This is part one of a two-part series using DPRK media reports to identify trends in leadership dynamics and in the group of politicians that have emerged under Kim Jong Un.

There are many sources one can turn to in assessing leadership trends in the DPRK, and in trying to identify emerging leaders. These include reports from the South Korea’s Yonhap News, reports from defectors, memoirs of foreign diplomats and workers who have lived in the country, and official media reports from the DPRK.

DPRK official media reports are problematic in some ways. Their