Kim's long black coat and hairstyle, reminiscent of his late grandfather Kim Il Sung, were viewed as a superficial effort to emulate the authority of his forebears.
That view quickly changed as the young Kim displayed a ruthlessness and decisiveness that belied his age. It was a marked departure from the style of his father Kim Jong Il, whose voice was barely heard in public. "The diversification we're seeing in North Korea is puzzling considering the constrained resources in the country," said Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace."What we see is really more than 10, around 15, potential nuclear delivery systems under development. It's really remarkable."
A series of summits with world leaders, including Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Moon Jae-In, produced few tangible outcomes and made little progress on resolving North Korea's nuclear issue, but they raised the global profile of both Kim Jong Un and North Korea.
Cheong Seong-chang, director of Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, sees these reports are a deliberate strategy by North Korea to differentiate Kimjongunism from the ideologies of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung. But unlike his predecessors, who had painted the picture of a paradise on Earth and did not acknowledge any shortcomings, Kim has been willing to admit to areas for improvement such as the nation's"tense" food situation.
"The biggest difficulty North Korea is facing now is that even North Korea does not know how long this isolation will last," said Cheong.North Korea hasn't tested any missiles since this October. But this hiatus should not be mistaken for a change of North Korea's strategy -- it may mean the opposite, experts say.
And there are signs the country is ramping up its nuclear program while talks with the US remain stalled. Activity appears to have resumed at a reactor at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, which appeared to have been shut down since December 2018, according to reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency and others.
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