♪ ♪ NARRATOR: This small nation of 25 million has waltzed on the world stage for over 70 years. Despite all odds. The key to North Korea's survival is totalitarian control and a hereditary bloodline that dictates the next leader. FIFIELD: North Korea has defied all expectations and predictions for decades. Their system is one that you know by rights should have collapsed decades ago, it survived the end of the Soviet Union and the move of China into becoming a capitalist powerhouse. There was a huge famine that was debilitating in North Korea. NARRATOR: In one of the few remaining communist and military dictatorships in the world, there are three constants... A Kim has always ruled. Anyone questioning their rule is swiftly killed or sent to hard labor. And any influence or knowledge of the outside world is prohibited. (chanting in native language) LEE: We call North Korea a communist country, they call it a socialist country. But I really see it as an absolute monarchy and a royal dynasty of sorts with the Kim family as, as the royal family. NARRATOR: The very first Kim to rule, Kim Il-sung took a page from the Soviet Union's playbook and began to create his own Socialist paradise. FIFIELD: Kim Il-sung was installed as the president of this newly formed stated of North Korea in 1948 and he was supposed to be a kind of lackey for Joseph Stalin there in North Korea, but he very quickly set about developing a cult of personality around him that was independent of the Soviet system, in a way that worried even the Soviets in the 1960s. They went well beyond anything that even Stalin did. But they also borrowed very heavily from other traditions in, in the regions so they borrowed Confucian traditions from China, that had prized hierarchy and maleness seniority there, they also took some parts of the Joseon Dynasty that had been the last imperial system on the Korean Peninsula before them. They also borrowed quite heavily from Christianity, so he kind of picked and chose from all sorts of traditions to create a whole new kind of cult of personality that he thought could kind of gain a following in that area. BAEK: Kim Il-sung, the founder of the country was essentially treated, seen and continues to be seen as a semi-god, if not god. This all falls within the Kim Il-sung-ism, it's essentially a religion and so people essentially pray to him, they thank him, you know, he is, he is their god and according to the state ideology or the myth, the belief, this bloodline comes from the Paektu bloodline. NARRATOR: It's an origin story for the ages. They claim the Kim bloodline emerges from a holy mountain on the Chinese border, Mount Paektu. Starting with Kim Il-sung, then his son, Kim Jong-il, and now grandson Kim Jong-un... all claiming the divine right to leadership. TERRY: This bloodline is extremely important. That's how they have the legitimacy to rule, mandate to rule. I don't think anybody else from outside of this bloodline could truly rule North Korea and have legitimacy in the eyes of the public. NARRATOR: Kim Il-sung built a cult of personality with a propaganda machine that saturated the entire society. ♪ ♪ BAEK: That's the case today as well. Every piece of information that's produced within North Korea is controlled by the state. (speaking in native language) BAEK: Socialist revolution, Kim family, Paektu bloodline, keep the Korean race pure, don't use any words that aren't part of the pure Korean language. There's a North Korean calendar system where the Year One, Juche Year One starts in 1912, which is the birth year of Kim Il-sung. The state's propaganda permeated throughout the society. FIFIELD: In the 1970s when Kim Il-sung started to think about who was going to take over the system from him, they actually changed the North Korean constitution to say that the leadership should be from generation to generation and really laying the groundwork for Kim Il-sung's son to take over, but they spent 25 years preparing Kim Jong Il to succeed his father but also preparing the North Korean population and especially the regime leaders for this idea that the second generation Kim would be the successor. (speaking in native language) (cheering and applause) AUM: We have to recognize that in North Korea there's only been two successions from the founder Kim Il-sung to his son Kim Jong-il in 1994 and then when Kim Jong-il passed away in 2011, there was another succession. NARRATOR: Kim Jong-un took power at 28. At such a young age, the line of succession is far less secure should something happened to him. AUM: The problem is that Kim Jong-un does not have a male heir that is old enough to assume leadership. NARRATOR: An unclear succession plan leaves the Kim family and North Korea vulnerable to potential instability. A risk that got the world's attention when Kim was a no show to commemorate his grandfather's birth on April 15th, 2020. LEE: It's really treated like perhaps we think of it as Christmas or New Years, it's really the biggest holiday of the year and for every April 15, Kim Jong-un has gone and laid a wreath at the mausoleum where his grandfather lies in state. And he didn't do that this year. NARRATOR: His absence, compounded by the fact that he was not seen in public for another two weeks, ignited a firestorm of press. TERRY: There was this one North Korea-related news website in South Korea that reported that Kim was missing, not necessarily he's dead, but something was wrong with his health. And then I think the next thing we saw was Jim Sciutto of CNN citing a source in the U.S., in the U.S. government. SCIUTTO (over TV): US official with direct knowledge tells me, that the US is now monitoring intelligence that the health of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in grave danger. He had a surgery, that the aftermath of that surgery there were complications, and his health is now in grave danger. LEE: When it comes to the health of the leader of North Korea, it is a very small circle of people who would be in the know and be able to reveal that information. FIFIELD: He was either fine, recuperating or dead. And I think the reason that these rumors gained traction was because it seemed believable that he would have health problems. When you look at him, he is 36 years old, he is clearly in very bad shape for such a young man. South Korean doctors who have analyzed his appearance and his breathing and things have said that he appears to have a body mass index of about 45, which would make him morbidly obese. NARRATOR: Kim Jong-un finally did appear at a photo op on May 1st, putting the rumors to rest. But the seeds of doubt remained. Who would carry on the family line and be the next leader? With a regime that controls nearly every aspect of civilian, government and military life with precision and force, it became apparent that there was no succession plan. TERRY: So, that would open up just all kinds of possibilities. What if there is elite in-fighting or struggle or factional struggle, so I think it does you know the succession question leads to potential instability, regime instability in North Korea. NARRATOR: The Kim family tree or... the Paektu bloodline... is fraught with complications. There are four generations, with multiple contenders... each one eligible to ascend the throne. AUM: So, there's a story that before Kim Jong-il passed away, he was talking to a Russian diplomat and he pointed out that two of his children seemed to have the knack and interest for political affairs and it was Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo-jong, the sister. BAEK: She has all the incentive to try to prove that she is a strong leader as a young, younger sister of the leader, but also as a woman. (fireworks and cheering) FIFIELD: Kim Jong-un has supreme confidence in his sister, Kim Yo-jong. She is the person he trusts most of all, because she has that same interest in this system continuing for decades to come. NARRATOR: Early on, Kim Yo-jong was appointed an Alternate Member of the Politburo. Only the second woman to receive that title. The first, her aunt, Kim Kyong-hui. AUM: Kim Yo-jong was also assuming greater positions in a variety of agencies within the North Korean government uh and particularly the most important one, so the Propaganda Agitation Department that builds up the cult and narrative around Kim Jong-il but also now Kim Jong-un. And even now she has taken the leadership of all inter-Korean governmental affairs, so when the North Korean delegation went to Seoul for the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018, it was clear that she was in effect the head of the delegation and is now leading all inter-Korean relations. NARRATOR: The 2018 Olympics was like a coming out party for the young sister. TERRY: The South Korean public and media went mad. This was the first time really seeing her and someone from the regime. They were scrutinizing her looks, they liked the way she held up her chin. They thought she looked somewhat like a royalty, a little bit proud. They liked how she was wearing a simple pony tail, to her makeup. Everything about her was scrutinized in South Korea and she was quite popular, they thought she had the right image. So, she played a very important role in softening up the image for her country, for her brother, for herself. LEE: It was an interesting opportunity for us to see what she was like. Until then, to be honest, I had seen her, she really was on the periphery, darting around behind the scenes. And so, it was interesting to see her step into that role and play more of a diplomatic role as envoy, on behalf of her brother. NARRATOR: Kim Yo-jong was seen by her brother's side during his summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. And with President Trump in Singapore and Hanoi. LEE: The truly amazing thing about the brief period of diplomacy that we saw in 2018 was the willingness of both Kim Yo-jong and Kim Jong-un to be portrayed live and to step out of their comfortable protected cocoon and to step into the rest of the world, the outside world where anything could happen so this is a very clear departure from his father, from their father, who was notoriously shy of any kind of public appearance that wasn't staged. NARRATOR: Instead they're taking a page from their grandfather Kim Il-sung's playbook, carefully controlling the message. Following the Korean War, he established state sponsored messaging designed to secure his own power through a campaign of fear. The propagandist's script was a simple lie: "Imperialist Americans" invaded once and will do it again, and only he can protect the country. AUM: North Korea has very strong concerns about a hostile United States. For example, they know that President Eisenhower was contemplating, uh, the use of atomic weapons in North Korea if China and North Korea were to re-invade after the Armistice. North Korea was also very devastated by the 600,000 tons of bombs that the U.S. dropped in North Korea during the Korean War, that basically left no building standing and turned North Korea into a desert. So from that experience, I think that really got into North Korean psyche and that's probably one of the central premises of how they think about their security going forward. NARRATOR: Decades of fear has fueled the development of the 4th largest military in the world, including a nuclear arsenal and ICBMs capable of reaching the continental United States. And at the helm of it all... is the Kim family dynasty. (cheering) NARRATOR: By 1980, Kim Jong-il was being groomed as successor. As head of propaganda, he used the office to write himself into the origin story alongside his father. FIFIELD: The propaganda came to say that Kim Jong-il, who was actually born in a logging camp in the Siberian part of the Soviet Union, they said that he was born on Mt. Paektu in a wooden hut and a bright star shone in the sky that night, which would be very familiar to anybody who had been raised in the Christian tradition which Kim Il-sung actually had been. NARRATOR: Upon the sudden death of the founding Kim in 1994... while the country mourned... Kim Jong-il assumed power without missing a beat. He ruled with the same iron fist. While the people suffered and starved, he carried on the propaganda myth of the strongman for all the world. Then, over a decade into his reign, he mysteriously disappears from public view. ♪ ♪ (stomping) LEE: On September 9th 2008, we were fully expecting Kim Jong-il to appear and wave to the crowds at the 60th anniversary of the founding of North Korea, major milestone anniversary, so in Korean culture, we call any 60th birthday the Hwangap, so it's a big deal. We fully expected him to be there waving from the viewing platform and I still remember, I was watching a feed of North Korean state TV, live feed, and the camera panned to the viewing platform and he wasn't there. He had suffered a stroke, was perhaps in a coma and we wouldn't know for weeks. And so that goes to show how hard it is to get any information about North Korea. FIFIELD: The whole regime realize they needed to turbo-charge the succession plan. So, from then on, we saw Kim Jong-un, the third son of Kim Jong-il, being rolled out as the natural heir apparent to this dynasty. And the way they did this was really by emphasizing the blood line, they started really hammering this line that Kim Jong-un had this Paektu blood flowing through his veins and that he was uniquely qualified to be able to lead the North Korean regime. And so, this is how Kim Jong Un today claims legitimacy to lead, this is the reason why Kim Jong un ride those white horses on Mt. Paektu, he wants to remind everybody that he has this claim, that very, very few other people do. (hysterical crying and screaming) NARRATOR: The propaganda paid-off. At the young age of 28, Kim Jong-un became the next leader of North Korea after his father died. But the fact remained, he had very little experience and that made him vulnerable. In a military dictatorship, the person who controls the money and the weapons is the leader. Military credibility is considered essential for that role. TERRY: Kim Jong-un himself who had no military experience, they had to sort of manufacture things to give him that kind of military experience. So in 2010, when the North Koreans sank a South Korean corvette Cheonan, killing 46 South Korean sailors, there was supposedly done under Kim Jong-un's name, that was under his direction, to give him sort of credibility with the elites and the public. NARRATOR: To add to his legitimacy, an aunt, Kim Kyong-hui and her husband Jang Song-thaek, acted as unofficial regents to the young Kim. Jang brought in billions to the regime by setting up markets abroad, mostly in China. The aunt was an influential and trusted advisor behind the scenes. TERRY: Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il relied on his sister as a support network, as someone who's loyal to Kim Jong-il, there's not many people that you can trust in North Korea, if you're the leader of North Korea. So family members are very important and Kim Kyong-hui, Kim Jong-il's sister, was an important person that Kim Jong-il trusted, that he sought advice from, that someone who played a support, supportive role for Kim Jong-il. FIFIELD: There was a very strong precedent for a sister as a supporter and in fact we saw way back, the aunt and the sister, so Kim Kyong-hui and Kim Yo-jong were out riding horses together uh, you know, it looked the aunt was training the sister as much as she was training Kim Jong-un to take over this role. TERRY: Kim Yo-jong is a confidante, the one person that Kim Jong-un absolutely trusts in North Korea. NARRATOR: As much confidence Kim Jong-un seemingly has in his sister, there's one big thing keeping her from becoming the next leader, if her brother dies unexpectedly. FIFIELD: North Korea is an extremely patriarchal system. This regime has always been run by men and particularly old men, so it's really impossible to think that a young woman could take over, that Kim Yo-jong could be the next successor of North Korea. But having said, that, it's also impossible to think that she wouldn't take over because there just really is nobody else in the family who has any kind of public profile, any kind of prominent role in the regime, and who would be able to step into that top leadership role in the way that she could. TERRY: I truly believe this Paektu bloodline which is so important trumps this patriarchal society, so I understand this patriarchy is important, it's a male-dominated society and there's no doubt about that. But what's more important to rule, what do you need to have to rule North Korea? You need the bloodline. NARRATOR: In the spring of 2020, Kim Jong-un made a point of showing the world that he was alive and well after his brief disappearance from the public eye. Still the world speculated... Who could be the next successor? And then, his sister made an unprecedented show of force. NARRATOR: She threatened to end the 2018 Inter-Korean Treaty if the South did not stop activist defectors sending anti-regime messages into the North. (speaking in native language) AUM: Kim Yo-jong said some very harsh and disparaging things about the Moon Administration. AUM: Then also did things like blowing up the inter-Korean liaison office... (explosions) AUM: Cutting off the communication channels. It's also very telling that she basically said that she is giving the North Korean military permission to come up with next steps for um, you know, being aggressive against South Korea. AUM: So, I think that was very important, because publicly she is showing that she has the power to instruct the North Korean military to devise and implement next steps. AUM: That is a part of Kim Yo-jong being groomed to exert control over the North Korean military if there were a problem with Kim Jong-un. NARRATOR: The Moon administration acquiesced and placed restrictions on activist defectors. TERRY: Nothing that's coming out of North Korea is sort of haphazard, they have thought this through. I think that Kim Jong-un has in his mind, grooming his sister, and this is sort of the start. She needs to show that's she tough, she has what it takes, that she can be tough against the South Koreans, she can be tough against Americans. So, I think more provocations will come out of North Korea and it will have Kim Yo-jong's name on it. NARRATOR: But she is walking a tightrope, because even trusted family members can get on the wrong side of the regime. When Kim Jong-un took power, he saw threats everywhere. There were hundreds of purges and executions of anyone Kim saw as a threat, mostly old guard loyalists to his father. One year into his reign, he had his own uncle, Jang Song-thaek, killed for amassing too much power within the system. FIFIELD: He was taken out, there were bleachers set up, so that regime officials could watch as he was shot I believe with an anti-aircraft gun in front of this audience to send a powerful deterrent message to anybody who might think about you know rivaling Kim Jong-un for the leadership. NARRATOR: In Kim Jong-un's mind, his older half-brother Kim Jong-nam posed the next threat. FIFIELD: Kim Jong-nam showed absolutely no desire whatsoever to take on that leadership role, he had been critical of the system, he had been living outside of North Korea for about 15 years. In terms of Kim Jong-un's paranoia and his desire to kind of shore up the system and make sure that his core family and him in particular was fully in charge. This is the reason why he had his own half-brother you know very brutally assassinated in full public view of the security cameras in Kuala Lumpur Airport. LEE: Both of these were very strong messages to members of the Kim family and members of the elite that you either play along and you do what Kim Jong-un says or he will make sure that you pay the price, and so, those were both incredibly chilling messages that would not have been lost among the elites as well as members of the Kim family. NARRATOR: After half-brother Kim Jong-nam was murdered, his son Kim Han-sol, went into hiding. Despite spending most of his life abroad, he still feared for his life. TERRY: I'm sure Kim Jong-un his looking for Kim Han-sol to get him rid of him and a potential, any potential future successor. Kim Han-sol is a lot older than his own children right now so if something were to happen to Kim Jong-un and if let's say, China and the U.S. backed someone like Kim Han-sol that could potentially happen, so I think if I'm Kim Jong-un, he would be you know, Kim Han-sol is in danger. HAN-SOL: My father has been killed two days ago. I'm currently with my mother and my sister. We hope this gets better soon. TERRY: It's a real-life Game of Thrones. NARRATOR: Next up on the family tree... the globe-trotting, concert going older brother... Kim Jong-chul. TERRY: He's not a credible person from the elite's perspective, because you want a strong leader and he was already considered, Kim Jong-chul was already considered to be not a strong leader who's uninterested in politics, who's a music fan, who's too effeminate. NARRATOR: With no other male siblings in the running, another potential challenger within the bloodline, is the uncle... Kim Pyong-il. LEE: Kim Pyong-il was a half-brother of Kim Jong-il, they had different mothers. So Kim Pyong-il presents a very interesting case. He is a member of the Kim family who bears the Paektu lineage, his father is Kim Il-sung, he looks similar to Kim Il-sung. And I do think Kim Jong-il saw him as a competitor for the throne. Kim Jong-il, however, he won the battle for leadership and sent Kim Pyong-il overseas as a diplomat. And Kim Pyong-il spent decades overseas. NARRATOR: In a surprise turn, Kim Jong-un recently recalled his uncle to Pyongyang. No one is sure why. TERRY: Who knows why Kim Jong-un brought his uncle back to North Korea? I think the real reason is to make sure that Kim Pyong-il does not defect and that Kim Jong-un can keep a tab on him. NARRATOR: A clear line to the next leader remains uncertain. Such a void could lead to chaos. NARRATOR: In North Korea, daily life is influenced by over 70 years of Kim family rule. A new leader outside the Paektu bloodline is unthinkable, but when you look at the family tree there's no clear choice. Kim Yo-jong, is young and female. The brother, Kim Jong-chul, is perceived as weak. The nephew, Kim Han-sol, is unknown within North Korea. The uncle, Kim Pyong-il lacks the relationships within the system to gather power. LEE: It's court intrigue, it's modern-day court intrigue. NARRATOR: One prominent figure in the North Korean court, not found on the family tree, is Choe Ryong-hae. He wields great power and influence in the regime and should not be overlooked as a potential successor. AUM: He spent some time in the military but really he's been a bureaucrat for the last 30, 40 years. He's the First Vice Chair of the State Affair's Commission and widely recognized as the number two in command in North Korea. LEE: Choe Ryong Hae is political royalty in North Korea. He comes from the perfect lineage for a North Korean official. His father, Choe Hyo'n, fought alongside Kim Il-sung fighting the Japanese, and so he has what they call that partisan street cred. And so, he has that political heritage and ancestry. He's a trusted friend of the Kim family. But he's still an outsider. TERRY: Choe Ryong-hae does not have Paektu bloodline and that's the valuable thing that Choe Ryong-hae is missing. That said, I think if anybody can challenge Kim Yo-jong becoming the next successor will be Choe Ryong-hae because he is the second most powerful man in North Korea. AUM: There are rumors that his second son was married to Kim Yo-jong so there could be some interesting connections there in terms of a future power dynamic. TERRY: A smart play for the North Koreans is for Kim Yo-jong to take over, she has the right bloodline, and closely aided by someone like Choe Ryong-hae who has experience, who has a patronage network, who comes from the right family, and if they could work together, that would be a smart thing for the North Koreans. That would lead to, you know, stable transition. NARRATOR: Any uncertainty during a time of transition could potentially cause a chaotic period that would worry South Korea and not be tolerated by China or the US. AUM: The concern for the U.S. government is instability. If you were to have a situation where Kim Jong-un passes away suddenly and there's no clear successor then that presents problems. China's also concerned about instability along its borders with North Korea as well. Their approach to North Korea is that they want no war, no instability and no nuclear weapons but in that order. And so, I think they would also be concerned about a crisis of succession, the inability of the North Korean government to control its population, warring factions, loose nuclear weapons, a fallout from poor nuclear security, a famine in the country. Any of these scenarios could cause a problem along China's border and they would want to approach that very quickly. NARRATOR: And, they have good reason for concern. The North Korean people have starved before. In the 1990s, a financial crisis struck... Massive flooding and the loss of their main benefactor, the Soviet Union, caused the central distribution system to collapse. They could no longer provide for the people. It is believed that over a half a million lives were lost in the famine that followed. PARK: The North Korean people realized that they couldn't rely on the North Korean government anymore, they had to basically rely on themselves and so they started foraging for food, they started to sell anything that they could get their hands on, make stuff and sell them in the new markets that were popping up across the country and basically this resulted in survival entrepreneurialism on a mass scale. BAEK: Fast-forward to now in 2020 there are hundreds of massive markets. Now they are regulating these markets, they are taxing these markets, and they are trying to control, but they're not getting rid of them because there's no way, there's no alternative to provide for all of its citizens. NARRATOR: By allowing these markets to exist, the people rely less on the Kim family. But, could this shift in power cause regime collapse, where the people gain control? ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Every aspect of North Korean life is so tightly controlled, the outside world is not to be known or seen by the vast majority of citizens. But that is slowly changing. PARK: Over the last 10-20 years, North Korean people have been getting access to foreign media, including South Korean television programs, Chinese films, eBooks and so on from the outside world, things that are being smuggled in on USB sticks and micro SD cards, things that North Korean government doesn't want them to see. And once the North Korean people learn things and know things about the outside world and their own country, that the North Korean leadership doesn't want them to know, they can't unlearn them. And you know, curiosity is an idea that can't be killed. North Korean people have been able to open things up from the bottom up, gradually and one of the most important changes that I think is in information. And even though there's so much risk attached to that, this phenomenon has actually been spreading and growing. PARK: It makes them question certain fundamental things that they've been taught from an early age. PARK: And this is something that is irreversible. LEE: The North Korean people struggle with children who question things and young people who are not happy. So, you have to wonder whether Kim Jong-un has the kind of loyalty that his grandfather could safely rely on when he was leader. FIFIELD: Until now, the system has been able to stay intact using repression, punishing people in very extreme ways if they commit political crimes like questioning the leadership. PARK: North Korea is the most closed and repressive country in the world and 25 million North Korean people face the most authoritarian government in the world and this situation has been going for 70 years now. It's absolutely incredible to think that there are maybe around 100,000 North Korean people in political prison camps which are reminiscent of the Soviet gulags or some people would say even the Nazi Concentration camps. FIFIELD: This is how the North Korean system has survived. So far, they've been able to keep it under control, but every time you take a step away from this foundation myth, it becomes that little bit harder to perpetuate it. BAEK: Eventually we could see history repeat itself in North Korea as it did in other parts of the world, which is groups of people who are like-minded in a shared pursuit of achieving a better society, happier society, a freer society for its people. PARK: There is every day disorganized resistance. North Korean people resist authority and the government in their own way, in their daily life... PARK: And as that builds it maybe creates the seeds for civil society space, more cooperation between people and, and just more spread of subversive ideas and desires for the future. (sirens) (explosions) You know, human history teaches us to be humble about what we think we can know about how things will play out, especially in terms of political developments. These things inherently surprise us, countries are stable until they're unstable. BAEK: I think we're not going to see anything similar to Pyongyang Spring or Pyongyang Square anytime soon. And this is mainly because the deterrent measures, the punishment mechanisms, is just so effective, North Korea is as a dictatorship they get A-plus, they are an incredibly effective dictatorship. No one is immune from, from being used by the state, being exploited by the state, or being assassinated by the state. FIFIELD: I've asked people who've escaped from North Korea about why there is no kind of people's uprising, why there is no revolution in North Korea they all point to this. They say that if you disagree with the system you try to escape from it, you don't try to change it from within. NARRATOR: For those who opt to escape, the chosen path is often through China. Guided by an underground network, constantly fearing detection, pushing themselves to exhaustion. It's an arduous path to freedom. BAEK: I think it's essential to try to understand and listen to as many as North Korean defectors as possible cause the regime and all the heinous brutal ways that the regime maintains to keep the society as it is, is one thing. But at the complete other end of the spectrum of trying to understand North Korea as a whole are the people who live it and the people who overcome such repressive life. FIFIELD: So, you know where is the tipping point in North Korea? What is the moment where the people of North Korea say you know, "We've had enough with living in this system of lies, we know the outside world is richer and you know freer and we want some of that for ourselves." NARRATOR: For the Kim family, maintaining control is a delicate dance. Their dynasty has ruled for over 70 years, and the key to its ongoing survival... is succession. LEE: I think we have many years before we'll see that issue come to a head, perhaps it will come sooner than Kim Jong-un would like, but he is banking on the idea of it being decades before he hands power to the next generation. Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.