The succession in North Korea's leadership after the death of Kim Jong-il occurred rapidly and smoothly. At least, that was what we saw in the media, the effective propaganda of the North Korean party machine. In reality, the situation faced by heir apparent Kim Jong-un is very different to that which confronted his father in 1994, when he took over power, from his own father, Kim Il-sung.

Kim senior, who was 54 at the time, inherited a nation that