Still il?

In the style of Joseph Goebbels, North Korean state television celebrated Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un’s first birthday in power on January 8 with a rousing documentary detailing the young ruler’s prodigious achievements. Less than a month into a term that could last half a century, North Koreans know their dear leader as “having the wisdom of great men, extraordinary competence, and military brilliance.”

So has nothing changed in North Korea? The most repressive government in the world is still ruled by a round-faced, military-focused, and easily mocked (see South Park, Team America: World Police, and @KimJongNumberUn) member of the Kim clan with launch codes in his back pocket. Will the injection of youth, age being the only immediately discernible difference between Jong-un and his father, be an impetus for progressive reforms in North Korea?

Early indications aren’t promising. Since Jong-il’s death, border patrol officers have shot and killed no fewer than three aspirant defectors, according to a South Korean human rights activist. Any defector, regardless of his fate, exposes his children, siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins to imprisonment and possible death— a directive instituted by Jong-il and almost immediately reaffirmed by his son.

Strict border patrols are merely one element of Jong-un’s blueprint for securing the respect of North Korea’s array of generals and imbuing his 25 million subjects with the fear essential to a totalitarian regime. Prior to Jong-il’s funeral procession in Pyongyang, attendees were sternly instructed not to wear hats, gloves, or scarves despite sub-freezing temperatures. The order was intended to demonstrate the North Korean people’s solidarity with Jong-un, who would later carry his father’s coffin without gloves.

Such ridiculous commands were typical of Jong-il and appear well on their way to becoming a mainstay of the Jong-un regime. However, there is hope for a freer North Korea under Kim Jong-un, who, at 28 or 29 (his year of birth is not known), is the youngest head of state in the world.

Most notably, Jong-un exhibited a more personable demeanor in his birthday propaganda video. Whereas his father would have been seen seriously saluting foot soldiers, Jong-un fashioned himself as “just one of the guys.” He was taped shaking hands and even laughing with members of his million-man army. The West can only hope that Jong-un’s relative affability will translate to a more cooperative approach to international affairs.

Jong-un is fairly Westernized. He spent a considerable amount of his childhood at an international school in Bern, Switzerland where he presumably developed an understanding and some degree of appreciation for democracy and basic freedoms. During his time in Switzerland, he was known to enjoy watching American basketball, growing especially fond of Michael Jordan and, later, Kobe Bryant. On the court, he wore Nike shoes and was described by a Russian classmate as a “playmaker.”

Surely Jong-il delivered an inspiring pep talk to his son on the virtues of totalitarianism before his death, but it is hard to believe that Jr. is completely uninfluenced by Western life. Of course, Westernized sons of dictators have disappointed us lately (Bashar al-Assad, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi). Yet the North Korean economy and standard of life is so dreadful that desperation might be the motive for a move in the right direction.

Kim Jong-un might be short and round. But he is certainly not his father.