Geopolitics › East Asia › North Korea (DPRK)
Kim Jong-un
Leader since Dec 2011· Leader
FactTreaties, membership, measured data, events.
North Korea's supreme leader since 2011, the third of his family to rule, who made the country a declared nuclear power.
See it on the Geopolitics map →The picture
Born around 1984 (the year is disputed) and schooled partly in Switzerland, he succeeded his father, Kim Jong-il, in December 2011. He consolidated power ruthlessly: his uncle Jang Song-thaek was executed in 2013, and his half-brother Kim Jong-nam was killed with VX nerve agent in Malaysia in 2017. He oversaw four of North Korea's six nuclear tests and its first ICBMs, met Trump three times in 2018–19, and signed a defense treaty with Putin in 2024.
Why it matters
He alone decides on a nuclear arsenal, troops sent abroad and the fate of 26 million people, making him central to East Asian security.
Record
State media (KCNA), South Korea's intelligence service, Malaysian court proceedings in the Kim Jong-nam case, and a 2014 UN inquiry that found crimes against humanity.
What to watch
His health and succession: South Korean spies say his teenage daughter, Kim Ju-ae, is being groomed, but no heir has been formally named.
Connections (2)
▸Kim Jong-un rules North Korea (DPRK)Fact
The relationship
Kim rules as general secretary of the Workers' Party, president of State Affairs and supreme military commander, with near-total power. His regime controls information, travel and work, runs political prison camps, and channels scarce resources into nuclear weapons and missiles.
Since when and why
Since his father's death on December 17, 2011; re-elected party chief at the Ninth Party Congress in February 2026.
How we know
State media, defector testimony, satellite imagery of prison camps, and the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry report.
What to watch
How stable the system is beneath the surface, and how succession would work if he died suddenly.
▸Kim Jong-un met three times in 2018–19 with Donald TrumpFact
The relationship
After trading nuclear threats in 2017, Kim and Trump held the first meetings between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. They produced a vague pledge to work toward denuclearization but no deal, and Kim's arsenal kept growing.
Since when and why
Singapore, June 12, 2018; Hanoi, February 27–28, 2019 (collapsed over sanctions relief); Panmunjom at the DMZ, June 30, 2019.
How we know
The Singapore joint statement, official photos and accounts, and the leaders' letters, later published by journalist Bob Woodward.
What to watch
Trump has offered to meet again; Kim says talks require dropping the denuclearization demand. Whether any deal could cap rather than end the program is debated.