SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – After his country’s first test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile last week, North Korea’s young leader, Kim Jong Un, has moved one step closer to perfecting a nuclear missile capable of reaching the United States, a weapons program launched by his grandfather and nurtured by his father.
For nearly 70 years, the three generations of the Kim family have run North Korea with an absolute rule that tolerates no dissent. They have devoted much of the country’s scarce resources to its military but have constantly feared Washington is intent on destroying their dynastic rule. They concluded that a powerful nuclear deterrent against potential U.S. aggression would guarantee their survival.
A look at how North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs have evolved under each of the three Kims.
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THE PATRIARCH: KIM IL SUNG (1948-1994)