of the world will learn about Kim Jong-un, but already, according to the FT, South Korea is on tenterhooks and is minimising any antagonisation of the new leader (emphasis ours):

South Korea may scrap plans to illuminate large Christmas tree-shaped towers on the North Korean border, in a sign it wants to avoid provoking Pyongyang’s inexperienced new leader into proving himself through an early military standoff. Kim Jong-un has yet to show his mettle as North Korea’s leader after his father, Kim Jong-il, died over the weekend.  A dispute over Christmas trees along the world’s most militarised border would be the first test of his resolve. Analysts fear he could seek to compensate for his youth with a bold strike in line with his state’s “military first” ideology.

- Euromoney Skew Blog