Kim Jong-un as a young boy in pictures to mark the North Korean leader’s birthday TOMORROW
THESE uncanny pictures of a young Kim Jong-un reveal the round-faced boy who would grow up to become the world’s most feared dictator. On what is believed to be the despot’s birthday, here is a look back at his childhood in pictures.
The blurry photographs show Kim Jong-un wearing military uniform while giving a military salute to the camera and drawing at a desk.
The young boy looks as if he is already in training to take over from his revered father Kim Jong-il who was known as the Dear Leader and died in 2011.
But in fact Kim Jong-il only named Kim Jong-un as his successor in 2009 at the expense of the late dictator's elder sons.
The family photograph below shows Kim Jong-il with his eldest son Kim Jong-nam who was long considered to be his heir apparent.
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In a blood chilling twist, Kim Jong-un’s estranged half brother Kim Jong-nam was killed in a poison attack at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia in 2017.
North Korea is thought to be behind the attack. But two women have pleaded not guilty to the shocking asassination in broad daylight.
Kenji Fujimoto, who claims to have been Kim Jong-il’s personal sushi chef, always predicted that Kim Jong-un would be Kim Jong-il's successor instead of Kim Jong-nam.
The Japanese chef uses a pseudonym and has spoken about how he was told to be Kim Jong-un’s “playmate” when the future leader was just a boy.
“Kim Jong-un always decided what we were going to play that day,” he told Frontline.
"He really liked rollerblading and basketball. When he started playing basketball, he was telling his brother what to do.
"Sometimes I wondered if Kim Jong-un wasn’t really the older brother. And also, he’s always been a smoker since the age of 13 or 14."
Fujimoto added: “After he smoked, he’d always say ‘Don’t tell my dad, OK?’”
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Like many things about the secretive leader Kim Jong-un, even his age and date of birth are shrouded in mystery and have never been confirmed by North Korea.
It is widely believed that Kim Jong-un’s birthday falls tomorrow (Monday January 8) and that he will be turning 34 this year.
But there is still confusion over the year of his birth with some reports claiming that he was born in 1982 or 1983 instead of 1984.
On January 8 2016, Dennis Rodman famously sang Happy Birthday to Kim Jong-un during a basketball match in Pyongyang.
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KIM JONG-SUK: North Korean founder Kim Il-sung and his first wife Kim Jong-suk gave birth to their son Kim Jong-il in 1941.
The North Korean leader’s birthday is not included on the North Korean calendar unlike his father and grandfather’s birthdays which are public holidays.
