Kim Jong Il was the leader of North Korea between 1994 and the 2011. During this time, he ruled his country with an iron fist, pursued an aggressive nuclear missile policy, and continued to punish anyone who challenged his authority. Kim used his government’s propaganda wing to build a vast cult of personality around himself—to the point where the nation’s media portrayed him as a superhuman figure. Kim was also responsible for instituting a series of economic reforms that permitted more capitalism and trading in North Korea—although he was practically forced to do so to avoid another famine like the one his country experienced in the early 1990s. He died in 2011, leaving the country in the hands of his youngest son, Kim Jong Eun.