Major changes have taken place in North Korea, and two major signals have emerged. Kim Jong-un's prestige is no longer what it used to be!

When the current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un first came to power, he was only a 27-year-old young man. Before he entered politics, Kim Jong-un's image was more like "he was a fat boy who was addicted to video games and shy when he saw girls."

And it is such a big boy who looks extremely ordinary who has been in power in North Korea for 13 years.

When he just took over the power from his father Kim Jong Il, almost everyone in the outside world was pessimistic about him!

Almost no one thought he would lead North Korea to a bright future. The mainstream international opinion at the time believed that in a country like North Korea that places great emphasis on seniority and experience, Kim Jong-un might be replaced soon after taking office, and the Kim dynasty would collapse.

However, it turns out that the whole world seems to have underestimated this "young third-generation North Korean" leader. It can be said that since Kim Jong-un officially became the supreme leader of North Korea on April 11, 2012, Kim Jong-un has given the whole world too much shock with his tough and unique political style!

Many people have questioned whether the old path paved by Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il is still feasible? Will Kim Jong-un change his ways? Judging from the current situation, Kim Jong-un seems to have already mastered the governance of North Korea and has found a balance between inheritance and development.

Today, Kim Jong-un's status in North Korea is rising unprecedentedly, and a new era known as "Kim Jong-unism" is quietly taking shape.

In May 2024, North Korean media released a very eye-catching photo: Kim Jong-un gave a speech to officials at the Central Cadre Training School. This photo reveals a lot of information, because the wall of this classroom is hung with a portrait of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un. This was unique in the past! This shows that Kim Jong-un's status in North Korea has been sublimated. Now Kim Jong-un's prestige in North Korea is completely comparable to that of his grandfather and father, and has even surpassed them.

You know, when Kim Jong-un was chosen by Kim Jong-il as the successor, he was almost unanimously ridiculed and doubted by the outside world! After hearing Kim Jong-un's name, even the CIA was confused!

At that time, almost no one in the world knew the name of Kim Jong-un. Even many high-ranking officials in North Korea knew nothing about this "third son of Kim Jong-il".

At that time, almost no one would believe that this "fat boy born in the 1980s who returned from studying in Switzerland" could really become the new leader of North Korea and control the future of North Korea.

At that time, almost everyone in the outside world believed that Kim Jong Il would let his eldest son Kim Jong Nam or his second son Kim Jong Chol take over.

After all, these two sons had appeared in the public eye many times before, and Kim Jong Il did have high hopes for them!

However, the reality disappointed Kim Jong Il.

The eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, was like a piece of clay that could not be helped up. In 2001, he was arrested for sneaking into Japan Disneyland with a fake passport, which made Kim Jong-il feel humiliated. After this incident broke out, the eldest son, who was "disappointed with his failure to make good use of his talents", officially fell out of the line of successors.

Although the second son, Kim Jong Chol, was deeply loved by Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Il found that he was "too weak in character and had no leadership qualities at all", so the second son was also abandoned.

By August 2008, Kim Jong Il, who had been suffering from a series of serious health problems, vaguely realized that he might not have much time left!

He began to realize that he had to determine his successor as soon as possible. After weighing the pros and cons, Kim Jong Il finally chose Kim Jong Un, who was as tough and decisive as himself.

According to the Japanese Kenji Fujimoto, who was Kim Jong-il's chef at the time, in his book:

In fact, Kim Jong-il's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, is the most like Kim Jong-il. Kim Jong-un has the same tenacity and outstanding leadership as Kim Jong-il. Kim Jong-il firmly believes that Kim Jong-un is the one who can lead North Korea forward.

Soon, Kim Jong-un was secretly designated as the successor in January 2009. From that moment on, Kim Jong-un entered the North Korean political arena at a rocket-like speed. After only 21 months of non-public activities, in September 2010, Kim Jong-un was elected as the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, member of the Party Central Committee, and general of the People's Army.

You know, Kim Jong Il's inspection period under Kim Il Sung lasted for 6 years, while Kim Jong Un completed all the inspection work in less than two years.

Kim Jong Il passed away in December 2011. In just four months, Kim Jong Un became the new leader of North Korea, which was much faster than Kim Jong Il's three years.

However, when Kim Jong-un first came to power, he faced a very serious problem: "his foundation was too shallow!" Kim Jong-il had already considered this point. In order to ensure a smooth handover for his son, he left four ministers, Li Yinghao, Li Yongchun, Jin Zhengge, and Yu Dongce, to help Kim Jong-un manage military and political affairs together with his uncle Zhang Chengze, to help his son gain a foothold in North Korean politics.

Kim Jong-un is well aware that his father's special arrangement is the road to power his father has paved for him. Not only that, Kim Jong-un also declared that he would keep Kim Jong-il's body in the crystal coffin in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang.

From this, we can see that Kim Jong-un is really smart and has excellent political acumen. As soon as he came to power, he knew that he had to use the high prestige of his father, Kim Jong-il, to consolidate his position. By preserving his father's body forever, he can successfully transform his father's political legacy into the cornerstone of his own power, greatly clearing the obstacles on his path to succession.

At the very beginning, Kim Jong-un, who had just become the supreme leader of North Korea, knew that his position was not yet stable, so he fully "insisted on implementing" Kim Jong-il's legacy.

Kim Jong-un fully trusted the "ministers entrusted to him by Kim Jong-il" in the early days. It was precisely by relying on these old ministers that Kim Jong-un successfully stabilized the political situation.

However, soon after Kim Jong-un consolidated his position, it was imperative to eliminate the old guard. Within a year and ten months after Kim Jong-un took over power, 30% of the military cadres in the North Korean military, who were mainly in their 70s and 80s, were replaced, and a bunch of "young and strong" generals born in the 1950s and 1960s were promoted. Kim Jong-un spared no effort to dismiss the "old people" left by his father.

At the end of 2012, the four ministers who had been entrusted with the care of the young emperor were either dismissed or retired. For Kim Jong-un, who wants to make great achievements, getting rid of the transitional dependence on his father's old subordinates is the first step to get rid of the power constraints of his father.

At the end of 2013, Jang Song-thaek, Kim Jong-un's uncle, who was once regarded as Kim Jong-un's "right-hand man" and helped Kim Jong-un purge dissidents in the military, became a "traitor" overnight and was sentenced to death for "subversion of the state."

It can be seen that Kim Jong-un is relying on this method to gradually get rid of the influence of his grandfather and father. Because of this series of measures, Kim Jong-un's power has been further consolidated!

Since Kim Jong-un officially came to power in 2012, he has successfully promoted the development of North Korea through a series of domestic and foreign policies.

His authority and prestige in North Korea have been increasingly consolidated, and he has also demonstrated a certain influence internationally. Today, Kim Jong-un's status is comparable to that of his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung.

Compared with the previous two generations of North Korean leaders, Kim Jong-un appears in public more frequently. His "people-friendly image" is highly loved and respected by the North Korean people. He often inspects schools, factories, hospitals, etc.

In addition, Kim Jong-un has made his marital status public without any hesitation and has attended various events with his wife Ri Sol-ju many times!

It can be said that Kim Jong-un has brought the "sense of being alive" to the extreme!

From an economic perspective, the performance of the North Korean economy since Kim Jong-un came to power is actually significantly better than in the late Kim Jong-il government.

At present, the North Korean economy has completely bottomed out and is gradually entering the track of recovery.

Although this process is very slow, Kim Jong-un's measures to develop and establish special economic zones in the economic field and attract foreign investment have indeed begun to bear fruit. Perhaps in the future, North Korea will really achieve the self-sustaining and prosperous appearance that Kim Jong-un said.

In the military, in addition to still attaching great importance to the research and development of nuclear weapons, Kim Jong-un also attaches great importance to the improvement of unmanned aviation technology and electronic warfare capabilities! In March, Kim Jong-un personally directed the national defense scientific research work of the unmanned aviation technology complex and the detection electronic warfare research team. Under Kim Jong-un's guidance, military modernization and national defense science and technology development have indeed made obvious progress.

In diplomacy, Kim Jong-un has shown a more flexible strategy. He has held dialogues with the leaders of the United States and South Korea many times, seeking to resolve differences through diplomatic means. Since 2018, the DPRK-US summit has been held three times, in Singapore, Hanoi and Panmunjom. Kim Jong-un has also stated that North Korea is committed to achieving the denuclearization of the peninsula, but at the same time requires the United States to take corresponding measures, such as lifting economic sanctions and providing security guarantees.

It is precisely because of this series of measures that Kim Jong-un's prestige and status have reached an unprecedented height. Among them, two key signals are particularly important.

In international affairs, since Trump came back to power, his attitude towards North Korea and South Korea has completely changed. South Korea seems to be on the verge of becoming a country marginalized by the United States. In response, Trump bluntly criticized South Korea for "not only enjoying the protection of the United States, but also profiting from it." In addition, he also listed South Korea as a sensitive country and questioned the US-ROK Security Treaty.

In contrast, Trump has been completely welcoming of North Korea, and has repeatedly expressed his willingness to maintain correspondence with Kim Jong-un to show his friendship. This sharp contrast in attitudes reflects that Kim Jong-un's previous tough attitude towards the outside world has paid off.

Kim Jong-un has always stressed that "nuclear weapons are the ultimate means of 'preventing war'." It is precisely this point that makes Trump wary and has to adopt a strategy of appeasing North Korea to prevent the situation from getting out of control.

In North Korea, Kim Jong-un's portrait is now displayed together with his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung. This shows that Kim Jong-un's influence and prestige are now on par with those of the previous two leaders, and even surpass them in some aspects.

In addition, in the first half of 2024, North Korea released a new song, "Friendly Father", the lyrics of which described Kim Jong-un as a "great leader" for the first time! You know, before this, Kim Jong-un's image was more like a "young leader", and this time the word "great" was used, which is enough to show the change of Kim Jong-un's status.

In addition, the newly opened new terminal of Pyongyang Sunan International Airport no longer hangs a large portrait of Kim Il-sung, and Kim Jong-un no longer wears the badges of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on his clothes in public.

These phenomena all indicate that the roles and status of the previous two leaders in North Korea have been gradually weakened, and Kim Jong-un's personal influence will be unprecedentedly enhanced and strengthened!

Finally, after talking so much above, a question naturally arises. Is Kim Jong-un's rising status in North Korea a good thing or a bad thing for North Korea? The author believes that the impact is extremely complex, with both positive and negative effects.

On the positive side, as Kim Jong-un's authority and influence increase, it will definitely be beneficial to domestic political stability, and a series of domestic decisions will become more enforceable! The consistent and effective policies of the Kim dynasty can also continue to be implemented. North Korea's independent and tough image in international relations will continue, and North Korea will have more say in dialogue with the United States.

However, if this prestige is raised too high, it may lead to North Korea's excessive dependence on Kim Jong-un, which will undoubtedly bring about some domestic instability.

In short, where North Korea will develop in the future, and whether it will develop well or not, seems to focus on Kim Jong-un alone. His decision is crucial. If the decision is right, North Korea will have very good development. If Kim Jong-un loses his mind, it is not impossible for North Korea to fall into an abyss of no return.