United Nations الأمم المتحدة 联合国 Organisation des Nations unies Организация Объединённых Наций Organización de las Naciones Unidas
Flag
Map showing the Member states of the United Nations This map does not represent the view of its members or the UN concerning the legal status of any country,[1] nor does it accurately reflect which areas' governments have UN representation.
Headquarters		International territory in New York City, New York USA
Official languages		Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish
Membership		193 member states
Leaders
-	Secretary-General	Ban Ki-moon
-	Deputy Secretary-General	Asha-Rose Migiro
-	General Assembly President	Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
-	Security Council President	Susan Rice
Establishment
-	United Nations Charter signed	26 June 1945 (1945-06-26)
-	Entry into force of Charter	24 October 1945 (1945-10-24)
Website UN.org

The United Nations (abbreviated UN in English, and ONU in its other official languages), is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.

There are 193 member states, including every internationally recognised sovereign state in the world but Vatican City. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year. The organization has six principal organs: the General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly); the Security Council (for deciding certain resolutions for peace and security); the Economic and Social Council (for assisting in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development); the Secretariat (for providing studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN); the International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ); and the United Nations Trusteeship Council (which is currently inactive). Other prominent UN System agencies include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The UN's most prominent position is Secretary-General which has been held by Ban Ki-moon of South Korea since 2007.

The United Nations Headquarters resides in international territory in New York City, with further main offices at Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, and has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.^[2]

History[link]

The League of Nations failed to prevent World War II (1939–1945). Because of the widespread recognition that humankind could not afford a third world war, the United Nations was established to replace the flawed League of Nations in 1945 in order to maintain international peace and promote cooperation in solving international economic, social and humanitarian problems. The earliest concrete plan for a new world organization was begun under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1939. Franklin D. Roosevelt first coined the term 'United Nations' as a term to describe the Allied countries. The term was first officially used on 1 January 1942, when 26 governments signed the Atlantic Charter, pledging to continue the war effort.^[3] On 25 April 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the United Nations Charter. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five then-permanent members of the Security Council—France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States—and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council, took place in Westminster Central Hall in London in January 1946.^[4]

The organization was based at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation's facility in Lake Success, New York, from 1946–1952, before moving to the United Nations Headquarters building in Manhattan upon its completion.

Since its creation, there has been controversy and criticism of the United Nations. In the United States, an early opponent of the UN was the John Birch Society, which began a "get US out of the UN" campaign in 1959, charging that the UN's aim was to establish a "One World Government." After the Second World War, the French Committee of National Liberation was late to be recognized by the US as the government of France, and so the country was initially excluded from the conferences that aimed at creating the new organization. Charles de Gaulle criticized the UN, famously calling it le machin ("the thing"), and was not convinced that a global security alliance would help maintain world peace, preferring direct defence treaties between countries.^[5]

Legal basis of establishment[link]

Shortly after its establishment the UN sought recognition as an international legal person due to the case of Reparations for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations^[6] with the advisory opinion delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The question arose whether the United Nations, as an organisation, had "the capacity to bring an international claim against a government regarding injuries that the organisation alleged had been caused by that state."^[7]

The Court stated: the Organization was intended to exercise and enjoy, and is in fact exercising and enjoying functions and rights, which can only be explained on the basis of the possession of a large measure of international personality and the capacity to operate upon an international plane ... Accordingly, the Court has come to the conclusion that the Organization is an international person. That is not the same thing as saying that it is a State, which it certainly is not, or that its legal personality and rights and duties are the same as those of a State ... What it does mean is that it is a subject of international law and capable of possessing international rights and duties, and that it has capacity to maintain its rights by bringing international claims.^[8]

Organization[link]

The United Nations' system is based on five principal organs (formerly six – the Trusteeship Council suspended operations in 1994, upon the independence of Palau, the last remaining UN trustee territory);^[9] the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice.

Four of the five principal organs are located at the main United Nations Headquarters located on international territory in New York City.^[10] The International Court of Justice is located in The Hague, while other major agencies are based in the UN offices at Geneva,^[11] Vienna,^[12] and Nairobi.^[13] Other UN institutions are located throughout the world.

The six official languages of the United Nations, used in intergovernmental meetings and documents, are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.^[2] The Secretariat uses two working languages, English and French. Four of the official languages are the national languages of the permanent members of the Security Council (the United Kingdom and the United States share English as a de facto official language); Spanish and Arabic are the languages of the two largest blocs of official languages outside of the permanent members (Spanish being official in 20 countries, Arabic in 26). Five of the official languages were chosen when the UN was founded; Arabic was added later in 1973. The United Nations Editorial Manual states that the standard for English language documents is British usage and Oxford spelling, the Chinese writing standard is Simplified Chinese. This replaced Traditional Chinese in 1971 when the UN representation of China was changed from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China (see China and the United Nations for details).

General Assembly[link]

United Nations General Assembly hall

The General Assembly is the main deliberative assembly of the United Nations. Composed of all United Nations member states, the assembly meets in regular yearly sessions under a president elected from among the member states. Over a two-week period at the start of each session, all members have the opportunity to address the assembly. Traditionally, the Secretary-General makes the first statement, followed by the president of the assembly. The first session was convened on 10 January 1946 in the Westminster Central Hall in London and included representatives of 51 nations.

When the General Assembly votes on important questions, a two-thirds majority of those present and voting is required. Examples of important questions include: recommendations on peace and security; election of members to organs; admission, suspension, and expulsion of members; and, budgetary matters. All other questions are decided by majority vote. Each member country has one vote. Apart from approval of budgetary matters, resolutions are not binding on the members. The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN, except matters of peace and security that are under Security Council consideration.

Conceivably, the one state, one vote power structure could enable states comprising just eight percent of the world population to pass a resolution by a two-thirds vote (see List of countries by population). However, as no more than recommendations, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which a recommendation by member states constituting just eight percent of the world's population, would be adhered to by the remaining ninety-two percent of the population, should they object.^{[citation needed]}

Security Council[link]

United Nations Security Council chamber

The Security Council is charged with maintaining peace and security among countries. While other organs of the United Nations can only make 'recommendations' to member governments, the Security Council has the power to make binding decisions that member governments have agreed to carry out, under the terms of Charter Article 25.^[14] The decisions of the Council are known as United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The Security Council is made up of 15 member states, consisting of 5 permanent members–China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States–and 10 non-permanent members, currently Azerbaijan, India, South Africa, Colombia, Morocco, Togo, Germany, Pakistan, Guatemala, and Portugal.^[15] The five permanent members hold veto power over substantive but not procedural resolutions allowing a permanent member to block adoption but not to block the debate of a resolution unacceptable to it. The ten temporary seats are held for two-year terms with member states voted in by the General Assembly on a regional basis. The presidency of the Security Council is rotated alphabetically each month.^[16]

Secretariat[link]

The United Nations Secretariat Building at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

The United Nations Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council, and other UN bodies. The United Nations Charter provides that the staff be chosen by application of the "highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity," with due regard for the importance of recruiting on a wide geographical basis.

The Charter provides that the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any authority other than the UN. Each UN member country is enjoined to respect the international character of the Secretariat and not seek to influence its staff. The Secretary-General alone is responsible for staff selection.

The Secretary-General's duties include helping resolve international disputes, administering peacekeeping operations, organizing international conferences, gathering information on the implementation of Security Council decisions, and consulting with member governments regarding various initiatives. Key Secretariat offices in this area include the Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter that, in his or her opinion, may threaten international peace and security.^{[citation needed]}

Secretary-General[link]

The current Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, who acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the UN. The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon, who took over from Kofi Annan in 2007 and has been elected for a second term to conclude at the end of 2016.^[17]

Envisioned by Franklin D. Roosevelt as a "world moderator", the position is defined in the UN Charter as the organization's "chief administrative officer",^[18] but the Charter also states that the Secretary-General can bring to the Security Council's attention "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security",^[19] giving the position greater scope for action on the world stage. The position has evolved into a dual role of an administrator of the UN organization, and a diplomat and mediator addressing disputes between member states and finding consensus to global issues.^[20]

The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, after being recommended by the Security Council, where the permanent members have veto power.^[21] The General Assembly can theoretically override the Security Council's recommendation if a majority vote is not achieved, although this has not happened so far.^[22] There are no specific criteria for the post, but over the years, it has become accepted that the post shall be held for one or two terms of five years, that the post shall be appointed on the basis of geographical rotation, and that the Secretary-General shall not originate from one of the five permanent Security Council member states.^[22]

Secretaries-General of the United Nations^[23]

No.	Name	Country of origin	Took office	Left office	Note
1	Trygve Lie	Norway	2 February 1946	10 November 1952	Resigned
2	Dag Hammarskjöld	Sweden	10 April 1953	18 September 1961	Died while in office
3	U Thant	Burma	30 November 1961	31 December 1971	First Secretary-General from Asia
4	Kurt Waldheim	Austria	1 January 1972	31 December 1981
5	Javier Pérez de Cuéllar	Peru	1 January 1982	31 December 1991	First Secretary-General from the Americas
6	Boutros Boutros-Ghali	Egypt	1 January 1992	31 December 1996	First Secretary-General from Africa
7	Kofi Annan	Ghana	1 January 1997	31 December 2006
8	Ban Ki-moon	South Korea	1 January 2007	Incumbent

International Court of Justice[link]

Peace Palace, seat of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), located in The Hague, Netherlands, is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. Established in 1945 by the United Nations Charter, the Court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The Statute of the International Court of Justice, similar to that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the Court.^[24]

It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, sharing the building with the Hague Academy of International Law, a private centre for the study of international law. Several of the Court's current judges are either alumni or former faculty members of the Academy. Its purpose is to adjudicate disputes among states. The court has heard cases related to war crimes, illegal state interference and ethnic cleansing, among others, and continues to hear cases.^[25]

International Criminal Court[link]

The International Criminal Court (ICC), it came into being on 1 July 2002 with the entering into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which was adopted on 17 July 1998. It is the first permanent international court charged with trying those who commit the most serious crimes under international law, including war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression (although it cannot exercise jurisdiction over this crime prior to 2017). The ICC is functionally independent of the UN in terms of personnel and financing, but some meetings of the ICC governing body, the Assembly of the States Parties to the Rome Statute, are held at the United Nations. There is a "relationship agreement" between the ICC and the UN that governs how the two institutions regard each other legally.^[26]

Economic and Social Council[link]

The ECOSOC chamber

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development. ECOSOC has 54 members, all of which are elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term. The president is elected for a one-year term and chosen amongst the small or middle powers represented on ECOSOC. ECOSOC meets once a year in July for a four-week session. Since 1998, it has held another meeting each April with finance ministers heading key committees of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Viewed separate from the specialized bodies it coordinates, ECOSOC's functions include information gathering, advising member nations, and making recommendations. In addition, ECOSOC is well-positioned to provide policy coherence and coordinate the overlapping functions of the UN’s subsidiary bodies and it is in these roles that it is most active.

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues[link]

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII or PFII) is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. The forum, which evolved from the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, is an advisory body within the framework of the United Nations System that reports to the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); however, it performs an advisory function in relation to other branches of the United Nations system. It also works with other U.N. bodies as they address indigenous rights through Conventions such as the International Labour Organization’s Convention No.169 and the Convention on Biological Diversity (Article 8j).^[27]

The Forum's mandate is to:

• Provide expert advice and recommendations to the Economic and Social Council and to the various programmes, funds and agencies of the United Nations System through the Council;
• Raise awareness and promote the integration and coordination of activities related to indigenous issues within the UN system;
• Prepare and disseminate information on these issues.

Since the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, much of the work of UNPFII has surrounded the compliance of U.N. member states to the standards of that declaration.^[27] However, it performs many other international functions as well.^[28]

Specialized institutions[link]

Many UN organizations and agencies exist to work on particular issues. Some of the most well-known agencies are the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the World Bank and the World Health Organization.

It is through these agencies that the UN performs most of its humanitarian work. Examples include mass vaccination programmes (through the WHO), the avoidance of famine and malnutrition (through the work of the WFP) and the protection of vulnerable and displaced people (for example, by the UNHCR).

The United Nations Charter stipulates that each primary organ of the UN can establish various specialized agencies to fulfil its duties.

Organizations and specialized agencies of the United Nations

No.	Acronyms	Logo	Agency	Headquarters	Head	Established in
1	FAO		Food and Agriculture Organization	Rome, Italy	José Graziano da Silva	1945
2	IAEA		International Atomic Energy Agency	Vienna, Austria	Yukiya Amano	1957
3	ICAO		International Civil Aviation Organization	Montreal, Canada	Raymond Benjamin	1947
4	IFAD		International Fund for Agricultural Development	Rome, Italy	Kanayo F. Nwanze	1977
5	ILO		International Labour Organization	Geneva, Switzerland	Juan Somavía	1946 (1919)
6	IMO		International Maritime Organization	London, United Kingdom	Efthimios E. Mitropoulos	1948
7	IMF		International Monetary Fund	Washington, D.C., USA	Christine Lagarde	1945 (1944)
8	ITU		International Telecommunication Union	Geneva, Switzerland	Hamadoun Touré	1947 (1865)
9	UNESCO		United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization	Paris, France	Irina Bokova	1946
10	UNIDO		United Nations Industrial Development Organization	Vienna, Austria	Kandeh Yumkella	1967
11	UPU		Universal Postal Union	Bern, Switzerland	Edouard Dayan	1947 (1874)
12	WB		World Bank	Washington, D.C., USA	Robert B. Zoellick	1945 (1944)
13	WFP		World Food Programme	Rome, Italy	Josette Sheeran	1963
14	WHO		World Health Organization	Geneva, Switzerland	Margaret Chan	1948
15	WIPO		World Intellectual Property Organization	Geneva, Switzerland	Francis Gurry	1974
16	WMO		World Meteorological Organization	Geneva, Switzerland	Alexander Bedritsky	1950 (1873)
17	UNWTO		World Tourism Organization	Madrid, Spain	Taleb Rifai	1974

Membership[link]

An animation showing the timeline of accession of UN member states, according to the UN. Note that Antarctica has no government; political control of Western Sahara is in dispute; and the territories administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Kosovo are considered by the UN to be provinces of the People's Republic of China and Republic of Serbia, respectively.

With the addition of South Sudan on 14 July 2011,^[29] there are currently 193 United Nations member states, including all fully recognized independent states^[30] apart from Vatican City (the Holy See, which holds sovereignty over the state of Vatican City, is a permanent observer).^[31]

The United Nations Charter outlines the rules for membership:

1. Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states that accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
2. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

—United Nations Charter, Chapter 2, Article 4, http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/

Group of 77[link]

The Group of 77 at the UN is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has since expanded to 130 member countries. The group was founded on 15 June 1964 by the "Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries" issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The first major meeting was in Algiers in 1967, where the Charter of Algiers was adopted and the basis for permanent institutional structures was begun.^[32]

Stated objectives[link]

Peacekeeping and security[link]

Darfur

Western Sahara

Israel/Palestine

Kosovo

Cyprus

Golan

Lebanon

Haiti

Liberia

Côte d'Ivoire

DR Congo

Sudan

East Timor

Jammu and Kashmir

Afghanistan

Current UN peacekeeping missions

The UN, after approval by the Security Council, sends peacekeepers to regions where armed conflict has recently ceased or paused to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage combatants from resuming hostilities. Since the UN does not maintain its own military, peacekeeping forces are voluntarily provided by member states of the UN. The forces, also called the "Blue Helmets", who enforce UN accords, are awarded United Nations Medals, which are considered international decorations instead of military decorations. The peacekeeping force as a whole received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.^[33]

The founders of the UN had envisaged that the organization would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible, however the outbreak of the Cold War made peacekeeping agreements extremely difficult because of the division of the world into hostile camps. Following the end of the Cold War, there were renewed calls for the UN to become the agency for achieving world peace, as several dozen ongoing conflicts continue to rage around the globe.

A 2005 RAND Corp study found the UN to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It compared UN nation-building efforts to those of the United States, and found that seven out of eight UN cases are at peace, as compared with four out of eight US cases at peace.^[34] Also in 2005, the Human Security Report documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold War, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism—mostly spearheaded by the UN—has been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War.^[35] Situations where the UN has not only acted to keep the peace but also occasionally intervened include the Korean War (1950–1953), and the authorization of intervention in Iraq after the Persian Gulf War in 1990.

The UN has also drawn criticism for perceived failures. In many cases, member states have shown reluctance to achieve or enforce Security Council resolutions, an issue that stems from the UN's intergovernmental nature—seen by some as simply an association of 193 member states who must reach consensus, not an independent organization. Disagreements in the Security Council about military action and intervention are seen as having failed to prevent the 1994 Rwandan Genocide,^[36] failed to provide humanitarian aid and intervene in the Second Congo War, failed to intervene in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and protect a refugee haven by authorizing peacekeepers to use force, failure to deliver food to starving people in Somalia, failure to implement provisions of Security Council resolutions related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and continuing failure to prevent genocide or provide assistance in Darfur. UN peacekeepers have also been accused of child rape, sexual abuse or soliciting prostitutes during various peacekeeping missions, starting in 2003, in the Congo,^[37] Haiti,^[38][39] Liberia,^[40] Sudan and what is now South Sudan,^[41] Burundi and Côte d'Ivoire.^[42] In 2004, former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore Gold criticized what it called the organization's moral relativism in the face of (and occasional support of)^[43] genocide and terrorism that occurred between the moral clarity of its founding period and the present day. Gold specifically mentions Yasser Arafat's 1988 invitation to address the General Assembly as a low point in the UN's history.^[44]

In addition to peacekeeping, the UN is also active in encouraging disarmament. Regulation of armaments was included in the writing of the United Nations Charter in 1945 and was envisioned as a way of limiting the use of human and economic resources for the creation of them.^[45] However, the advent of nuclear weapons came only weeks after the signing of the charter and immediately halted concepts of arms limitation and disarmament, resulting in the first resolution of the first ever General Assembly meeting calling for specific proposals for "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction".^[46] The principal forums for disarmament issues are the General Assembly First Committee, the UN Disarmament Commission, and the Conference on Disarmament, and considerations have been made of the merits of a ban on testing nuclear weapons, outer space arms control, the banning of chemical weapons and land mines, nuclear and conventional disarmament, nuclear-weapon-free zones, the reduction of military budgets, and measures to strengthen international security.

The UN is one of the official supporters of the World Security Forum, a major international conference on the effects of global catastrophes and disasters, which took place in the United Arab Emirates in October 2008.

Human rights and humanitarian assistance[link]

Eleanor Roosevelt with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1949

The pursuit of human rights was a central reason for creating the UN. World War II atrocities and genocide led to a ready consensus that the new organization must work to prevent any similar tragedies in the future. An early objective was creating a legal framework for considering and acting on complaints about human rights violations. The UN Charter obliges all member nations to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights" and to take "joint and separate action" to that end. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, though not legally binding, was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 as a common standard of achievement for all. The Assembly regularly takes up human rights issues.

The UN and its agencies are central in upholding and implementing the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A case in point is support by the UN for countries in transition to democracy. Technical assistance in providing free and fair elections, improving judicial structures, drafting constitutions, training human rights officials, and transforming armed movements into political parties have contributed significantly to democratization worldwide. The UN has helped run elections in countries with little or no democratic history, including recently in Afghanistan and East Timor. The UN is also a forum to support the right of women to participate fully in the political, economic, and social life of their countries. The UN contributes to raising consciousness of the concept of human rights through its covenants and its attention to specific abuses through its General Assembly, Security Council resolutions, or International Court of Justice rulings.

The purpose of the United Nations Human Rights Council, established in 2006,^[47] is to address human rights violations. The Council is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which was often criticized for the high-profile positions it gave to member states that did not guarantee the human rights of their own citizens.^[48] The council has 47 members distributed by region, which each serve three-year terms, and may not serve three consecutive terms.^[49] A candidate to the body must be approved by a majority of the General Assembly. In addition, the council has strict rules for membership, including a universal human rights review. While some members with questionable human rights records have been elected, it is fewer than before with the increased focus on each member state's human rights record.^[50]

The rights of some 370 million indigenous peoples around the world are also a focus for the UN, with a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples being approved by the General Assembly in 2007.^[51] The declaration outlines the individual and collective rights to culture, language, education, identity, employment and health, thereby addressing post-colonial issues that had confronted indigenous peoples for centuries. The declaration aims to maintain, strengthen and encourage the growth of indigenous institutions, cultures and traditions. It also prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their active participation in matters that concern their past, present and future.^[51] The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. The forum is an advisory body within the framework of the United Nations System that reports to the UN's Economic and Social Council.

In conjunction with other organizations such as the Red Cross, the UN provides food, drinking water, shelter and other humanitarian services to populaces suffering from famine, displaced by war, or afflicted by other disasters. Major humanitarian branches of the UN are the World Food Programme (which helps feed more than 100 million people a year in 80 countries), the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees with projects in over 116 countries, as well as peacekeeping projects in over 24 countries.

Social and economic development[link]

The UN is involved in supporting development, e.g. by the formulation of the Millennium Development Goals. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is the largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance in the world. Organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS, and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are leading institutions in the battle against diseases around the world, especially in poor countries. The UN Population Fund is a major provider of reproductive services. 32 UN agencies performing tasks on development are coordinating their efforts through the United Nations Development Group or UNDG.^[52]

The UN also promotes human development through some related agencies, particularly the UNDP.^[53] The World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF), for example, are independent, specialized agencies and observers within the UN framework, according to a 1947 agreement. They were initially formed as separate from the UN through the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944.^[54]

The UNDP annually publishes the Human Development Index (HDI), a comparative measure ranking countries by poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors.^[55]

The Millennium Development Goals (declared in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000) are eight goals that all of the then 192 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015.^[56]

Mandates[link]

From time to time, the different bodies of the United Nations pass resolutions that contain operating paragraphs that begin with the words "requests", "calls upon", or "encourages", which the Secretary-General interprets as a mandate to set up a temporary organization or do something. These mandates can be as little as researching and publishing a written report, or mounting a full-scale peacekeeping operation (usually the exclusive domain of the Security Council).

Although the specialized institutions, such as the WHO, were originally set up by this means, they are not the same as mandates because they are permanent organizations that exist independently of the UN with their own membership structure. One could say that original mandate was simply to cover the process of setting up the institution, and has therefore long expired. Most mandates expire after a limited period and require renewal from the body, which set them up.

One of the outcomes of the 2005 World Summit was a mandate (labelled id 17171) for the Secretary-General to "review all mandates older than five years originating from resolutions of the General Assembly and other organs". To facilitate this review and to finally bring coherence to the organization, the Secretariat has produced an on-line registry of mandates to draw together the reports relating to each one and create an overall picture.^[57]

Greening the Blue[link]

On 5 June 2007, World Environment Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made public his ambition to make the United Nations more efficient in its operations: “I would like to see our renovated Headquarters complex eventually become a globally acclaimed model of efficient use of energy and resources. Beyond New York, the initiative should include the other United Nations headquarters and offices around the globe.” The UN's progress towards achieving this goal is communicated through the initiative Greening the Blue (see external links below).

Other[link]

Over the lifetime of the UN, over 80 colonies have attained independence.^[58] The General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960 with no votes against but abstentions from all major colonial powers. Through the UN Committee on Decolonization,^[59] created in 1962, the UN has focused considerable attention on decolonization. It has also supported the new states that have arisen as a result of self-determination initiatives. The committee has overseen the decolonization of every country larger than 20,000 km² and removed them from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, besides Western Sahara, a country larger than the UK only relinquished by Spain in 1975.

The UN declares and coordinates international observances, periods of time to observe some issue of international interest or concern. Using the symbolism of the UN, a specially designed logo for the year, and the infrastructure of the United Nations System, various days and years have become catalysts to advancing key issues of concern on a global scale. For example, World Tuberculosis Day, Earth Day and International Year of Deserts and Desertification.

Funding[link]

Top 10 donators to the UN budget, 2011^[60]

Member state	Contribution (% of UN budget)
USA	22.000%
Japan	12.530%
Germany	8.018%
United Kingdom	6.604%
France	6.123%
Italy	4.999%
Canada	3.207%
China	3.189%
Spain	3.177%
Mexico	2.356%
Other member states	27.797%

The UN is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The General Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for each member. This is broadly based on the relative capacity of each country to pay, as measured by their gross national income (GNI), with adjustments for external debt and low per capita income.^[61]

The Assembly has established the principle that the UN should not be overly dependent on any one member to finance its operations. Thus, there is a 'ceiling' rate, setting the maximum amount any member is assessed for the regular budget. In December 2000, the Assembly revised the scale of assessments to reflect current global circumstances. As part of that revision, the regular budget ceiling was reduced from 25% to 22%. For the least developed countries (LDCs), a ceiling rate of 0.01% is applied.^[61] In addition to the ceiling rates, the minimum amount assessed to any member nation (or 'floor' rate) is set at 0.001% of the UN budget. Refer to the table for major contributors.

A large share of UN expenditures addresses the core UN mission of peace and security. The peacekeeping budget for the 2005–2006 fiscal year was approximately US$5 billion, €2.5 billion (compared to approximately US$1.5 billion, €995 million for the UN core budget over the same period), with some 70,000 troops deployed in 17 missions around the world.^[62] UN peace operations are funded by assessments, using a formula derived from the regular funding scale, but including a weighted surcharge for the five permanent Security Council members, who must approve all peacekeeping operations. This surcharge serves to offset discounted peacekeeping assessment rates for less developed countries. As of 1 January 2011, the top 10 providers of assessed financial contributions to United Nations peacekeeping operations were: the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, China, Canada, Spain and the Republic of Korea.^[63]

Special UN programmes not included in the regular budget (such as UNICEF, the WFP and UNDP) are financed by voluntary contributions from other member governments. Most of this is financial contributions, but some is in the form of agricultural commodities donated for afflicted populations. Since their funding is voluntary, many of these agencies suffer severe shortages during economic recessions. In July 2009, the World Food Programme reported that it has been forced to cut services because of insufficient funding.^[64] It has received barely a quarter of the total it needed for the 09/10 financial year.

Personnel policy[link]

The UN and its agencies are immune to the laws of the countries where they operate, safeguarding UN's impartiality with regard to the host and member countries.^[65]

Despite their independence in matters of human resources policy, the UN and its agencies voluntarily apply the laws of member states regarding same-sex marriages, allowing decisions about the status of employees in a same-sex partnership to be based on nationality. The UN and its agencies recognize same-sex marriages only if the employees are citizens of countries that recognize the marriage. This practice is not specific to the recognition of same-sex marriage but reflects a common practice of the UN for a number of human resources matters. It has to be noted though that some agencies provide limited benefits to domestic partners of their staff and that some agencies do not recognise same-sex marriage or domestic partnership of their staff.^{[citation needed]}

Reform[link]

In 2005, then-Secretary General Kofi Annan published his report In Larger Freedom, a proposal for reform of the UN.

Since its founding, there have been many calls for reform of the United Nations, although little consensus on how to do so. Some want the UN to play a greater or more effective role in world affairs, while others want its role reduced to humanitarian work.^[66] There have also been numerous calls for the UN Security Council's membership to be increased, for different ways of electing the UN's Secretary-General, and for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.

The UN has also been accused of bureaucratic inefficiency and waste. During the 1990s, the United States withheld dues citing inefficiency, and only started repayment on the condition that a major reforms initiative was introduced. In 1994, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was established by the General Assembly to serve as an efficiency watchdog.^[67]

An official reform programme was begun by Kofi Annan in 1997. Reforms mentioned include changing the permanent membership of the Security Council (which currently reflects the power relations of 1945), making the bureaucracy more transparent, accountable and efficient, making the UN more democratic, and imposing an international tariff on arms manufacturers worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2005, the UN convened a World Summit that brought together the heads of most member states, calling the summit "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations."^[68] Kofi Annan had proposed that the summit agree on a global "grand bargain" to reform the UN, renewing the organization's focus on peace, security, human rights and development, and to make it better equipped at facing 21st century issues. The World Summit Outcome Document delineated the conclusions of the meeting, including: the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission, to help countries emerging from conflict; a Human Rights Council and a democracy fund; a clear and unambiguous condemnation of terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations"; agreements to devote more resources to the Office of Internal Oversight Services; agreements to spend billions more on achieving the Millennium Development Goals; the dissolution of the Trusteeship Council, because of the completion of its mission; and, the agreement that individual states, with the assistance of the international community, have the "responsibility to protect" populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity- with the understanding that the international community is prepared to act "collectively" in a “timely and decisive manner” to protect vulnerable civilians should a state "manifestly fail" in fulfilling its responsibility.^[69]

The Office of Internal Oversight Services is being restructured to better define its scope and mandate, and will receive more resources. In addition, to improve the oversight and auditing capabilities of the General Assembly, an Independent Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC) is being created. In June 2007, the Fifth Committee created a draft resolution for the terms of reference of this committee.^[70][71] An ethics office was established in 2006, responsible for administering new financial disclosure and whistleblower protection policies. Working with the OIOS, the ethics office also plans to implement a policy to avoid fraud and corruption.^[72] The Secretariat is in the process of reviewing all UN mandates that are more than five years old. The review is intended to determine which duplicative or unnecessary programmes should be eliminated. Not all member states agree on which of the over 7000 mandates should be reviewed. The dispute centres on whether mandates that have been renewed should be examined.^[73] Indeed, the obstacles identified – in particular, the lack of information on the resource implications of each mandate – constituted sufficient justification for the General Assembly to discontinue the mandate review in September 2008. In the meantime, the General Assembly launched a number of new loosely related reform initiatives in April 2007, covering international environmental governance, ‘Delivering as One’ at the country level to enhance the consolidation of UN programme activities and a unified gender organization. Whereas little was achieved on the first two issues, the General Assembly approved in September 2010 the establishment of ‘UN Women’ as the new UN organization for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women was established by unifying the resources and mandates of four small entities for greater impact and its first head is Ms. Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

Collective security High-level Panel on United Nations Systemwide Coherence International relations List of current Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Model United Nations Official statistics UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Official languages of the United Nations United Nations Association United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

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United Nations portal

Relations between specific states and the United Nations[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• United Nations Intellectual History Project Book Series. Indiana University Press.
• "Think Again: The United Nations", Madeleine K. Albright, Foreign Policy, September/October 2004.
• Hans Köchler, Quo Vadis, United Nations?, in: Law Review, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, College of Law, May 2005 Online version.
• An Insider's Guide to the UN, Linda Fasulo, Yale University Press (1 November 2003), hardcover, 272 pages, ISBN 0-300-10155-4.
• United Nations: The First Fifty Years, Stanley Mesler, Atlantic Monthly Press (1 March 1997), hardcover, 416 pages, ISBN 0-87113-656-2.
• Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations, Stephen Schlesinger, Westview Press (1 September 2003), softcover, 374 pages, ISBN 978-0-8133-3324-3.
• The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945, edited by Vaughan Lowe, Adam Roberts, Jennifer Welsh and Dominik Zaum, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010, paperback, 794 pages. ISBN 978-0-19-958330-0. For US edition, click here.
• United Nations, Divided World: The UN's Roles in International Relations, edited by Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2nd edition, 1993, paperback, 589 pages. ISBN 0-19-827926-4. For US edition, click here.
• A Guide to Delegate Preparation: A Model United Nations Handbook, edited by Scott A. Leslie, The United Nations Association of the United States of America, 2004 edition (October 2004), softcover, 296 pages, ISBN 1-880632-71-3.
• "U.S. At War–International." Time Magazine XLV.19 7 May 1945: 25–28.
• The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations, edited by Thomas G. Weiss and Sam Daws, Oxford University Press, July 2007, hardcover, 896 pages, ISBN 978-0-19-927951-7, ISBN 0-19-927951-9.

• Gold, Dore. Tower of Babble: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.

External links[link]

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Other

• United Nations Rule of Law, the United Nations' centralized website on the rule of law.
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• Outcomes of the 2005 World SummitPDF (82.9 KB)
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• List of UN datasets on CKAN, a registry of open data
• Task Force on United Nations–U.S. Institute of Peace
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• United Nations Association of the UK: independent policy authority on the UN
• United Nations: Inside the Glass House–Independent news reports by the news agency Inter Press Service
• United Nations eLearning Unit created by ISRG–University of Innsbruck
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Kim Jong-un 김정은 金正恩
Supreme Leader of North Korea
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 December 2011
Premier	Choe Yong-rim
Preceded by	Kim Jong-il
First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 April 2012
Deputy	Kim Yong-nam Choe Yong-rim Choe Ryong-hae Ri Yong-ho
Preceded by	Kim Jong-il (General Secretary)
First Chairman of the National Defence Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 April 2012
Deputy	Kim Yong-Chun Ri Yong-mu Jang Song-thaek O Kuk-ryol
Preceded by	Kim Jong-il (Chairman)
Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 December 2011[1]
Preceded by	Kim Jong-il
Chairman of the Central Military Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 April 2012 Acting: 17 December 2011 – 11 April 2012
Deputy	Choe Ryong-hae Ri Yong-ho
Preceded by	Kim Jong-il
Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission
In office 28 September 2010 – 11 April 2012 Serving with Ri Yong-ho
Leader	Kim Jong-il
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Choe Ryong-hae Ri Yong-ho
Personal details
Born	8 January 1983 or 1984[2] Pyongyang, North Korea
Political party	Workers' Party of Korea
Alma mater	Kim Il-sung University Kim Il-sung Military University
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	North Korea
Years of service	2010–present
Rank	General
Commands	Supreme Commander

Kim Jong-un^[4] also romanised as Kim Jong-eun or Kim Jung-eun,^[5] (born 8 January 1983 or 1984),^[6] is the current supreme leader of North Korea. He has held the titles of the First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, First Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, and also a presidium member of the Central Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea. He was officially declared the supreme leader following the state funeral for his father, Kim Jong-il on 28 December 2011.^[7] He is the third and youngest son of his deceased predecessor Kim Jong-il and his consort Ko Young-hee.^[8] From late 2010, Kim Jong-un was viewed as heir apparent to the leadership of the nation, and following his father's death, he was announced as the "Great Successor" by North Korean state television.^[9] At Kim Jong-il's memorial service, North Korean Chairman of Congress Kim Yong-nam declared that "Respected Comrade Kim Jong-un is our party, military and country’s supreme leader who inherits great comrade Kim Jong-il’s ideology, leadership, character, virtues, grit and courage".^[10] On 30 December 2011 the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea formally appointed Kim as the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army.^[1] On 11 April 2012, the 4th Party Conference elected him to the newly-created post of First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

He is a Daejang in the Korean People's Army, a military rank equivalent to that of a general.^[11] Kim is said to have studied computer science privately in North Korea.^[12] He obtained two degrees, one in physics at Kim Il Sung University and another at the Kim Il Sung Military Academy.^[13][14] At 28 years of age, he is the world's youngest head of state.

Early life[link]

Jong-un is thought to have been born in 1983 or early 1984.^[6] Intelligence sources give his date of birth as 8 January 1983.^[15]

According to reports first published in Japanese newspapers, he went to school in Switzerland near Bern. First reports claimed he attended the private English-language “International School” in Gümligen near Bern under the name “Chol-pak” or “Pak-chol” from 1993 until 1998.^[16][17][18] He was described as shy, a good student who got along well with his classmates and was a basketball fan.^[19] He was chaperoned by an older student who was thought to be his bodyguard.^[20]

Later it was reported that Kim Jong-un attended the public school “Liebefeld Steinhölzli” in Köniz near Bern under the name “Pak-un” or “Un-pak” from 1998 until 2000 as the son of an employee of the Embassy of North Korea. Authorities of Köniz confirmed that a student from North Korea, registered as the son of a member of the Embassy attended the school from August 1998 till fall 2000, but were unable to give details about his identity. Pak-un first attended a special class for foreign language children and later attended the regular classes of the 6th, 7th, 8th and part of the final 9th year, leaving the school abruptly in fall 2000. He was described as a well integrated good and ambitious student who liked to play basketball.^[21] However, his grades and attendance rating are reported to have been poor.^[22][23] The ambassador of North Korea in Switzerland, Ri Tcheul, had a close relationship with him and acted as a mentor.^[24] One of Pak-un's classmates told reporters that he had told him that he was the son of the leader of North Korea.^[25][26] According to some reports, Jong-un was described by classmates as a shy child who was awkward with girls, indifferent to political issues but distinguished himself in sports, and had a fascination with the American National Basketball Association and Michael Jordan. One friend claimed that he had been shown pictures of Pak-un with Kobe Bryant and Toni Kukoč taken at an unknown location.^[27]

In April 2012, new documents came to light indicating that Kim Jong-un had lived in Switzerland since 1991 or 1992, earlier than previously thought.^[28]

The Laboratory of Anatomic Anthropology at the University of Lyon, France, after comparing the picture of the boy Pak-un, taken at the school “Liebefeld Steinhölzli” in 1999 with a picture of Kim Jong-un from 2012 came to the conclusion that the two faces show a conformity of 95 percent. The head of the institute, Raoul Perrot, a forensic anthropologist, considers it most likely that the two pictures show the same person.^[29][30]

It is believed that the student at the Gümligen “International School” was not Kim Jong-un but his elder brother Kim Jong-chol. It is not known whether the student known as Pak-un in “Liebefeld Steinhölzli” lived in Switzerland prior to 1998.^[31] All the children of Kim Jong-il are said to have lived in Switzerland, as well as the mother of the two youngest sons, who lived in Geneva for some time. The Kim clan is also said to organise family meetings in Switzerland at Lake Geneva and Interlaken.^[24]

Most analysts agree that Kim Jong-un attended Kim Il-sung University, a leading officer-training school in Pyongyang from 2002 to 2007.^[32]

For many years, only one confirmed photograph of him was known outside North Korea, apparently taken in the mid-1990s, when he was eleven.^[33] Occasional other supposed images of him surfaced but were often disputed.^{[34][35][36][37]} It was only in June 2010, shortly before he was given official posts and publicly introduced to the North Korean people, that more pictures were released of Kim, taken when he was attending school in Switzerland.^[38][39] The first official image of him as an adult was a group photograph released on 30 September 2010, at the end of the party conference that effectively anointed him, in which he is seated in the front row, two places from his father. This was followed by newsreel footage of him attending the conference.^[40]

Succession[link]

Pre-2010 Party Conference speculation[link]

His eldest half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, had been the favourite to succeed, but reportedly fell out of favour after 2001, when he was caught attempting to enter Japan on a fake passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.^[41]

Kim Jong-il's former personal chef, Kenji Fujimoto, revealed details regarding Kim Jong-un, with whom he shared a good relationship,^[42] stating that he was favoured to be his father's successor. Fujimoto also claimed that Jong-un was favored by his father over his elder brother, Kim Jong-chul, reasoning that Jong-chul is too feminine in character, while Jong-un is "exactly like his father".^[43] Furthermore Fujimoto stated that "If power is to be handed over then Jong-un is the best for it. He has superb physical gifts, is a big drinker and never admits defeat." Also according to Fujimoto, Jong-un smokes Yves Saint Laurent cigarettes and loves Johnnie Walker whiskey and has a Mercedes 600 Sedan.^[44] When Jong-un was 18, Fujimoto described an episode where Jong-un questioned his lavish lifestyle and asked, "We are here, playing basketball, riding horses, riding Jet Skis, having fun together. But what of the lives of the average people?"^[43] On 15 January 2009 the South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported that Kim Jong-il appointed Kim Jong-un to be his successor.^[41][45]

On 8 March 2009, the BBC reported rumors that Kim Jong-un appeared on the ballot for elections to the Supreme People's Assembly, the rubber stamp parliament of North Korea.^[46] Subsequent reports indicate that his name did not appear on the list of lawmakers,^[47] however he was later elevated to a mid-level position in the National Defense Commission, which is a branch of the North Korean military.^[48] Reports have also suggested that he is a diabetic and suffers from hypertension.^[49][50]

From 2009, it was understood by foreign diplomatic services that Kim was to succeed his father Kim Jong-il as the head of the Korean Workers' Party and de-facto leader of North Korea.^[51] He has been named "Yŏngmyŏng-han Tongji" (영명한 동지), which loosely translates to "Brilliant Comrade".^[52] His father had also asked embassy staff abroad to pledge loyalty to his son.^[50] There have also been reports that citizens in North Korea have been encouraged to sing a newly composed "song of praise" to Kim Jong-un, in a similar fashion to that of praise songs relating to Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung.^[53] Later in June, Kim was reported to have visited China secretly to "present himself" to the Chinese leadership, who later warned against North Korea conducting another nuclear test.^[54] The Chinese Foreign Ministry has strongly denied that this visit occurred.^[55][56]

North Korea was later reported to have backed the succession plan, after Kim Jong-il suspended a propaganda campaign to promote his youngest son.^[57] His birthday has since become a national holiday, celebrated on 8 January, according to a report by a South Korean website.^[58] He was expected to be named on 28 September 2010 as successor to his father as leader of North Korea.^[59][60][61]

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited China in early September 2010, and discussed the issue of North Korean leadership succession with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. According to Carter, Kim Jong-il had said to Wen that Kim Jong-un's prospective promotion to paramount leader of North Korea was "a false rumor from the West".^[62]

Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission[link]

Kim Jong-un was made a Daejang, the equivalent of General in the United States,^[11] on 27 September 2010, a day ahead of a rare Workers' Party of Korea conference in Pyongyang, the first time North Korean media had mentioned him by name and despite his having no previous military experience.^[63][64][65] Despite the promotion, no further details, including verifiable portraits of Kim, were released.^[66] On 28 September 2010 he was named vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and appointed to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, in an apparent nod to become the successor to Kim Jong-il.^[67]

On 10 October 2010, alongside his father the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un attended the ruling Workers' Party's 65th anniversary celebration. This was seen as fully confirming his position as the next leader of the Workers' Party. Unprecedented international press access was granted to the event, further indicating the importance of Kim Jong-un's presence.^[68] In January 2011, the regime began purging around 200 proteges of both Jong-un's uncle-in-law Jang Sung-taek and O Kuk-ryol, the vice chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, by either detention or execution to further prevent either man from rivaling Jong-un.^[69] In the following months, Kim Jong-un was given more and more prominence as he accompanied Kim Jong-il during several "guidance tours" and received gifts from foreign delegations and personages, an honour traditionally awarded only to the living supreme leader. He was also listed second only to Kim Jong-il himself in the funeral committee for Jo Myong-rok.

After Kim Jong-il's death[link]

On 17 December 2011, Kim Jong-il died. Despite the elder Kim's plans, it was not immediately clear after his death whether Jong-un would in fact take full power, and what his exact role in a new government would be.^[70] Some analysts had predicted that when Kim Jong-il died, Jang Sung-taek would act as regent, as Jong-un is too inexperienced to immediately lead the country.^[71] On 25 December 2011, North Korean television showed Jang Sung-taek in the uniform of a general in a sign of his growing sway after the death of Kim Jong-il. A Seoul official familiar with North Korea affairs said it was the first time Jang has been shown on state television in a military uniform. His appearance suggests that Jang has secured a key role in the North's powerful military, which has pledged its allegiance to Kim Jong-un.^[72]

The cult of personality around Kim Jong-un has been stepped up following his father's death. He was hailed as the "great successor to the revolutionary cause of Juche", "outstanding leader of the party, army and people",^[73] "respected comrade who is identical to Supreme Commander Kim Jong-il",^[74] and chairman of the Kim Jong-il funeral committee. The Korean Central News Agency described Kim Jong-un as "a great person born of heaven", a propaganda term only his father and grandfather had enjoyed,^[75] while the ruling Workers' Party said in an editorial: "We vow with bleeding tears to call Kim Jong-un our supreme commander, our leader."^[76]

He was publicly declared Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army on 24 December 2011^[77] and formally appointed to the position on 30 December when the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party "courteously proclaimed that the dear respected Kim Jong Un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK, assumed the supreme commandership of the Korean People's Army".^[1]

On 26 December 2011, the leading North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun announced that Kim Jong-un has been acting as chairman of the Central Military Commission,^[78] and supreme leader of the country, following his father's demise.^[79]

On 9 January, a large rally was held by Armed Forces in front of Kumsusan Memorial Palace to honor Kim Jong-un and demonstrate loyalty.^[80]

On 27 March, Kim was elected to the Fourth Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea, that elected him First Secretary, a newly-made position, on 11 April. This position replaced the post of General Secretary, which was awarded "eternally" to Kim Jong-il. At the conference, Kim Jong-un also took his father's seats as Politburo Presidium member and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.^[81] In a speech made prior to the Conference, Kim Jong-un declared that "Imbuing the whole society with Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is the highest programme of our Party".

On 13 April, the 5th Session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly appointed him First Chairman of the National Defence Commission.

On 15 April, during a military parade to commemorate Kim Il-sung's centenary, he made his first public speech.^[82]

Officially, Kim Jong-un is part of a triumvirate heading the executive branch of the North Korean government along with Premier Choe Yong-rim and parliament chairman Kim Yong-nam (no relation). Each nominally holds powers equivalent to a third of a president's powers in most other presidential systems. Kim Jong-un commands the armed forces, Choe Yong-rim heads the government and Kim Yong-nam handles foreign relations. In practice, however, it is generally understood that Kim Jong-un, like his father before him, exercises absolute control over the government and the country.

Responsibility for human rights violations[link]

Many reports indicate that the human rights violations under the leadership of Kim Jong-il^[83] are continued by Kim Jong-un,^[84] ordering to kill defectors,^[85] conducting public executions^[86] and sending people to political prison camps.^[87] It is assumed that he was involved in the bombardment of Yeonpyeong^[88] and the Cheonan sinking^[89] to strengthen his military credentials and facilitate a successful transition of power from his father.^[90]

Name[link]

Kim was formerly known as Kim Jong-woon or Kim Jung-woon.^[49] His name was first reported as 김정운 (Hanja: 金正雲; lit. righteous cloud), possibly an error in transliterating the name from Japanese to Korean, as the Japanese language does not distinguish between 운 (un) and 은 (eun). The initial source of his name was Kim Jong-il's former personal chef, known by the pen name Kenji Fujimoto, who was among the few who had access to information about Kim's household from inside the government. Chinese media, however, have named him as 김정은 (Hanja: 金正恩; lit. righteous benevolence).

Ancestry[link]

References[link]