Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Officer's Insights into North Korea's Enigmatic Young Dictator by Jung H. Pak

Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Officer's Insights into North Korea's Enigmatic Young Dictator

by Jung H. Pak

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History & Foreign AffairsMemoir & Biography

Kim Jong Un was supposed to fall quickly after taking power in 2011. Pak, a former CIA analyst, argues that Washington misreads him by projecting its own assumptions and underrating his personality, while he used nuclear weapons to bring a small, poor country to the table with great powers.

Core ideas
  • A state built on force: The story starts in 1945, when Soviet forces installed Kim Il Sung, and moves through the devastating Korean War.
  • No reformer: Swiss schooling raised hopes he might open up, and instead he secured control through purges that included executing members of his own family.
  • Weapons as standing: Leaders poured resources into nuclear arms despite hardship, and three meetings with Trump followed a period of near-war.
Published2020
Pages336
ISBN9781984819727
ReadFeb 2025

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