KIM Jong-un now rules alongside a tiny elite wracked by paranoia and bent on developing nuclear weapons that could one day destroy cities in the West.
After the death of his dotty dad Kim Jong-il, the tubby tyrant has set about murdering opponents while forming a tiny elite of loyal siblings, military men and rocket engineers.
All the party officials are subservient to him.
But there are a handful of movers and shakers in the weirdo regime who form the inner-circle around Kim.
Here is what we know about them:
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Kim’s sinister younger sister
Little sis Kim Yo Jong, 29, is perhaps the most powerful individual in the whole hermit kingdom and with her good looks adds glamour to a power structure dominated by ageing men.
She is her brother’s most trusted adviser and is believed to have played a part in the paranoid purges where even members of their own family perished.
She holds a senior post in the Workers' Party of Korea, the vice-minister of the Propaganda and Agitation Department.
But the title does not do justice to the influence she enjoys which essential makes her a power behind her brother’s throne.
RODONG SINMUN
Some analysts believe his odd fashion sense and "Fred Flintstone" hair-do is down to her.
Unconfirmed reports claim she has helped cultivate the bizarre friendship between Kim and Dennis Rodman, the American basketball player who made visits to Pyongyang, according to the South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo.
A defector testimony, which is impossible to confirm, is that her former husband died in a car accident several years ago.
Kim’s older brother
Kim Jong-chul, 35, was passed over for the leader by his dad Kim Jong-il in 2009 for unknown reasons.
But nevertheless Jong-chul is still hugely powerful and thought to have also played a role in disposing of suspected opponents.
Something of a playboy, he has been reportedly been seen in the West at rock concerts - in 2015 he was spotted at Eric Clapton concerts in the Royal Albert Hall in London.
He was reportedly "having a great time" and "singing along to all the words".
In 2013 Jong-chul is understood to have ordered the arrest and execution of his uncle Jang Sung-taek.
Jang, the husband of Kim’s dad’s sister Kim Kyong Hui, had been mentoring the young dictator.
But amid paranoia about Jang's supposed involvement in a planned coup he was executed.
His aunt was spared but mystery surrounds the 71-year-old's current state.
It been thought she had died from a heart attack or a stroke.
But it's now believed she is living in the outskirts of Pyongyang and in very bad health.
It is unclear whether or not Jong-chul was also allegedly connected to the plot to kill his brother Kim Jong Nam in Kuala Lumpur International Airport in March.
The top air force general
Ri Pyong Chol is the most prominent of three uniformed aides.
The others are accomplished rocket scientist Kim Jong Sik and Jang Chang Ha, the head of weapons development.
Ri and his two colleagues are often seen manically laughing with Kim - even hugging on occasion.
The close body language of these men is in sharp contrast to the bowing of other aides.
REUTERS
Previously an air force chief, Ri is now deputy director of the Workers’ Party Munitions Industry Department, which oversees North Korea’s ballistic missile program.
Kim Jin-moo, an expert on North Korea’s elite and former government think-tank analyst in Seoul, said: “Ri looks like the party’s guy in the missile program.”
Born in 1948, Ri was partly educated in Russia and promoted when Kim Jong-un started to rise through the ranks.
EPA
The genius rocket scientist
Kim Jong Sik is the brains behind North Korea’s rapidly advancing ballistic missile program that is thought now to have placed New York and London well within range.
He started his career as a civilian aeronautics technician.
Nowadays, given his elite status, he sports the uniform of a military general at the Munitions Industry Department, according to experts and the South Korean government.
KCNA
It was his role in the North Korea’s first successful launch of a rocket in 2012 into orbit, paving the way for a long-range nuke, which really helped him earn recognition.
State TV have shown him riding to a launch site in Kim Jong Un’s private plane.
Arriving there he often accompanies the young leader down the red carpet and received flowers from other senior officials.
AFP
Mr Know-how
Jang Chang Ha is the most mysterious of the three aides.
His official title is president of the Academy of the National Defence Science.
Jang oversees an academy which has about 15,000 staff, including some 3,000 missile engineers, according to South Korean media reports, citing unnamed sources.
The centre is responsible for research and development but also buying in components and kit from abroad.
This of course must be extremely difficult given the sanctions slapped on the country for carrying out missile and nuclear bomb tests.
Along with the other two aides he is often seen driving in Mercedes-Benz sedans and travelling in Kim’s swanky jet.
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