Inside North Korea's Dynasty

Kim Jong-Un is the sun around which all else revolves in North Korea.

He has proven to be a vicious leader,

not in the least reluctant to take very swift

and very harsh action against those who are a threat to the state,

which means a threat to him.

Age just 28, Kim Jong-Un became the leader of his country,

only the third man to rule North Korea.

He took over his father's nuclear weapons program and supercharged it.

The accomplishments in terms of ballistic missiles

and nuclear weapons in North Korea...

that is a result of Kim Jong-Un's characteristics as leader.

And he far exceeded the lifetime accomplishments of his father and grandfather.

You really can't understand this man without understanding the family into

which he was born, and the impact of his grandfather upon him.

To sit down with the U.S. President...

that's something his father and his grandfather never were able to do.

In charge of the world's 4th largest army, who is Kim Jong-Un?

This is the story of how the youngest Kim took control of his country,

and used his family's legacy to put himself onto the world stage.

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The sudden death of Kim Jong-Il, the second man to lead the country rocked the

North Korean people.

The future of this rogue state was now a global concern...

and had become top priority for the then director of the CIA.

What I recall in particular was the uncertainty.

What will Kim Jong-Un be like as a leader?

He is quite young, late twenty-something, untested,

said to be impulsive,

said to be a bit headstrong.

What will he do with respect to the nuclear program, the missile program?

So all of these factors together give you considerable pause,

and that's certainly how we felt at that time.

North Korea was a unique state.

A communist country, but under the rule of one family.

It was founded by Kim Jong-Un's grandfather, who outlasted every other

communist dictator, before handing over to his eldest son, Kim Jong-Un's father.

His untimely death at the age of 70 meant there was little succession planning,

before the third Kim was thrust into power.

The CIA wanted to know who he was.

Footage like this is always looked at and studied; and the analysts

were pouring over it, trying to divine something out of it.

But there was no real solid basis...

I mean trying to do a psychoanalysis of someone like this,

about whom we had such few details, was almost mission impossible.

One reason the intelligence agency files were lacking in detail was that

Kim Jong-Un was not always the obvious successor.

His father had five known children, one of whom was a daughter,

but no known photographs of her exist.

His youngest child was also a daughter...

but North Korea wasn't ready for a female leader.

Of the three known sons,

Kim Jong-Nam was the eldest and once seemed like a good option.

Are you Mister Kim Jong-Nam?

If you are not sure, why you follow me?

In the early 2000s, he left North Korea for China,

a move that put him out of contention.

The next son, Kim Jong-Chul, had no interest in politics,

preferring to play guitar in a band.

Why are you in London please Mr. Kim?

He's a reclusive figure but has since been spotted abroad,

attending rock concerts.

This is believed to be Kim Jong-Chol.

He's seen smiling, as he enjoys an Eric Clapton concert at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Which left Kim Jong-Un.

On paper, the third in line for the throne,

and the only option to continue the family dynasty.

My first impression was how vulnerable he was.

But I did wonder: is that grief tinged with fear?

It's not like it's taking over leadership of a country that is rich,

and surrounded by creature comforts.

This is a country that has chronic food shortage, doesn't have much electricity,

is isolated from the outside world.

It's not an easy job to take on.

I was the first American journalist accredited to work in the local

Pyongyang press corps,

and I was able to talk to North Koreans about what they were being told about who

this young man was or at least in terms of the propaganda.

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We were told that Kim Jong-Un would be very different from his father;

more like his grandfather, who was legitimately loved by his people,

and extremely charismatic by all accounts.

He wanted to show the people that he was a people person, like his grandfather.

And so, he would often get down on the ground and bring children into his lap and

bring them into his arms and that's very strategic:

to mold him in the image of his grandfather.

He does happen to look a lot like his grandfather, and so that helps.

But adding all the accessories: the straw hat, which is identical to the

straw hat that the grandfather wore; kind of replicating the gait.

North Koreans are going to remember that.

So that's a way that Kim Jong-Un piggy-backs on his grandfather's legacy,

to legitimize his role as the leader.

Kim Jong-Un was keen to use the god-like status enjoyed by his father and

grandfather, but he wanted to be a god for the 21st century.

Showing the North Korean people, a sense of modernity.

His campaign to show that he was a different kind of leader also included bringing

his wife out into the public.

That was so significant because his father was very rarely out in the public;

we didn't know who his wife was because he never presented his family.

And so now they had Kim Jong-Un's wife, she was beautiful, elegant.

And that's actually powerful in a society like this, that meant that the people were

encouraged to show a little bit more individualism.

Some of the intelligence agencies put this kind of modern openness down

to Kim's formative years outside North Korea.

In his early teens, he spent nine years at school in Switzerland.

After Kim Jong-Un became leader, media interest focused on this time,

with news agencies quick to interview his former classmates for any kind of insight.

-Most of the time he was shy, not loud; a quiet guy.

But when we played basketball, he came up, he could be very aggressive but in a positive

way, and loud, and a little bit of trash-talk.

According to his minders in Switzerland, he was so obsessed with the

Chicago Bulls that he slept with a basketball by his side.

I think we're all very curious to know how much Kim Jong-Un's time in Switzerland

has shaped who he is, because we would think that that would expose

him more to Western ideas.

Pretty early on in his reign we started to see that.

It's interesting, he had his own personal pop group,

this girl band called the Moranbong Aktan.

And it was all the buzz in Pyongyang at the time and these girls were wearing these

really revealing dresses, you know like, strapless, really short mini-skirts,

and playing these electric instruments.

We heard them playing the theme song to Rocky, which is a very American movie.

So, really fresh, really modern, very, for North Korea, very cutting edge.

-Kim Jong-Un! Kim Jong-Un! Kim Jong-Un!

Kim kept the same military parades established by his father and grandfather,

but he used his power to indulge some of his own personal interests.

In 2013, he asked for one of his heroes to come and see him.

My name is Dennis Rodman.

Used to play basketball for the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, L.A. Lakers.

Done movies. Wrote books.

It's a great cover and quite a title: I Should Be Dead By Now.

You name it, I've done it.

Yeah!

I'm that guy, Dennis Rodman.

I had no clue about North Korea.

I guess something came up in 2013.

Something about that the leader of North Korea wanted to meet someone from the

Chicago Bulls and I got wind later that they asked Michael Jordan first,

and he said no, he didn't want to go.

So, I guess I was the second option; and they said,

'Dennis, would you like to go North Korea?'

I said, 'Yeah, sure.' I wasn't worried.

I was just pretending like I was going to Vegas.

One of my crazy wild trips you know, hanging out with a couple of hookers or whores or

something, you know hanging out in the pool, you know, thinking I'm going to do some

real cool you know.

So, it's like, okay, let me add this to my resume.

That was my whole idea right there.

Just go and play basketball, that was it, shake some hands, take some pictures: done.

I was in for a really big shock.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman was about to participate in the

strangest away match of his entire career.

I walked in on the stadium and then one of the, one of the leaders said...

I'm like, 'What's going on?'

He said, "Well, why don't you come and sit over here.'

I said, 'Okay, great.'

So I still have no clue, no clue what's going on.

That's when the people start to stand up and start to clap.

And I'm thinking they clapping for me.

So I'm saying, I'm thinking like I'm as cool as , right.

I realize, I look to my left, I'm like oh, that's who they clapping for?

And I still don't know who this guy is.

Oh I know this. I said... oh, that's crazy.

Wow, that brings you back a little bit, that says how powerful this guy is.

And this right here went on for 10, 15 minutes.

And I'm sitting there doing the same thing.

I'm thinking like, 'What the am I clapping for?

So I'm an American, I'm like, 'I don't know what the hell I'm doing!'

So it's like, alright, well I might as well just join in.

And I was just at awe to see these people crying.

I've seen a lot of weird things in my life, I've seen a lot of people,

I've seen presidents, I've seen a lot of stuff but that right there blew me away.

That's when I finally sort of realized what's going on.

-Team on three. One, two, three, yeah.

Once the game started then he started just to talk to me.

I don't know what the hell he's saying.

You know he's talking in, you know, Korean.

He just went on and on about basketball the whole game.

We kept talking the whole game.

I think that he is such a fan of basketball in America

and he's such a great supporter of the Chicago Bulls.

And we just pretty much hit it off like that and we just talked, we laughed,

and he said, 'Whatever you want it's yours, you know.' And the interpreter was

saying, 'Wow, Dennis, you're one of the very few people ever to come to our country,

and I think you're one of the very few people to ever sit beside our leader.

For some reason he actually likes you.'

You guys have been very, very kind to me,

and to my compadres from America, sir, thank you.

You're a friend for life.

Now I'm getting to feel like I'm getting comfortable now and we're just having a good

time, like we've been best friends for years.

And he asked me, he said, 'Dennis, please please please come back anytime.

I want you to come back as much as you can.'

I said, 'Okay, great, okay, I'll come back every three months.'

And he said, 'Yeah, do that!'

Dennis Rodman is back in North Korea.

And he'll meet with his friend, the dictator Kim Jong-Un.

-Mr. Rodman is on a private trip.

Our views about North Korea have not changed.

Look I'm not a president, I'm not a politician.

He's just more like you, or him, or anybody.