North Korean House of Cards

of the regime. They also provided him the legitimacy he needed to
rule without obvious challenge. It was also generally assumed that he
occupied the posts of Director of the KWP OGD and Director of
the SSD, two institutions that allowed him to quickly identify and
destroy any potential threat.
But even these formal trappings of power were not enough. Kim
created an informal system that circumvented direct chains of
command in order to give him alternate reservoirs of information.
This allowed him to access information that might otherwise have
been denied through formal channels. It also allowed him to keep
tabs on the senior leadership. He did this by forming alliances with
trusted individuals within key ministries and commands. This kept
other senior leaders off-balance and prevented them from using their
bureaucracies as breeding grounds for anti-regime cabals and plots.
While he has only been in power for less than four years, some information,
albeit highly speculative, is beginning to emerge about Kim Jong-un’s leadership
style. The most obvious departure from the way his father operated is Kim Jong-un’s
open persona. He conveys an impression of an outgoing, people-friendly, and
ambitious leader, markedly different from Kim Jong-il’s isolationist, solitary, and
secretive image. Kim Jong-un appears to be comfortable giving speeches and
interacting with large groups of ordinary citizens, whereas his father only gave one
publicly recorded speech that lasted twelve seconds. This aspect of Kim Jong-un’s
leadership style harkens back to his grandfather, Kim Il-sung. 315 Defector reporting
also paints a picture of a young and impetuous Supreme Leader who is sometimes
quick to make decisions without seeking advice. 316 He apparently understands
the tremendous power of the position he holds, but also understands that there are
315 The similarities between Kim Jong-un’s and Kim Il-sung’s public personae are so striking that
many have suggested that Kim Jong-un is deliberately patterning his mannerisms after his grandfather in
order to build rapport with the people who look on the original Suryong with great fondness.
316 This could possibly explain his decision to have the KPA conduct the Masikryeong Speed Battle,
a land reclamation project in Gangwon Province centered on the construction of a ski resort. This venture,
allegedly designed to attract tourism, appears to be the result of an impetuous and self-indulgent decision by
Kim Jong-un. After all, North Korea is facing international sanctions and its relations with the international
community, including China, are at a low point. Some, however, have suggested that in the aftermath of the
May 2013 reshuffle of the high command, such a “Speed Battle” was designed to show that the military is
acting as a leading edge in support of Kim’s shifting focus to the economy. According to defector reports, this
was the first time that a personal appeal to workers from Kim Jong-un had been made public.
Ken E. Gause
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