Understanding And Dealing With Kim Jong-Un’s Resilience

Kim Jong Un has strengthened North Korea through repression, nuclear expansion, strategic alliances, and carefully managing looming succession risks.

Mario Alexis Portella | August 31, 2026

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has often struck observers as an unconventional figure in international relations: a nonchalant man seemingly indifferent to the economic hardships his people endure. In reality, he has displayed unexpected cunning—a Machiavellian disposition—that has surprised global leaders.

Through authoritarian rule, Kim has successfully positioned North Korea—formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)—as a notable force in international politics. He has done so by demonstrating flexibility, exploiting rifts among major powers, and modifying alliances as global circumstances change.

After Kim succeeded his father in late 2011, while still in his late twenties, numerous observers predicted that the young leader would not last long. They expected senior officials either to remove him or reduce him to a ceremonial figure. Instead, Kim consolidated his power and established himself as one of the world’s most ruthless political leaders.

As Jung H. Pak explains in the Foreign Affairs article “How North Korea Won,” Kim carried out systematic purges to secure the elite’s loyalty, including the public execution of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, and the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam. Over the past decade, he has steadily expanded surveillance, coerced labor, and harsh penalties, using fear to maintain “total control” over ordinary North Koreans.

Building on the legacies of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and his father, Kim Jong-il, Kim has cultivated a self-reliant cult of personality to strengthen his rule. This elaborate mythology portrays him as a legendary revolutionary hero, an astute military strategist, and a compassionate father figure to the nation. The regime spreads this narrative through education, media, literature, and the arts, embedding it in nearly every aspect of daily life and making it a crucial foundation of the country’s distinctive........

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