Almost a year ago Kim Jong-un declared in his speech that North Korea had entered the final stage of testing intercontinental ballistic missile. Even though the international community did not take him seriously, months later he proved them wrong.
Not only did he test ballistic missiles able to fly 8,000 miles and hit Washington D.C. but he also tested a hydrogen bomb that can level Washington D.C. So it is safe to say that he had a successful year and has the world’s attention turned at him.
Kim did not lose any time in his 6 years of ruling, eliminating all potential enemies including his half-brother, who was murdered with a chemical weapon, and numerous top officers that had different opinions on how the country should be run, The Washington Post reports.
But from all of his actions in 2017, the most important one to mention is the confrontation with his nemesis President Donald Trump. Trump’s mockery of Kim by calling him “Little Rocket Man” and threatening with military action against North Korea unintentionally strengthened Kim Jong-un’s influence over his people.
At the beginning of Kim’s rule, the world was skeptic of his ability to lead the most totalitarian country in the world, but it seems he has proven everyone wrong.
“Kim has now consolidated power internally, is 90-95 percent done with the nuclear program and there are no signs of serious dissent within the regime, that’s cause for cheer in the dictator’s household,” Sue Mi Terry, a respected former Korea analyst at the CIA, stated.
Some experts believe that after Kim managed to solidify North Korea as a nation with nuclear capabilities and after showing that international pressure and military threats from the US don’t work well, he will start the negotiations with the US in order to calm down the tensions that rose in the last 12 months.
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