An interesting piece on the current leader of North Korea and what makes him tick. There is a lot of background although I don't know how much of it was mind-shatteringly new. Information is hard to come by and there have been a good amount of books about North Korea on the market. However, I think this is the most detailed I have read about the leader. I would recommend it if you are interested in the geopolitical situation and personal history of the current leader.

A fabulous look at the rather mysterious leader of North Korea. Fifield has done admirable research tracking down the few people in the world that have interacted with Kim Jong Un.

It’s tempting to emphasize the farcical when writing about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: the outsized propaganda claims about his skills, the photos of him looking at things, the stories of his delusions of grandeur. All of these make for great click-bait headlines and entertaining segments on The Daily Show. But it’s much harder to take Kim Jong Un seriously and write a deep, thorough analysis of the young dictator.

In The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un, Washington Post journalist Anna Fifield has tackled that challenge, with impressive results. Fifield admits that “Because there is so little other information about him,” the most outrageous stories about Kim, especially concerning his childhood, “have taken on an outsized significance.” She acknowledges those stories but then goes further, digging in as deeply as possible to understand the inner dynamics of North Korean politics and how life in the country has changed since Kim took power following his father’s death in late 2011.

Conducting such research is, of course, an enormous challenge: foreign reporters cannot travel freely in North Korea, and the Kim family is notoriously secretive. Fifield draws on media accounts, interviews with North Korean escapees (including several who had enjoyed lofty positions in the government before fleeing), and her own highly monitored and tightly controlled visits to the country. The result is Pyongyang-ology at its most impressive.

Most Americans, I would wager, think of North Korea as timeless and unchanging, the impoverished “Hermit Kingdom” stuck in a Cold War mentality. Fifield, however, highlights the material changes that have taken place in Kim’s time as leader, as he has sought to improve the country’s economy and raise the standard of living. She also analyzes how Kim’s approach to foreign policy differs from that of his father, as he has embarked on greater (though often strained) engagement with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and American President Donald Trump.

The portrait of Kim Jong Un that emerges in The Great Successor is of a ruthless, crafty, and unpredictable leader—but most certainly not the delusional madman that comedy writers depict. Fifield’s careful research makes a significant contribution to our still admittedly partial understanding of what goes on at the highest levels of North Korean leadership.

I thoroughly enjoyed this peek behind the curtain into North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.
The author has covered the Korea beat for many years, with the Financial Times and the Washington Post. Her extensive knowledge of the area is obvious in her writing. She has been to North Korea a dozen times. She also interviewed people who have escaped from North Korea.
Fifield covers the entirety of Kim Jong Un's life so far. From his early childhood to the present time. And the time before his rule, when his father and grandfather ruled the nation.
I have to admit that I had always considered Kim Jong Un to be a comical blowhard who was way out of his league. Now, after reading this, my opinion has done a 180. Now I am afraid of what the world has to face.
Kim Jong Un (KJU) is a cunning, calculating person, whom we should not be underestimating. What looks to us as nonsensical behavior is actually just the opposite. KJU is a master manipulator. Knowing that he rose to the position of leader at a very young age, he realized (or had been taught?) that he had to appease different factions to stay in power. Basically, the military and the Korean version of the "1%".
As far as the 1%'ers were concerned, he learned well from his father and grandfather. "Like his patriarchs, he has managed to survive as a dictator by controlling an entire nation through a relatively tiny group of people. It was another rule espoused by Machiavelli: don't worry about the general population; just be sure to enrich a small, elite group". He does this by letting this group ignore the socialist rules the rest of the population has to obey. They are "free" to make money anyway they can, through trade, smuggling, or any other method they can think of. With a caveat, of course, "free" as long as they kick back a portion of the spoils to KJU's own coffers.
By forging ahead at full steam to develop nuclear weapons, he kept the military satisfied. And as long as they have nuclear weapons, the military knows that it is safe from invasion.
And it doesn't hurt KJU's position that he is willing to sacrifice ANYONE to maintain his hold on the country. As is evidenced by what he did to his favorite uncle. No one under him should feel safe and secure.
The author points out that KJU will NEVER give up the nuclear weapons he now has. To do so would be political folly, and the probable end of his regime. No, KJU more then likely intends to use his membership in the nuclear family to extract more and more concessions from the rest of the world.
Which brings us to today. How are we (the free world) supposed to handle North Korea? Is it wiser to try to continue to isolate them in the world, or to try to interact with them? We have to admit, the isolation treatment did not work so well, they still developed nuclear weapons. Will the current U.S. President's overtures towards "friendship" work? I don't know. I just hope that someone in charge is acting with a clearly thought out plan, and not just flying by the seat of his pants to make himself look good.
Time will tell!

I was curious to learn more about Kim Jong Un, since he is quite a mysterious character. Even so, I'm not really sure what I expected from this.. maybe more of a character study? However, this is a very detailed and expert account of Kim Jong Un's life, from birth up to the 2018/19, as he begins his next phase for North Korea, after they achieved nuclear weapons. This is a great option if you want to learn about North Korea and the regime, since Fifield goes through a lot of history, and is very detailed in her explanations. I enjoyed her detailed recounting of her own experiences, and her interviews with those who knew Kim Jong Un, or were affected by his rule—those exiled from the ruling class, or those who ran illegal businesses on the border between North Korea and China.

However, all of the detail piles up and makes this a rather slow read. After a while, I found the endless interviews and details to be a bit much, and at times, repetitive. Some bits of interviews or pieces of Kim's origin story were repeated, and I felt that I was hearing the same thing over again. I'll give this four stars for scholarship and the amount of knowledge poured into it, since I think it is a strong work in that sense, but as a casual reader, it was a bit too serious for me.

I felt this was an in depth analysis of Kim Jon Un and was a great analysis of his rise to power and the effects of his rule on modern say politics.

This is the first in depth and unbiased biography about the leader of North Korea. I enjoyed the obscure facts that the author was able to divulge about her subject.

I didn’t imagine a book about Kim Jong Un would be an unputdownable page-turner, but here we are. I’m not sure anything I write about The Great Successor is going to do it justice as it’s tough to encapsulate, but I’ll try.

Kim Jong Un is the younger son of Kim Jong Il, the second ruler of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, as it’s known since its division after the Korean War (I’m messily consolidating lots of history here, but it’s complex and Anna Fifield is going to explain it to you better anyway.) The younger Kim wasn’t the obvious choice to lead after his father’s 2011 death. The family drama is intense, from the snubbing and eventual public assassination of older brother Kim Jong Nam in 2017, to Kim Jong Il’s wives, to the more we’re learning about fiercely loyal “princess” sister, Kim Yo Jong, who, when I was reading this may or may not have fallen from favor.

“An old day was dawning,” Fifield writes, clarifying why Kim dresses in the Mao suit that his grandfather Kim Il Sung wore, has that hideous ‘do, and employs imagery, style and even lighting reminiscent of Sung’s postwar rule. This hearkening back to a perceived time of greater prosperity was particularly important to Kim because of his youth — only 32 when he took power — and age being extremely significant in Korean culture. It was also a subtle reminder of his connection to the man who’d founded North Korea in its current state, and thus Kim’s inherent right to rule.

I wanted to figure out how this young man and the regime he inherited had defied the odds. I wanted to find out everything there was to know about Kim Jong Un. So I set out to talk to everyone who’d ever met him, searching for clues about this most enigmatic of leaders. It was tough; so few people had met him, and even among that select group, the number of people who’ve spent any meaningful time with him was tiny.

Considering that, it’s somewhat incredible that Fifield managed a biography of this caliber. There are blank spaces, unknown quantities — but overall it’s incredibly informative. It’s also impressively up to the minute, considering North Korea’s frequent headline-grabbing. As I don’t anticipate a flood of additional insider information about the Kims anytime soon, I don’t think it’ll soon become dated aside from the ongoing progression of news stories (the latest: piranha-filled fish tank execution).

Over hundreds of hours of interviews across eight countries, I managed to piece together a jigsaw puzzle called Kim Jong Un. What I learned did not bode well for the twenty-five million people still trapped inside North Korea.

No surprise there. Fifield gathers intel from Kenji Fujimoto, who she calls a “Kim-Jong-Un-ologist” — a Japanese sushi chef for the Kims and unlikely friend to KJU in his lonely childhood. Other sources include members of Dennis Rodman’s entourage; Kim’s aunt and uncle, who posed as his parents when he attended boarding school in Switzerland (they’ve since defected to the US); and information and impressions from Fifield’s trips.

One affecting scene was in a new pizza parlor in Pyongyang, as she detailed some of the changes in the capital, including its culinary landscape. She playfully mentions to an employee that Kim must have acquired a taste for pizza while living in Europe. He’s crestfallen, wondering how an outsider knows more about their leader than citizens do. She breaks down Kim’s carefully cultivated image and analyzes everything from what he hides to what he displays, like his wife, “the North Korean Kate Middleton, rejuvenating the monarchy and humanizing her husband.”

Fifield’s experience as Beijing bureau chief for the Washington Post comes in handy, as she’s so well versed in the history, politics, economics, and culture of the region. She’s able to interpret the facts and draw reasonable, educated assumptions about what intelligence may indicate, from political and economic goings-on in the hermetic country to the state of Kim’s health (gout, probably diabetes, something they’re afraid will be discovered in his poo?) You’ll learn things you never knew you never knew.

The North Koreans guard details of the leader’s health closely. For all his meetings outside North Korea – including in Singapore – they travel with a special portable toilet for him to use so that he won’t leave any samples from which health information could be extracted.

She also explains cultural concepts that influence the Kims’ hold over the population, including the family’s Paektu bloodline: “the North Korean equivalent of tracing your ancestors to the Mayflower but in totalitarian overdrive.”

One of my favorite aspects is her insight into recent events, including Otto Warmbier’s captivity and death. The details of this have been strange and stranger, but Fifield has pieced together likely answers and comes to a different conclusion than I’ve read elsewhere, while simultaneously heightening the mystery. Ominously, she shares her impressions of the heavy-drinking party tour group he’d been with, and it’s surprising something like this didn’t happen sooner.

Fifield’s writing and analysis are particularly excellent when she sums up the surreal state of US-Korean relations today, like that Dennis Rodman held unique relevance in channeling information about Kim to the outside world and bridging relations: the former Celebrity Apprentice contestant became “the only person in the whole word who knew both Trump and Kim.” Good grief.

She also provides insight into the strangeness of belief systems. The politburo and government structure are notoriously harsh, but apparently culture still accommodates the woo-woo. Like regarding Kim’s attitude towards denuclearization, and whether his current window of opportunity with frenemy Trump and South Korean president Moon Jae-in as middleman would last: “One of Kim’s advisers even consulted a traditional Korean fortune-teller to ask whether he would be reelected. (The answer was yes.)”

And surprisingly, there are opportunities for levity despite the gravity of it all. Like that Kim was inspired to use jogging bodyguards by the movie In the Line of Fire, where Secret Service agents ran alongside JFK’s car. Except it’s about assassination, so should he really be sourcing ideas there? Kim remains a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, capped with a flattop, but Fifield’s well curated insight is invaluable in understanding something about it all.

Intelligent, impressionistic and immensely readable biography of the enigmatic leader and his significance for the hermit kingdom.

I have long had a fascination with the land north of the DMZ. I have read several true accounts of life in North Korea, including a couple books that I have reviewed on the blog, namely A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa (Mini Review) and See You Again in Pyongyang: A Journey into Kim Jong Un’s North Korea. by Travis Jeppesen. And I've always been drawn to thrillers and D.B.John's Star of the North is an excellent book that takes place in that country. Yet, Fifield biography of Kim Jong Un is the best book I've read that truly encompasses the horrible steps that three generations of men have taken to control their people.

Using her own familiarity of the regime and interviews with many defectors and others with intimate knowledge of the ruling family, the author first tells the story of the initial leader of the country, Kim Il-Sung, then his son, Kim Jong-Il, and finally the succession of power to the current Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un. From his seclusion from the public eye as a child to his schooling in Switzerland, Fifield's characterization of The Great Successor is a complete look into the his paranoia and ineptitude.

The book focuses on three main factors of the power dynamic, how privilege and birthright combined to sell the position to the people, how that dominance continues to be held, and how Kim will be able to negotiate international politics. These three explorations enable the author to both use a top-down approach of examples of the leader's propaganda and the people's view of the grasp for power. There are fascinating anecdotes from within the circle of influence showing the eccentricities of Kim Jong Il and from the lowest peasants showing their desperation to gain a foothold in an economy that really depends on the black market to survive.

Even with her intimate knowledge, Fifield is able to distance herself from her subject and present an objective look at a man who has been endlessly caricatured. Especially in the the places when Kim steps on the international stage with two Americans who have had their share of past dalliances, Dennis Rodman and Donald Trump.  

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to take a clear and deep look into The Hermit Kingdom and it's enigmatic leader. What this book does the best is invest in the now... It is well-research and immediate. 

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, PublicAffairs Book, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

Fascinating read with more insight than you would expect considering the subject matter. There is keen insight into the political ascension of the Kim dynasty, Kim Jong Un's grooming for the position, and the internal politics shaping the narrative of each leader in the Kim dynasty. The reader will gain a better understanding on the creation of the Kim dynasty and what has transpired to create the current leader in North Korea. This book is informative and highly relevant in our current political climate.

Given the snarky subtitle of this book I wondered if it was going to be a bit on the satirical side. However, the author provides a serious, well-researched portrait of the eccentric North Korean dictator. She is able to offer some details of his early childhood, school years in Switzerland, rise to power, and political maneuvering at home and in the international community.

Rather than portraying Kim Jong Un as nothing more than a deranged lunatic, Fifield seeks to understand him. She strikes an excellent balance between recognizing him as a canny politician and as a brutal, entitled egomaniac who couldn’t care less about the suffering he inflicts on others to maintain absolute power, an obscenely luxurious lifestyle, and the “adoration” of his people.

Personally, I would have liked to learn a little more about what is faced by religious people (who must be in the extreme minority) in North Korea, but maybe there was no way for the author to obtain this information. Overall, I was very pleased with this book as it provided an informative overview of this horrible little man and his devastated country while seeming to maintain a bit more objectivity than is usual with this topic.

Timely book on an interesting subject. I've previously read several books on the DPRK and the Kim dynasty, but none were as approachable and enjoyable to read. When it was originally requested, I was thinking it might be a tongue-in-cheek approach to Kim Jong Un, which I thought would be enjoyable, but found myself reading it for some time before I realized it wasn't what I initially expected. The author's access to people from Kim's inner circle - including the chef whose story I have wanted to read in English for some time - makes this book more than just another book on the hermit kingdom of the Korean peninsula.

Through countless hours interviewing North Korean defectors ranging from average citizens to members of the ruling Kim family, deep research, and her own experiences traveling to the “Hermit Kingdom,” as a journalist, Anna Fifield has crafted an incredibly in-depth work about Kim Jong Un and the country he rules as Supreme Leader.

For starters, “The Great Successor” cuts right into the mix of mystery and absurd myth that has surrounded Kim Jong Un since he has stepped out of the privileged, protected shadows and into the spotlight. “The Great Successor” provides as intimate and detailed an overview of his life as possible, covering everything including his hyper-sheeted childhood, his European schooling under a fake identity, his cementation of himself as undisputed ruler after his father’s death right, and everything else up until the present day. And amongst many revelations, we are shown what appears to be a complex figure who is simultaneously more politically savvy, more open to change, and also far more ruthless than many may give him credit for.

Alongside this deep journey through one man’s life is also a comprehensive overview of North Korea as it exists to this day. Fifield shows a country that has opened up a surprising amount economically, provided some modest improvements in the quality of life for a nascent middle class, and is also where the lucky well-connected are becoming fabulously enriched thanks to the new leader. We also see a nation where its ruling family is expected to be treated as gods, a literal caste systems based upon political loyalty still exists, malnourishment reigns rampant, prison camps are expanding, and fear of merciless punishment from above keeps everyone firmly in check.

These are only two broad areas in which Fifield’s work shines magnificently. To call this book a strong recommend is the very least that I can do. If anything, “The Great Successor” is practically essential reading considering the outsized role its subject dictator and his veritable kingdom continue to play on the world stage.

In August 2014, the world was hoping that 26-year-old Kim Jong Un, the newly anointed leader of North Korea would be a reformer. His third generation, family dynasty was at risk with a young Kim Jung Un without military or government background. The world was skeptical he had the skills to succeed.

Great Successor provides a detailed history of the three generations of the Kim Dynasty: the grandfather, Kim II Sung, his son, Kim Jong II, and his grandson, Kim Jung Un. The ruling regime used all its wiles to establish Kim Jung Un; he accompanied his father to many events, he was introduced to schools, and government officials read out lectures throughout which the students were taught to cheer “long life.”

Anna’s book is a tour de force; she describes a barely functioning economy and an oppressed country whose people had fear in their eyes. Anna supports our understanding of how a despotic ruler brainwashes his people; beginning at a young age; the children are instructed to chant songs which express love for the leader who becomes god-like in their eyes. North Korean people do not celebrate their own birthdays; the whole country celebrates the birthday of the leader. Their personalities are entwined with the leaders; his triumphs become their triumphs.

Anna Fifield writes with poignancy and shows the misery and desolation of living in North Korea. The regime inherited by Kim Jung Un was merciless, autocratic, and the North Korean people were starving but were required to idolize the Great Commander. How could a young, inexperienced ruler manage the politics and the economy without running afoul of the current leadership and the possible hatred of the people?

The Great Successor relates that Kim Jung Un kept the influential people around him happy by providing a superior standard of living. But he moreover had to identify loyal people with future value and begin to eliminate those who could constitute a danger. From Anna’s research, he seems to have been eminently capable of this level of strategy. He also proved capable of conducting meetings with President Xi of China, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, and President Trump of America.

Anna provides many, many insights in this book which people will read and appreciate for themselves. I can only remain hopeful that America can forge a relationship with Kim Jung Un by walking that fine line to establish a successful collaboration between North Korea and the world. The alternative is unthinkable.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. Anna has thoroughly researched the Great Successor and spoken to hundreds of people who could provide any insight at all into the man, Kim Jung Un. It is historical going back three generations and offers excellent insight into the inheritance of Kim Jung Un. Readers should be aware there is an extremely sinister side to the story and Anna has written in horrific detail about the deprivations of life in North Korea. She describes the removal of people who speak against the regime, the still existing labor camps and the — no communication policy — with the external world.

I recommend this book to people interested in politics, history, relationships, and unanswered questions about today’s world. I do not recommend it to people who prefer light reading.