Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, was 27 when he inherited power in 2011, taking his place in a Kim dynasty founded by his grandfather.
The following account — adapted from “The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un,” a new book by The Washington Post’s Beijing bureau chief — reveals previously unreported details about Kim’s odd and lonely early life, which revolved around power, prerogatives and privilege.
The six-year-old Kim Jong Un stood by the billiard table in the games room of the royal residence at Sinchon, south of Pyongyang, one of dozens of palatial compounds reserved for North Korea’s first family.
He and his older brother, Kim Jong Chol, were waiting for their father to come out of a meeting with some officials.
[Listen on Post Reports: Anna Fifield on her book ‘The Great Successor’]
