Portrait of Kim Jong Un
Radical left · Leader · Active today

Kim Jong Un

Supreme Leader of North Korea, 2011 to present

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A UN inquiry found crimes against humanity by his state

Rules a hereditary one-party state that is tightly closed to the outside world and has built up a nuclear weapons program.

Kim Jong Un sits in the left-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly state-led and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly state-led on economy, strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority and strongly strength-first on war and peace.

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Where Kim Jong Un sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyStrongly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationStrongly nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentLeaning growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsSlightly institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismLeaning interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Kim Jong Un

Joseph Stalin Soviet leader, 1920s to 195396%Xi Jinping General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, 2012 to present92%Isaias Afwerki President of Eritrea, 1993 to present91%Ilham Aliyev President of Azerbaijan, 2003 to present90%Otto von Bismarck Chancellor of Germany, 1871 to 189090%Gamal Abdel Nasser President of Egypt, 1956 to 197089%Ho Chi Minh President of North Vietnam, 1945 to 196988%Josip Broz Tito Leader of Yugoslavia, 1945 to 198088%

People furthest from Kim Jong Un

Leo Tolstoy Russian novelist and moral thinker, 1828 to 19101%Murray Rothbard American economist, 1926 to 19951%Henry David Thoreau American essayist and naturalist, 1817 to 18622%Emma Goldman Russian-born anarchist and writer, 1869 to 19402%

Political views closest to Kim Jong Un

State capitalismUses a strong state to steer a market economy toward rapid growth, often limiting…86%MaoismA Marxist-Leninist current built on peasant-based revolution and mass mobilization under…84%GaullismA French tradition of national independence, a strong presidency and a leading role for…80%MilitarismTreats military strength and martial values as central to national life.78%

Read more about Kim Jong Un

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Biographies of Kim Jong UnBooks on state capitalism

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Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Владимир Смирнов / ТАСС, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.