Three generations of North Korean dictators
The ruling regime has been passed from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and now Kim Jong-un
North Korea and the South and its allies could not be further apart in political or societal terms.
Pyongyang controls every facet of life in the North, with few if any personal freedoms, forced labour and a series of Soviet-style gulag camps meting out punishment for speaking out of line or acting against the regime of Kim Jong-un, the grandson of the founder of North Korea.
The South is a vibrant and thriving economy, where investment in heavy industry, technology, science, automobiles and education have resulted in a consumer boom, making South Korea the 11th-largest economy globally in 2016, according to the World Bank.
Kim Il-sung
In the post-Korean war period, Kim Il-sung focused on industrialisation to rebuild his shattered economy, developing a philosophy of “juche” or selfreliance to be self-sufficient in its food, technology and domestic needs.
Throughout the 1960s, as Moscow and Beijing grew apart and became rivals, the North Korean regime became even more isolated. The Soviets cut off support, leaving only China to have any influence over Kim Il-sung.
With no oil reserves, its economy faltered, and it defaulted on its loans to the international community.
Kim Jong-il
Kim Il-sung’s death in 1994 brought his son, Kim Jong-il to power. Mocked in the west for a bad haircut, high-heeled shoes and a love for liquor, he did manage to partially rebuild Pyongyang’s relationship with post-Communist Russia. The collapse of Communism and the end of the Soviet Union, combined with Beijing’s transition from Marxism to ‘marketism’, further isolated Pyongyang.
Kim Jong-il began to partially make moves of opening up one border area for trans-DMZ manufacturing and trade. At the same time, he began to develop the North’s nuclear programme, timing the testing of devices to exact concessions and international aid.
The policy allowed Pyongyang to talk tough, act tough but also cut tough deals to ensure it won concessions while appearing to stand up to the US and a legion of enemies allied against the regime.
Kim Jong-un
In December 2011, Kim Jongil died, and was replaced by his third son, Kim Jong-un.
In the past two years, the new leader has aggressively sought to develop his nation’s nuclear capabilities, and the most recent test on September 3 showed that he had developed a 160-kilotonne device — strong enough to register a 6.0-magnitude earthquake that was felt in neighbouring China.
As well as developing a nuclear capability, Kim Jong-un has also pushed his scientists to develop an intercontinental missile powerful and technically advanced to be able to accurately reach targets in the United States. That requires developing navigation capabilities and materials hard enough to be able to survive the fiery re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere as it hurtles towards its intended target with a nuclear device small enough and sufficiently wellbuilt to fit in the missile’s nose cone to be able to detonate as planned. It’s a frightening prospect. So far, in the missile and nuclear tests conducted in the past months by Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un doesn’t seem to have the capability to both miniaturise his nuclear devices and be able to deliver them on re-entry.
But he is getting closer.