TOKYO — Kim Jong-Un, according to propaganda described in a recent Chinese magazine article, learned to drive at age 3. By 8, he could safely maneuver dirt roads at 75 mph. As a teenager, he mastered four foreign languages. He is now learning three more.
The emerging biography of North Korea’s new leader, considered fictitious in nearly every country but his own, portrays him as the ultimate quick study, a poet and a marksman, an economics whiz and a military strategist.
The myth-making is particularly important because Kim Jong-Un, handed power of one of the world’s most secretive nations three weeks ago, has yet to prove his acumen for real. His life has been turned into a hyper-choreographed showcase for his credibility, and Korea-watchers are scrutinizing every move: He wears a black double-breasted coat much like his grandfather. He tours military sites that were his father’s favorites. Even his birthday, today, will be closely watched.
Analysts aren’t certain how old Kim Jong-Un is — maybe 28, 29 or 30 — but they think the date could provide clues about the pace of the succession and the extent to which North Korea is willing to toast its young heir while still mourning his father, leader Kim Jong-Il, who died Dec. 17. North Korea celebrates the birthdays of Kim Jong-Il and founder Kim Il-Sung as national holidays. But Jan. 8 hasn’t yet been declared as such.
Either way, the birthday serves as the first milepost in Kim Jong-Un’s brief tenure as North Korea’s supreme leader. Just weeks ago, he was a mere background figure, a trainee with some fancy job titles and an all-powerful dad. Now, with a series of rapid job promotions, he is in charge of a nuclear arsenal and a massive army.
U.S. officials concede that they have scant insight into the country, particularly into the small group of Kim family members and military generals who hold power. Still, North Korea has given some clues about its strategy for guiding the succession, making frequent references to the “instructions” left behind by Kim Jong-Il.
As North Korea’s state media describes it, Kim Jong-Un has become the lone inheritor of his father’s vision. That narrative aims to boost his legitimacy within the nation. But it also limits his ability to create policies that differ from those of the past 20 years, a period when North Korea funneled money to its military, tested nuclear devices, lashed out against other countries, suffered chronic food shortages and punished government dissenters by sending them to labor camps.
