'The Great Successor' Aims To Fill In Blanks On The Life Of North Korea's Kim Jong Un
Contrary to prevailing stereotypes, in Anna Fifield's reported story Kim is anything but a madman: Cold-blooded, for sure, but playing a calculated defensive strategy aimed at standing up his rule.
There are few world leaders past or present we know less about than North Korea's reclusive, nuclear-armed bad boy, Kim Jong Un.
Even Stalin was arguably less opaque — while guarded and secretive, the brutal Soviet strongman was at least recognized as one of Lenin's henchman before muscling his way to the top.
By contrast, Kim's very existence was only officially acknowledged a few years before the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011 after the elder Kim launched an eleventh-hour scramble to ensure dynastic
