Brutal, reckless, and remarkably resilient, the Kim clan has ruled North Korea with an iron fist over three generations, transforming the once relatively prosperous country into an impoverished hermit kingdom.

At the helm of the communist nation since its inception in 1948, the notorious dynasty has lived in shameless luxury while most North Koreans endure unimaginable hardship, and has favoured splurging on nuclear weapons over feeding the nation's hungry masses.

Read on to chart the unstoppable rise of the Kims through the 76 years they've been in power, and discover the shocking details of their jaw-dropping wealth and extravagance. All dollar amounts in US dollars.

The patriarch of the Kim family, which is also known as the "Mount Paektu bloodline" within North Korea, was Kim Il-sung, who rose to power following the end of Japanese rule in 1945 and founded the Soviet-aligned nation in 1948.

Two years later, the then-premier and Supreme Leader of the country ordered the invasion of the US-backed South, triggering the devastating Korean War.

The fighting ceased in 1953 when an armistice was signed. However, the conflict has never ended in a formal sense, with the two nations at loggerheads ever since.

Following the cessation of hostilities, Kim Il-sung set about rebuilding the ravaged country, launching Soviet-style three-, five-, and seven-year plans to create a command economy that had a strong focus on collective farming, heavy industry, and arms. 

South Korea, on the other hand, was beset with political and economic crisis, enabling North Korea to race ahead of its arch-rival.

By the early 1960s, the communist state, which had rapidly industrialised thanks to bountiful reconstruction aid from the USSR, China, and other Marxist-Leninist nations, was far better off according to a number of estimates. 

In fact, one estimate published in a 2004 edition of The Korean Journal of International Relations puts North Korea's GDP per capita in 1959 at $140 (£110), while South Korea's was just $81.30 (£64).

Kim Il-sung was presiding over what the East German press and other fawning admirers called "an economic miracle", with annual growth rates of 45%. But the good times weren't to last...

The tables turned dramatically from the mid-1960s onwards. South Korea's free-market capitalist economy blossomed as political tensions eased and direct foreign investment poured in, while North Korea's stagnated due to Kim Il-sung's core ideology of "Juche".

Juche focused on self-reliance and was a military-first 'Songun' doctrine that prioritised the Korean People's Army above all else when allocating resources.

These tenets effectively cut off North Korea from the wider world and crippled its economy, with the emphasis on self-reliance and military spending driving what has been referred to as the country's "Great Leap Backward".

Amid this horrendous economic decline, Kim Il-sung engineered a cult of personality and crushed all opposition.

Taking his inspiration from Josef Stalin, Kim Il-sung created a personality cult unrivalled in history.

Even today, the North Korean People are forced to worship him as a god and bow down to the country's many statues and portraits depicting him.

Considered sacred, anyone found to have damaged a depiction of Kim Il-sung, even unintentionally, is condemned to death.

Celebrated with great zeal in the country, Kim Il-sung's birthday, 15 April, is known as the "Day of the Sun" and is celebrated each year as a public holiday.

North Korea's official calendar is based on the dictator's date of birth in 1912 and therefore the year is currently 111 in the reclusive country.

Kim Il-sung made himself president in 1972, ditching the premier moniker, and he was declared "eternal President" following his death.

As well as cementing his rule with the all-pervasive cult of personality, Kim Il-sung maintained his hold on power by brutally suppressing all forms of opposition.

The autocrat set up a network of hellish prison camps and created the songbun caste system, which places each citizen into one of five castes that range from "special" to the sinister-sounding "hostile".

Those deemed "hostile" suffered savage punishments, ranging from backbreaking forced labour to gruesome torture. Public executions became commonplace, and a climate of fear pervaded the country.

Shockingly, under the "three generations of punishment" law, which was passed in 1950, the children and grandchildren of a person deemed to have committed a crime against the state were subjected to the same punishment as the convicted, which was usually life imprisonment. That law still stands today. 

Kim Il-sung's barbarity didn't stop there. On top of subjecting his opponents and vast swathes of the North Korean population to unbelievably cruel punishments, the leader also ordered mass kidnappings of foreign nationals.

Among them were skilled workers, who were captured to support the hermit state's economy and military. More than 200,000 people from countries including South Korea, Thailand, China, Japan, and Romania (among others) are believed to have been abducted.

The omnipresent cult of personality, combined with the fierce removal of opposition and repression of the North Korean population, enabled Kim Il-sung to maintain his stranglehold on the country.

This continued even as its economy went from bad to worse during the 1970s and 1980s, which was a consequence of the Juche and Songun guiding principles.

While extreme poverty was rife across the country, Kim Il-sung lived a life of complete extravagance.

According to Kim Jong-ryul, a North Korean colonel and the Kim family's personal shopper who defected in the mid-90s, the dictator spent millions of dollars on luxury Western goods.

These included everything from high-end cars and sumptuous furniture to gourmet foods and gold-plated handguns. The colonel also reported that the dictator owned "dozens" of opulent villas, complete with crystal chandeliers and decadent decorative details.

In 1980, the "Great Leader" chose his first-born son Kim Jong-il as his successor and started to entrust him with the running of the country.

As the decade progressed, North Korea's fortunes became ever more dismal, although it was the collapse of the USSR that totally upended the nation's economy.

At the same time, market reforms in China undermined bilateral trade between the countries, rubbing salt in the wound.

During the early 1990s, a combination of the Kims' fiscal mismanagement, the cutting-off of subsidies from the Soviet Union, reduced trade with and aid from Beijing, and a litany of natural disasters wrecked North Korea's fragile economy.

This precipitated a four-year famine dubbed the "Arduous March" that killed an estimated 3.5 million in the 1990s.

The mass starvation began in 1994, and that same year Kim Il-sung died from a heart attack at the age of 82.

His leadership eventually passed to Kim Jong-il, who by this point had developed his very own cult of personality and was even more callous and autocratic than his father.

After Kim Jong-il assumed full control of the country, he's reported to have pushed out as many as 2,000 officials.

According to one former bodyguard, aides were in constant fear of being imprisoned or executed, with even minor slights severely punished. For example, one adviser who was caught using the leader's ashtray was banished to a prison camp where he later perished.

Like his father, Kim Jong-il ordered the abduction of numerous foreign nationals. An avid film buff who's said to have owned 20,000 video tapes and DVDs, he even went as far as to orchestrate the kidnapping of renowned South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee (pictured), who he forced to make movies and create a burgeoning North Korean film industry.

Though Kim Jong-il introduced limited market reforms following the end of the famine in the late 1990s, he had a "reputation for being almost comically incompetent in matters of economic management" according to Korean studies expert Professor Andrei Lankov, and was instrumental in derailing the nation's finances.

Kim Jong-il intensified the Songbun "military-first" doctrine espoused by his father and ramped up North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

The Kim dynasty's nuclear ambitions date back to the 1950s but didn't come to fruition until Kim Jong-il's rule, culminating in a declaration in 2003 that the country's military had developed fully functional nuclear weapons.

This was taken one step further in 2006 when the nation declared it had successfully tested its very first nuclear weapon.

With a taste for luxury that would put even the most pampered to shame, Kim Jong-il took extravagance to new levels.

As his people languished in abject poverty, the "Dear Leader" was building a portfolio of around 70 luxe palaces and villas. With a penchant for waterfront properties, the despot is said to have ordered the construction of as many as 12 lakeside residences, with absolutely no expense spared on kitting them out with the most desirable amenities and furnishings.

The luxury goods that he'd imported from overseas included everything from Rolex watches to Mercedes cars, as well as Steinway pianos, Gucci handbags, and Armani suits. The dictator also owned a multimillion-dollar yacht.

As well as keeping many of these extravagances for himself and his family, they were often gifted to dignitaries to mark Kim Jong-il's birthday on 16 February, which is also known as the "Day of the Shining Star". 

Food-wise, the autocrat is reported to have had live lobsters and roast donkey air-lifted to him daily while travelling on his bulletproof train, and was partial to dining with silver chopsticks.

Kim Jong-il is also said to have been fond of a number of global delicacies, including seafood from Japan and Iranian caviar. Shark fin soup and dog meat stew were also favourites, and he was partial to McDonald's Big Macs, which he had secretly flown in from South Korea.

Reports claim that Kim Jong-il even went so far as to have a team of women ensure that every grain of rice he was served was the exact same size, shape, and hue.

A major spender on expensive alcohol, he's said to have spent millions of dollars on cases of Hennessy VSOP cognac over the years – he was the brand's biggest individual customer – as well as fine champagne and vintage Bordeaux wine.

Kim Jong-il had a staggering $4 billion (£3.1bn) squirrelled away in secret Swiss banks, which was managed by North Korea's former ambassador to Switzerland, Ri Su-yong (pictured).

In 2013, Japanese media reported that the diplomat had been executed on the order of Kim Jong-un, presumably after clashing with the leader over how to handle his father's slush fund, although the official has since resurfaced.

Disturbing reports suggested that Kim Jong-il had blonde Swedish prostitutes flown in on a regular basis, with rumours swirling that he injected himself with the blood of virgins in a bid to stay young.

However, his efforts to remain healthy were in vain. Following a debilitating stroke in 2008, he died in 2011 aged 70, succumbing like his father to a fatal heart attack.

Kim Jong-il had three sons and chose his youngest, Kim Jong-un, who's believed to have been born in 1984, as his successor.

The latest Kim ruler is said to have been educated in Switzerland at the International School of Berne and completed his studies at the Kim Il-Sung National War College in Pyongyang between 2002 and 2007. It's thought he was selected for North Korea's top job in 2009 following his father's stroke.

Declared North Korea's Supreme Leader after Kim Jong-il's death in 2011, Kim Jong-un set about consolidating his position with a ruthless purge.

In total, 140 senior government and military officials were brutally executed, including Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song-thaek, and the defence chief, who was sentenced to death for falling asleep during a military rally.

Viewed as a major threat, Jang Song-thaek was branded a "despicable human scum worse than a dog", with reports speculating that he was ripped apart by a pack of starving hounds.

More credible accounts suggest that he was actually killed by a firing squad. Kim Jong-un had members of Jang's family put to death too, as well as scores of his aides, some of whom were mowed down by anti-aircraft guns. One was reportedly killed with a flamethrower.

Kim Jong-un is also alleged to have been behind the brazen murder of his exiled older half-brother, who was assassinated using VX nerve agent by two women at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 2017.

The doomed Kim Jong-nam had fallen out of his father's favour in 2001 after he was intercepted by Japanese authorities while trying to visit Tokyo Disneyland with a fake passport, an incident that is said to have caused Kim Jong-il great embarrassment.

Kim Jong-il's second son, Kim Jong-chul, who was reportedly sidelined by his father for having "a soft personality", has managed to stay alive by staying out of politics and keeping a low profile.

More interested in music than world affairs, Kim Jong-chul is an accomplished guitar player and, due to his lack of threat, is said to enjoy a solid relationship with his murderous younger brother.

Under Kim Jong-un's leadership, North Korea has ramped up its nuclear weapons programme with an increasing number of nuclear warhead and missile tests.

Attempts have been made by South Korea and the US to court the unpredictable leader and get him to denuclearise.

After initially mocking the North Korean despot and labelling him "Rocket Man", President Trump met with him in both 2018 and 2019, becoming the first US president to visit North Korea when he briefly stepped foot in the country at the Demilitarized Zone.

The summits ultimately failed to encourage Kim Jong-un to abandon North Korea's nuclear ambitions, however, and represented a propaganda coup for the regime.

More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen North Korea close its borders, with the plight of the population becoming even more desperate due to chronic food shortages and, consequently, reports of people starving to death.

Human rights abuses are widespread and the regime continues to prioritise the military over the welfare of the people, with much of the meagre national budget devoted to the Korean People's Army.

Living large while his people suffer, Kim Jong-un is just as ostentatious as his father, if not more so.

In addition to myriad uber-luxe palaces and private villas, the dictator has been identified as owning a handful of private paradise islands, which come complete with dreamy white-sand beaches that are reminiscent of the Caribbean.

In addition to a fleet of high-end superyachts worth millions, the North Korean leader is said to own 100 luxury cars. His favourite is reportedly a $2 million (£1.6m) armoured Mercedes S600, which is fitted with a portable toilet.

Kim Jong-un also has his own multimillion-dollar private jet, which many have jokingly nicknamed "Air Force Un".

The Supreme Leader dines on the finest Kobe Wagyu beef imported from Japan and the very best Iranian caviar, and is said to regularly spend a fortune on European cheeses.

His favourite tipple is Cristal champagne – he can comfortably down two bottles in a single sitting – and he's also partial to $2,000 (£1.6k) bottles of Hennessey cognac and top-end wines from France and Germany.  

Among the luxuries he owns are a watch collection worth over $8 million (£6.3m), more than 20 grand pianos valued at over $60,000 (£47k) each, and a number of thoroughbred horses that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And Kim Jong-un can certainly afford to splash out. A joint South Korean and US investigation conducted in 2013 found that he had around $5 billion (£3.9bn) held across more than 200 foreign bank accounts.

Questions over Kim Jong-un's health have abounded, which is hardly surprising given his heavy smoking, rich diet, and hefty alcohol intake – not to mention his family's history of heart disease. 

The autocrat is reported to have had cardiovascular problems and mobility issues, has suffered from gout, and also fell seriously ill with COVID.

Kim Jong-un's possible successors include his younger sister Kim Yo-jong, who has a senior role in the regime. The siblings are pictured here at the Inter-Korean Summit in 2018, where they both met then-president Donald Trump. Kim Yo-jong is the only woman serving on the State Affairs Commission of North Korea. Not much is known about her personal life, though reports do suggest she got married in 2014 and has subsequently been pregnant twice.

The despot's young daughter, Kim Ju-ae, has also been tipped as a possible successor. Aged around 10 or 11, the child has been increasingly thrust into the limelight of late and has even appeared on a set of North Korean stamps, prompting speculation that she's being prepared for the top job.

Kim Jong-un has two other children, including a son, who could also be considered.

Yet there are no real credible candidates within the Kim family at present. If Kim Jong-un was to become incapacitated or die in the near future, chances are that a dangerous power vacuum could ensue in the nuclear-armed hermit kingdom, which would be a very scary prospect indeed.

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