# Kim Jong Il dies; Kim Jong Un becomes supreme leader

Date: 2011

## The fact

On 17 December 2011 Kim Jong Il died. State media then presented [Kim Jong Un](/people/kim-jong-un) as successor.

## Context

There was no competitive election. The Party and army presented him. Kim Jong Il is named here as an unresolved person candidate. This run does not mint a page for him.

Death 17 December 2011; first Kim-era nuclear test 12 February 2013. Keep dates. Keep Kim Jong Il dies; Kim Jong Un becomes supreme leader on 2011-12-17 separate from neighbouring nuclear-test, camp, Vostochny, treaty, and troop-despatch instruments.

The President of the State Affairs Commission commands the armed forces and signs treaties.

## Evidence and sources

KCNA / DPRK state media (via Reuters contemporaneous record) carries the official instrument or communique. BBC News records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is closed-system succession: a completed hereditary transfer without a competitive ballot. It is not a unique 2011 calorie print.

## What is established and what is not

Established: Kim Jong Il died on 17 December 2011 and Kim Jong Un was presented as successor.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

There was no competitive election. He accepted the office.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Kim Jong Il dies; Kim Jong Un becomes supreme leader, not a later speech about Kim Jong Il dies; Kim Jong Un becomes supreme leader.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Kim Jong Il dies; Kim Jong Un becomes supreme leader on 2011-12-17 is not a licence to treat every later KCNA / DPRK state media (via Reuters contemporaneous record) communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Kim Jong Il dies; Kim Jong Un becomes supreme leader into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to The Party and army presented him. There was no competitive election. He accepted the office. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Kim Jong-un: https://factrail.ai/people/kim-jong-un

## Drivers

- Civic Space: https://factrail.ai/drivers/civic-space

## Sources

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16239693
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-korea-north-idUSTRE7BS0Y20111229/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/kp-succession-2011