North Korea's Kim at critical crossroads decade into rule

Since taking power following his father's sudden death 10 years ago, Kim Jong Un has erased the widespread doubts that greeted his early attempts to extend his family's brutal dynastic grip over North Korea.

Since taking power following his father's sudden death 10 years ago, Kim Jong Un has erased the widespread doubts that greeted his early attempts to extend his family's brutal dynastic grip over North Korea.

Early predictions about a regency, a collective leadership or a military coup were crushed by an estimated hundreds of executions and purges targeting family members and the old guard. That ruthless consolidation of power, together with a larger-than-life personality seemingly made for carefully packaged TV propaganda, has allowed Kim to make clear that his authority is absolute.

But as North Korea's first millennial dictator marks a decade in rule this Friday, he may be facing his toughest moment yet, as crushing sanctions, the pandemic and growing economic trouble converge. If Kim can't uphold his public pledge to develop both nukes and his moribund economy, something many experts see as impossible, it could spell trouble for his long-term rule.

The modest economic growth he achieved for several years through trade and market-oriented reforms was followed by a tightening of international sanctions since 2016, when Kim accelerated his pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles targeting the United States and its Asian allies.