E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
KCNA via Reuters file
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (L) watches a military exercise of the Korean People's Army in an undisclosed location, in this undated picture recently released by the official Korean News Agency KCNA.
The current ruler of nuclear-armed North Korea was a laggard student who frequently skipped class when he was attending a school in Switzerland in the 1990s, according to the Daily Record news site.
The UK publication, citing leaked documents, reported that the Kim Jong Un, 29, who took the helm of the isolated totalitarian country upon the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December, missed 75 days of school his first year of school at the International School in Berne.
Kim missed 105 days his second year at the elite private school, where he registered under a pseudonym as the son of a North Korean diplomat. It was not clear from the report which grade levels he was in at the time, but he would have been in his mid-teens.
An unnamed source who said he was a school friend of Kim said that Pak Un — as Kim was known there — often did not show up at school until afternoon, preferring instead to play video games or watch basketball on television.
His grades seemed to suffer accordingly. According to the report, he failed science and got minimum pass grades in English and German, the main language used in the Swiss capital of Bern, but did well in music and technical studies.
Kim Jong Un was enrolled in the Kim Il Sung Military University in Pyongyang from 2002 to 2007, most analysts agree.
Kim Jong Un, now dubbed the "great successor," is the third-generation North Korean leader in his family, though virtually nothing was known about him before he was appointed to a set of powerful positions in 2011. His father, Kim Jong Il, came to power in a similar fashion, moving into the top military, government and party roles left by his father, Kim Il Sung, a communist guerrilla fighter who is considered the father of the country.
North Korea analysts continue to puzzle over the newest Kim in charge. It remains unclear how much support he has within the military, and whether he has any inclination toward reform — seen as essential to restarting the country’s moribund economy and breaking the country’s isolation.
The United States, South Korea and other allies were discouraged by Pyongyang’s recent insistence that it soon will launch a rocket — purportedly to put a satellite in orbit — but widely viewed as a pretext for a long-range missile test.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- All hope 'annihilated,' retiree kills himself outside Greek parliament
- Surprises along Tel Aviv's beach
- Muslim Brotherhood shocks Egypt with presidential run
- 615 dead dolphins found on Peru beaches; acoustic tests for oil to blame?
- Chinese artist Ai Weiwei sets up live webcams at his home
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
He may not be highly educated, but it is pretty obvious he never missed a meal in his life -- while his father starved over a million of his 'subjects' to death.
And now this idiot has his fat finger on the button.....
Even more unfortunate...we know MORE about this losers academic records than we do about the President of the United States...pathetic.
He still looks like Chaz Bono to me.
Pathetic, really? If Pres. Obama did less than stellar at Harvard Law School I wouldn't expect that he would become a Professor of law at that school or head of the Harvard Law Review. Pretty prestigous I would think. That alone speaks of what grades he received. Keep it up birthers and grade hawks, the more you spit out the hate the more the majority will love him.
Dan Rowland: What never heard of Affirmative action?
They got their own G.W. BUSH
Dan,
He was not a professor at Harvard. He was a professor at Chicago University Law School where he published precisely zero papers and was not tenured even after 12 years of teaching.
As president of the Harvard Law Review one would expect that his mark would have landed on the pages and he would have influenced The Review. Sadly that was not the case. Other than a few self-deprecating letters the Law review did not benefit much from Obamas scholarly insights. It would appear the President does not like to write very much.
If Obama got bad grades, he would be known far and wide like certain GoP president candidate, but the fact shows media got almost nothing on it speak for itself.
Birthers are idiot, can't even understand the simple fact that his mother was a US citizen, therefore that make Obama a US citizen at birth.
So basically these guys are running a hereditary monarchy dressed up with a communist cover. And they have nukes. And they're nuts.
Scary world.
No college records released DOES NOT make one a 'birther'....lol, always trying to change the subject - not gonna work for ya in November.
And Mitt Romney flip-flopping on everything is going to work for the Republicans? ROFL!
Obama's grades and birth certificate are the same damn thing. People trying to stir up controversy over minor and largely insignificant details. If you had any political literacy you could find actual issues to raise a stink about rather than enciting the rabble with this garbage.
enough about obama and romney already!
stay on topic people.
I don't usually do this, but all off-topic comments tagged "no-value"
Hey Leatherneck..stupidity must be a common thing in the conservative party. The ONLY idiot in the oval office with a law degree based on affirmative action was former GOP Vice Pres. Dan Quayle. You know, the coward who like W Bush and Cheney got deferments to go to Vietnam. It helps that his daddy had money to throw at Indiana University. Now how he got in under affirmative action (for minority let alone bad grades) is a lot less clearer than Obama's birth issue. Get off the birther issue STUPIDTEA Party!! It's take a smart person to get into Harvard, a smarter person to get into Harvard Law School, and even smarter person to be elected by his peers to be a leader of his law class!
People like Jong-un does not need good grades, what was he going to do? Get a job? Much like Geroge W. Bush his path in live was paved for him by his father.
Wookie hungry. Wookie want cookie.
So the United States isn't the only country with a stupid leader.
So the United States isn't the only country educating the children of tyrants. Add Switzerland to that list.
more like "Kimmie want cookie -NOW!"
So he was a normal collage student? what ever anyway hes not his father and he is more accepting of the western culture and this is our chance to make one less enemy he has already offered to let in UN nuke inspecters in exchange for food aid.
I wish that were true, HAHA but it seems NK is following the usual path - "Ok, we will be good and accept your food." Only to turn around and test ICBM's. The most troubling part is;
Looks to me like he skipped a lot of classes in high school but has math and engineering skills which he further developed in the military academy back home.
Don't trust him and don't underestimate him.
I think the saddest part of this is that the respondents to this article have such poor grammar, spelling and reflect the lousy job the American education system does of teaching Americans basic English. Actually, the North Korean education system far and away outstrips the USA when it comes to teaching the native tongue.
Sounds like Shrub Bush .... better tell Korea how that worked out for the U.S.
" Gee I can't even spell Great Successor, now I are one..."
NK went from the Great Leader to the Dear Leader and now to the Great Successor? Is that like calling him "the guy we got stuck with"?
Hereditary rule in communist regalia. Is he a King? Or an Emporer?
how about "yet another beloved leader"?
From truant to tryant how appropriate.
He seriously needs to get in a physical excercise program and get a new hairdo. I call him Kim Un fatass!!!
He is fat because he is eating all of N.K. peoples food.
He might even be eating N. K. people.
I just hope the crazy SOB don't decide to try to take South Korea. I have a lot of friend there and the USA has nearly 30,000 troops there. We damn well do not need another war.
well asid "peckerwood"
what's the matter screaming one? you got something against SK and our troops?
It's sad because that all that the North Korea can think about. They have no other objective other than take over the south.
At this point in time though, things have changed. Even though it'll suck if NK invades, they're noticeably weaker than SK now. Numbers are hardly everything when you hand a million or so people nothing more than a loin cloth and a stick and tell them to fight, as well as having to put sails on your battleships because you don't have the fuel for them (literally so for the sails on the battleships). They can't even aim their nukes, and if they do get lucky and hit something, other countries will nuke them out of existence. Do NOT misunderstand me; I would much prefer that the North Korean populace rise up, kill the tyrants, put a much better and more democratic government in place, and eventually peacefully reunite with the south. But if the North Korean government does start another invasion anytime soon, it will ultimately bring the South and their allies victory and put an end to this nonsense.
Can you imagine when this thing wants an heir??? Pray he's gay.
Pray he is impotent, gay people can conceive.
only in a more disgusting way than I want to think about
Hmmmm......sounds like my second year at Tech High School. There was 2 months that I never even showed up so I guess that makes me bad too.......Huh.....
Not bad, just stupid.
Now only if you had a father who was well connected. Then you would be the leader of a nation.
Let's see, his daddy was well connected and got him into the best schools where he was just a mediocre student, and now he's the leader of a nation....Sounds like George W's long lost twin brother has finally been found!
Dude, if I were a dictator I'd totally skip class too...
Exactly! I went to the University of Colorado in Boulder - and this article describes the schedule of half the spoiled rich kids that went there primarily to ski.
Hope those "spoiled rich kids" enjoy getting their asses handed to them by the PAC 10.
I was that rich kid that went to CU. Oddly I'd go to my classes in the morning and skip them in the afternoon...hmm.. oh well it all worked out.
Haha, funny. my parents would still make me go:(
Well, at least we know that the schools in Switzerland, even the elite ones, don't just simply "pass" students through based upon their parents' status and/or wealth. Way to go, Switzerland! Still, it does reinforce the fact that money can, at the very least, buy you a seat anywhere. In the end, does it matter? Absolutely not, I say. He is a DICTATOR. Sheesh, Stalin was a terrible communicator (even in his OWN language) and was expelled from his school, given "discipline issues," and his Marxist views, but he went on to rule a nation, and have absolute control over the fates of countless souls, sending untold thousands of them to the other side. Grades and formal education don't really count for much. If you are either take or inherit wealth or a mantle of authority, you are imbued with power, regardless!
Well, he was there under an assumed name...
Actually, they do pass people with very little or no academic progress. While they offer some GREAT education, those kids who simply don't choose to play get the grades their parents pay for. There is no checks or balance or accountability other than to the regents or headmaster. They pay for discression and secrecy and security far outweigh academic integrity. The instructors sign heavy-duty non-disclosure contracts and the governments help the schools enforce the "cone of silence." Some come out of these with top educations and some come out with little other than the time and money lost.
Grades really are much more of a popuarity contest than most people believe. Even down to the point of college instructors marking indisputably correct answers wrong on math tests, just because they hate you and don't expect you to win if you challenge them. The same goes for excessively good grades.
When daddy owns a country, you don't need to go to class.
Oooh an uneducated despot! Just what NK needs to prosper!
I love the expressions on the generals behind him - you know they are thinking "Really? This is our new leader? Just one little push ..."
Bwahaha yes! The one in the green looks like a bro, he should totally push him over that rail! The others look like they will go along with whomever, so I'm sure he'd be okay afterward.
Woops...tubby just fell over the rail. How will we ever survive without him. ;)
Best comment so far, Chris.
He probably lets those generals do 'whatever' while he plays with his Wii.
haha imagine you are a five star general and now you gota listen to some kid as he becomes your superior.
Tom, are you crazy? They're thinking "He IS food for us".
looks more like a butch lesbian than a "dick"tater...
Dweeby little squib. Hopefully 'his' people will rebel against starvation and poverty and start the pig roast with this ignorant tyrant.
looks like a butch lesbian. prolly daydreaming of chers kid...
He has all the makings of being a fine young leader for North Korea.
Well, we once had a president who went to Yale with 2.0 GPA. He was a cheerleader in addition to all the boozing. The supreme court helped get him into the white house but enough stupid Americans elected him for a second term. While we are making fun of this fat truant, the joke is on us. I was stationed in Korea while his crazy daddy was in charge, it was not fun. I hope he is less ambitious and crazy. We should send him more video games to keep him occupied.
It's always good to know the Presidents academic record....seems we do, except for pathetic Obama.
Obama hasn't won a second term:P
No surprise he'd go awol at school, even as the Dear Leader's son he probably didn't have X-box or access to prono on the internet, or blonde hookers....
The Marxists revolutionaries strived to eliminate class distinctions. They accomplished their goal by establishing a political system with no class at all.
He skipped classes and had poor school performance -- just like George W. Bush who also had a rich powerful daddy, grandfather, and a political structure propping him up as a leader. Now let's hope Kim Jung Un doesn't start unnecessary wars like GWB.
LSCWquitter, You couldn't carry gwb's lunch. Crybaby whiners, everything was rigged, everything was so unfair, get a life.
Huh? What? I'm sorry - I can't seem to pay attention to what everyone is writing. I'm too distracted by the hats those guys are wearing. Can I buy one online? Now THAT would be cool. From now on April 5th can be "Dress-like-a-North-Korean-general day".
........ those are big hats. Why are their hats so big?
Tin foil antenna inside to protect them from CIA mind probes.
lol ........ makes sense now. Kinda like the Jiffy Pop container TV pan covered with fabric.
he looks like a fat lil piggy. hey kimmie boy oink oink
Wow, hes about as educated as most republicans probably is one
Your comment is insipient. I was stationed in South Korea in 1969. The city we were defending, Kunsan, had a small encampment known as 50 Won Hill. This, in addition to the prostitution that gave the area its name, was a refugee camp for North Koreans who would escape in a fishing boat, sail into international waters in the Yellow Sea, and sail into the port at Kunsan. They would then take up refugee residence in this encampment. Because Kim Jong-Il was known to send spies and agitators via this route, it was off limits to all American Military members. These people were trained in espionage and sabotage. While the North Koreans are ignorant of the ways of most of the civilized world, they are only slightly more intelligent than the average Democrat. However, they do know their craft and perform it well. This guy is probably not the brightest crayon in the box, but compared to O'Bummer, he is a genius.
I think the hill is covered with "love motels" now.
Un is obviously a "chip off the ole' block." And even more obviously, "Definitely not Mensa material." At least he's in the right place.