How North Korean leader Kim Jong Un became one of the world's most feared dictators

Kim Jong Un assumed leadership at such a young age that many thought his rule would be doomed.

The current head of the family dynasty that's ruled North Korea since the 1950s has overseen several nuclear tests, dozens of missile tests, and presided over his country's shocking, uninvited entrance into the nuclear club.

After having the most tense, heated exchanges with a US commander in chief in his country's history, Kim met with President Donald Trump twice.

Between threats of nuclear annihilation, brinkmanship, and attacks on South Korea, Kim has kept a firm grip on power throughout, and his people have very few freedoms.

With all this attention, still relatively little is known of Kim. But thanks to a new book from Washington Post Beijing bureau chief Anna Fifield, "The Great Successor," we now know more about his secretive childhood.

Here's what we know of how Kim grew to be one of the world's scariest dictators.

Photo: © Reuters/KCNA KCNA

Kim Jong Un assumed leadership at such a youn