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Key Points
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly turned 40 on 8 January, but keeps his birthdate and age unconfirmed.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin shields personal details, especially regarding his family.
- Experts say dictators learn from each other.
“All North Korean leaders have had inconsistencies with their biographical information because their dates of birth must be very symbolic and somehow connected to something significant,” Petrov said.
North Korean leaders from past to present, from left to right: Kim Il-sung in 1980; Kim Jong-il in 2010; and Kim Jong-un in 2017. Source: AAP / Vincent Yu, Wong Maye-E/AP
“Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of the current leader, was apparently born on 15 April 1912, which happens to be the same date when the Titanic sank. It is said that on that day, the “rising sun” of the Worker’s Party of Korea was born, and it immediately dealt a deadly blow to world imperialism.”
“He was likely 23 years old at the time, but it was probably decided to make him at least 25 to appear as a more charismatic and mature leader.”
Authoritarian leaders learn from each other
“There are rumours circulating that Putin’s mother was of Georgian descent, his father abandoned the family, and his stepfather was abusive towards him before his mother gave him away. The official account of Putin’s childhood and youth is impossible to verify, as all related documents have been removed from the archives.”
During his New Year’s Eve address to the nation in 1999, then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin (right) announced his resignation. Vladimir Putin (left) became acting president. Source: Getty / STR/AFP
Putin’s official biography on the Kremlin website says his mother was “very gentle, friendly” Maria Ivanovna Shelomova and his father Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin served in World War Two.
“They learn the lessons from what happened in other places and at other times. So there is this process of sort of authoritarian learning.”
Vladimir Putin once cultivated an ‘action-man’ persona through pictures such as this 2009 image of him riding a horse in Siberia. Source: AFP / Alexey Druzhinin/via Getty Images
‘Married to Russia’
“He regularly makes references to Putin’s long work hours and his busy daily schedule. It is supposed to sort of disseminate a message to the public that Putin is so flat out and doing nothing but exercising statecraft that he doesn’t have time for anything else.”
The only activities besides work that Putin sometimes mentions are his workout routine at the gym or his swimming sessions. Source: Getty / Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/AFP
The only activities besides work that Putin sometimes mentions are his workout routine at the gym or his swimming sessions to project a positive image and show that he is capable of leading the country with energy and vitality, Muraviev said.
“That he is the statesman. He is the person that lives and breathes only of Russia’s concerns and Russia’s interests.”
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