About North Korea

Name - Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Local Name - Choson (Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk)

Capital - Pyongyang 

Time Difference - UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)

Chief of State - Kim Jong Un

Information from the CIA World Fact Book:

An independent kingdom for much of its long history, Korea was occupied by Japan beginning in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War. Five years later, Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II, Korea was split with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist control. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed Republic of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under its founder President KIM Il Sung, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against outside influence. The DPRK demonized the US as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda, and molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM Il Sung's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as his father's successor in 1980, assuming a growing political and managerial role until the elder KIM's death in 1994. In 2010, KIM Jong Il began the process of preparing the way for his youngest son, KIM Jong Un, to succeed him in power. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population. North Korea's history of regional military provocations, proliferation of military-related items, long-range missile development, WMD programs including tests of nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009, and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international community. The regime has marked 2012, the centenary of KIM Il Sung's birth, a banner year; to that end, the country has been focused on development of the economy.

North Korea has a monarch-type succession to choose the next leader.  Kim Jon Il, the leader who recently died of an apparent heart attack, took over form his father, Kim Il Sung.  Now that Kim Jong Il is dead, his third oldest son, Kim Jong Un, will take over.

Kim Jong Un is only in his mid twenties (age not known, but thought to be 27 or 28) and has only held leadership positions for about a year.  Many experts are now worried about a potential power struggle between Kim and his uncle, Jang Song Taek, who has been an extremely influential figure in North Korea for years.

Kim is said to have been responsible for 2010's missile attack of Yeonpyeong, a South Korean island, that almost reignited the Korean War.

Kim was head of the North Korean Secret Police before become ruler of the country, went to school in Switzerland were he learned English and numerous other languages, and has a degree in military science.  Other than this, not much is known about Kim Jong Un.