Given the geopolitical significance of North Korea – a volatile, nuclear-armed state with a 1m-strong army – the knowledge the world has about Kim Jong-woon, the third son of dictator Kim Jong-il and the likely next ruler, is embarrassingly sparse.
The man who may have to cope with a starving population of 24m people is thought to have attended a private Swiss boarding school and, in a society where seniority is everything, is reported to be in his mid-20s.
Dennis Wilder, the senior Asia adviser to George W. Bush, the former US president, says the US has very little information on the younger Kim. He says the most recent photograph of him, for example, is from when he was a child.