North Korea has released a new official biography of its leader Kim Jong-un, accompanied by the establishment of a dedicated “study room” at Kim Il-sung University to promote his ideological teachings, underscoring the deepening personality cult surrounding the supreme leader.
State media recently aired a report highlighting a large green volume titled *Great Comrade Kim Jong-un Revolutionary History*, published this year by the Workers’ Party of Korea Publishing House. The broadcast also featured the “Comrade Kim Jong-un Revolutionary Ideology Study Room” at North Korea’s premier university, which is furnished with rows of desks and red-backed chairs, dominated by a prominent portrait of Kim.
While the book has yet to be publicly circulated outside North Korea, observers suggest it may eventually be smuggled out. It is unclear whether this new publication is a direct successor to a 2020 volume named *Revolutionary History of Respected Supreme Leader Comrade Kim Jong-un*, which was reported on last year by analysts with connections inside North Korea. Similar biographical works were previously produced for Kim’s father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather, Kim Il-sung, often presenting a heavily mythologized version of their early lives that diverges significantly from independent historical accounts.
For instance, North Korean state narratives credit Kim Il-sung with single-handedly defeating Japanese occupiers during Korea’s colonial period. Meanwhile, the official story asserts that Kim Jong-il was born on Mount Paektu—North Korea’s sacred mountain—in stark contrast to evidence from independent historians that he was born in a partisan camp in China.
The 2020 biography of Kim Jong-un offers little detail about his early years or education abroad, notably omitting references to his time at a school in Switzerland. Instead, it focuses extensively on crediting him with exceptional mastery over various military branches—including army, navy, air, and anti-air forces—along with expertise in military tactics, weapon systems, and cutting-edge science and technology. According to the text, Kim has acquired broad knowledge across fields such as basic science, computer engineering, politics, economics, culture, history, and geography.
One passage describes an event in 1984, during his schooling in Bern, when the young Kim reportedly ascended Mount Paektu with his father, pledging to “continue the revolution.” This portrayal contrasts with accounts from former schoolmates who recall him as showing limited academic promise but a strong enthusiasm for basketball.
The 2020 volume also offers a highly favorable interpretation of Kim’s final summit with then-President Donald Trump in 2019, when negotiations in Vietnam ended without agreement. The meeting is characterized as a display of “farsighted wisdom, outstanding political skills, high international authority, and excellent leadership.” It claims Kim “firmly established autonomy” during the talks and refused to make concessions that might compromise North Korea’s national interests, describing the interaction as a “principled struggle” that pressured the United States.
These publications and institutional initiatives reflect ongoing efforts by the North Korean regime to cement Kim Jong-un’s image as a gifted and resolute leader, continuing a long-standing tradition in the country’s leadership cult.