Career paths Leaders and their contrasting lives

In the North, Kim Jong-un, 36, was born into a ruling dynasty that effectively made him the emperor of an impoverished, isolated land.

He went to private school in Switzerland under an assumed name and developed an obsession with basketball.

He completed his studies at university in Pyongyang, but was not seen as his father’s first choice to become head of the Kim dynasty. That changed when his older brother, Kim Jong-nam, was held in Tokyo on a false passport. He told police he was going to Disneyland, infuriating his father.

Kim inherited the North Korean leadership when his father died in 2011 and he quickly showed a ruthless streak that would help cement his rule.

In the South, Moon Jae-in, 65, is from a family that narrowly escaped the fall of Hungnam to Chinese forces in 1950. He was a refugee in Busan and a student activist sent to prison for his protests against South Korea’s military government.

He became a specialist lawyer in human rights before entering politics. In 2017, he became president of a nation that is today the 11th largest economy in the world Julian Ryall in Tokyo