ACCESSING CLASSIFIED FILES
Decrypting documents...
Your connection is being monitored
Back to Individuals
critical risk
Kim Jong-un
Supreme Leader of North Korea (2011-present)
Current Dictator Maintaining World's Worst Human Rights Record
Overview
Kim Jong-un has ruled North Korea since 2011, continuing and intensifying the state's totalitarian system. The UN Commission of Inquiry found his regime perpetrates crimes against humanity including extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and persecution on a scale without parallel in the contemporary world. An estimated 80,000-120,000 political prisoners are held in concentration camp conditions.
Key Affiliations
Controversies & Concerns
Continues to operate political prison camps (kwanliso) holding 80,000-120,000 people in conditions the UN compared to Nazi camps
Ordered the execution of his own uncle Jang Song-thaek (2013) and the assassination of his half-brother Kim Jong-nam with VX nerve agent (2017)
Accelerated nuclear weapons program; conducted 4 of North Korea's 6 nuclear tests
Launched over 100 ballistic missiles in violation of UN Security Council resolutions
Three generations of families punished for political crimes of one member
Total information control: citizens have no internet access, no free press, no freedom of movement
Defectors report public executions, forced abortions of babies conceived by Chinese men, and sexual violence in detention
COVID-19 response included reported shoot-to-kill orders at the Chinese border
Related Investigations (1)
Criminal Charges & Violations
3 documented violations
UN Commission of Inquiry - Crimes Against Humanity (2014)Found responsible for systematic policies of extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and persecution(Crimes Against Humanity)
Chemical Weapons Convention ViolationAssassination of Kim Jong-nam using VX nerve agent in Kuala Lumpur airport(Chemical Weapons Use)
UN Security Council ResolutionsMultiple violations through nuclear weapons tests and ballistic missile launches(WMD Proliferation)
Known Associates & Connections
Kim Jong-il
Father and predecessor as Supreme Leader
Sources & Documentation
1 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports
Personal Information
- Born
- 1984-01-08
- Birthplace
- Pyongyang, North Korea
- Also Known As
- Supreme Leader, Marshal, Beloved Leader
Education
- •International School of Berne, Switzerland (under assumed name)
- •Kim Il-sung University
Key Timeline
1984-01-08
Born in Pyongyang, North Korea
2011-12-17
Assumes power after death of Kim Jong-il
2013-12-12
Orders execution of uncle Jang Song-thaek
2014-02-17
UN Commission of Inquiry finds crimes against humanity in DPRK
2017-02-13
Half-brother Kim Jong-nam assassinated with VX nerve agent
2017-09-03
North Korea's sixth and largest nuclear test
2022
Launches record number of ballistic missiles