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North Korea is dressed up as an egalitarian, communist society, but a quick look under the skirt makes it clear that it is a dictatorship ruled largely by one family. A major Communist party meeting in Pyongyang this week made it clear that supreme leader Kim Jong Il – who inherited power from his father Kim Il Sung – has every intention of keeping power in the family, by handing off to one of his sons, Kim Jung Un.
Reuters
Kim Jong-Un (front row, center), youngest son of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il, attends a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang on Tuesday, in a photo released on Thursday.
Beyond that top spot, Kim Il Sung’s children, grandchildren and their spouses hold key positions throughout the bureaucracy. And despite North Korea’s best efforts, it is possible to assemble a picture of this family tree—based on reports leaked from the country, accounts of North Korean defectors, and morsels otherwise wrung out by reporters. Click here to explore the Kims’ relationships, scandals and infighting that impact the fate of the country: North Korea's First Family
The family tree, like all reporting on North Korea, is incomplete. As NBC’s Ian Williams reported from Seoul on Wednesday, there is an army of journalists, analysts, diplomats and spooks puzzling over what is happening on the other side of the world's most heavily fortified border.
Thus, our “North Korea First Family” interactive graphic remains a work in progress. We will be updating and expanding it as information becomes available. Check back as North Korea’s political drama unfolds.
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Leave a Comment:
Kooks....
Meet the Kims, posterchildren for mental illness!
A great country to start a business if your product is hair clippers, black shoe polish, or white wall tires for military vehicles (never quite figured out why making the wheels on a missile launcher look like they've been nabbed from a '57 Chevy is appealing to the Kims) !!
E! should release a new show, "Keeping up with the Kims"
I thought most everyone N.K. was starving to death. This fat turd ain't hurtin' any.
Just like the Yi dynasty of old. Nothing has changed in North Korea.
Looks like he's rather be playing Wii while snacking on Cheese Doodles.
Why should I care about North Korea? Please quit mentioning them about anything whatsoever. They thrive on controversies and crises. Ignore the bastards and let them starve.
All of you, please remember that these "kooks," "turds," and "poster children for mental illness" have a neuclear warhead that can hit Hawa'ii. And since we are still technically at war with them, they may want to "push the button" and fry Honolulu.
Also, remember that the USA has Aegis missiles, emerging THEL and MTHEL technology and land-based anti-missile missiles that will knock North Korea's sputtering missiles out of the sky. They cannot reduce the size of a nuclear warhead small enough to be carried on a missile. Technologically speaking, their nuclear warheads are still in the "Fat Man" stage of development and would have to be carried in a large slow-moving bomber aircraft.
We're still trying to figure out how they made such a WEAK nuke. It barely went off. And their missile have problems getting past the sea of a japan.
Oh yeah?! We have 49 OTHER states!
I think they're harmless little teddy bears.....
..with too fresh fades !!!
Was it really necessary to use the metaphor "a quick look under the skirt"? Can we please not have constant sexual references force fed to us even in a story as off the track as the North Korean dictatorship? I understand you have to put Lindsay Lohan on your home page to make your organization seem relevant and attract viewers, but please. Enough already.
yea, thanks for that mental image. ;(
I Love the title "Meet the Kims" sounds like a new reality program. Tonight on Meet the Kims, Kim Ill will order the people to be happy or else!
Hey, we should be thankful to North Korea. They've definitely proved that you don't have to be religious to be nuts!
communism is a religion. People still believe in it even through there's not one example of it working.
Heh! Meet the Kims! Their family tree has no branches!
It's always nice nice when the family business can be handed down from one oppressive generation to the next! Doesn't it give you a warm fuzzy feeling?
apparently its passed down to the fatest son.
You should have consulted a genealogist when making the "family tree" It actually makes no sense. for example, how can Kim Kyung Hee b. 1946, have Jang Song Taek in 1946? Do Kim Il Song and Kim Jong Il both have multiple wives?
looks like someone peed in there cheerios.
did you mean to say "their" cheerios?
The NK dictatorship is a monarchy in all but name
Those tough looking generals look like they may bump out the boy-prince once the old man dies.
Before you class them as weak little nuts, let me remind you that there are several Korean was vets that will argue that fact. with a billion Chinese as allies, they're no pushover! It would be a big mistake to ignore them.
There is no fix unless the people get tired of it and revolt. Most people hold life more dearly then freedom and liberty so it will continue as it has. If one tries to form a revolt, they won't ever be heard from again.
I think the two OLDER brothers may still have something to say about that when dad's gone...
Congratulations to North Korea for opting to follow America's lead in selecting a young, inexperienced, ego-maniacal leader: http://www.dailyscoff.com/?p=2697
Some argue that the two men are quite different. Okay, ours is taller:
http://gravelle.us/content/our-dear-leader-vs-north-koreas
...but beyond that, one is hard-pressed to find many differences, if any, in their collectivist political philosophies...
-jjg
Congratulations to North Korea for opting to follow America's lead in selecting a young, inexperienced, ego-maniacal leader: http://www.dailyscoff.com/?p=2697
Some argue that the two men are quite different. Okay, ours is taller:
http://gravelle.us/content/our-dear-leader-vs-north-koreas
...but beyond that, one is hard-pressed to find many differences, if any, in their collectivist political philosophies...
-jjg
We got the anti-ballistic laser plane. We will shoot their missles down faster than they can make them. I agree with Ullrich, they thrive on attention and use the fear they cultivate to try and get their way. Like a spoiled child. And we are bad parents for rewarding their behavior.