Nothing to Envy

by

Barbara Demick

Kim Jong-un Character Analysis

Kim Jong-un is, as of 2020, the leader of North Korea. The son of Kim Jong-il and the grandson of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un rose to power in 2011 following his father’s death. Considered by many an unlikely choice to lead North Korea, Kim Jong-un has, since his ascent to power, attempted incessantly to remind the world of North Korea’s growing nuclear and technology capabilities through a series of missile launches, nuclear tests, and cyberattacks. Kim Jong-un’s eccentric behavior and almost childlike investment in renovating North Korea’s amusement parks even as his people starve has earned him a strange reputation—yet his ruthless dispatching of many of his own family members and his father’s former political allies has marked him as a leader with as much desperation and as little mercy as his predecessors in the Kim dynasty.
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Kim Jong-un Character Timeline in Nothing to Envy

The timeline below shows where the character Kim Jong-un appears in Nothing to Envy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Epilogue
Propaganda, Misinformation, Deception, and Control Theme Icon
...period ensued once again; once again, people took to the streets to wail and scream. Kim Jong-un , an unlikely choice to ascend to the status of Great Leader as Kim Jong-il’s... (full context)
Isolationism and Self-Reliance Theme Icon
Kim Jong-un looked, for a time, like a new kind of leader: he and his wife appeared... (full context)
Propaganda, Misinformation, Deception, and Control Theme Icon
Isolationism and Self-Reliance Theme Icon
Kim Jong-un ’s strange behavior grew more erratic over the years. In December 2013, he had his... (full context)
Propaganda, Misinformation, Deception, and Control Theme Icon
Isolationism and Self-Reliance Theme Icon
Though Kim Jong-un ’s antics since his rise to power have often been strange or ludicrous, North Korea’s... (full context)
Propaganda, Misinformation, Deception, and Control Theme Icon
Scarcity, Starvation, and Desperation Theme Icon
...shelter. After interviewing recent defectors as late as 2012 and 2013, she writes, she believes Kim Jong-un is squandering his people’s hopes and goodwill by doing frivolous things like building up theme... (full context)