Kim Jong-un was educated in Switzerland Continue reading the main story Kim Jong-il dead Memorial in pictures Uniting N Korea in grief Mystical cult of personality Genuine tears? Kim Jong-un has taken on the mantle of North Korea's supreme leadership with little political or military experience behind him. But he was named head of the party, state and army within a fortnight of his father's death on 17 December 2011. Kim Jong-il, North Korea's "Dear Leader", was in the process of grooming Kim Jong-un as his successor when he died. Immediately after his father's death, Jong-un was hailed as "the great successor". But little is known about the elusive young man who is the youngest son of Kim Jong-il and his late third wife Ko Yong-hui, Born in 1983 or early 1984, he was initially not thought to be in the frame to take up his father's mantle. Analysts focused their attention on his half-brother Kim Jong-nam and older full brother Kim ...