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North Korea is among the few states in the world with hereditary succession as the official policy for power succession; leadership is solely centered on the Kim family. This, however, is not to say that the successor is to inherit all characteristics of their predecessor. In this commentary, Hyeong Jung Park, Emeritus Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) compares Songun politics during the Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un era. The author approaches the comparison in the three dimensions of external security strategy, the governing system, and major power groups and beneficiaries, noting policies and key features that have discontinued and changed with the introduction of the Kim Jong Un regime.
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