As the Kim Jong Un (KJU) regime completes its tenth month in power following KJI’s death in December 2011, key differences between how this succession is being carried out and how it was carried out in 1994 are becoming ever clearer.

Using new data highlighted by the NK Leadership Tracker,, it is clear that the KJU succession process has proceeded at a much more rapid pace than it did for Kim Jong Il (KJI).  Excluding the December 2011 appearances when KJU visited KJI’s bier, the new North Korean leader has now made 118 appearances in nine and a half months.[1] By comparison, as KJI spearheaded a three-year national mourning period, he made just 88 appearances total between July 1994 - December 1996.