Kim Jong-Un has made no shortage of enemies, both domestic and foreign.
But if they’d like to get a shot at the notorious dictator, they’ll have their work
cut out for them.
Because the protection of the North Korean leader is completely insane.
World leaders being protected well is nothing new - the United States President has an entire
agency, the Secret Service, tasked with protecting him.
Their homes tend to be well fortified as well - for good reason.
A mentally disturbed attacker managed to break into the Canadian Prime Minister’s house
in 1995.
But even by those standards, Kim Jong-Un is particularly vigilant.
And it’s nothing new.
The North Korean leaders are protected by a team resembling an elite military squad
more than bodyguards.
That’s because it’s not just about protection - it’s about a show of force.
This became very clear in 2018 when Kim Jong-Un attempted a diplomatic summit in Singapore.
He was meeting then-US President Donald Trump as the two tried to hash out tricky issues.
But as the North Korean leader approached the site, onlookers noticed something bizarre.
His Presidential car was flanked by a team of sharp-dressed bodyguards - all of them
fit-looking young men wearing formal black suits - and they were running alongside the
car, keeping pace!
These strange runners are part of a much bigger organization.
The simple-sounding name Central Party Office #6 is a cover for an elite team of bodyguards
- and it’s not easy to get in.
You’ve got to pass a lot of tests to even be considered, starting with one you can’t
cheat on - height.
The team has to be roughly the same height as the North Korean leader, possibly to give
them the right vantage point to protect him.
Or possibly because Kim Jong-Un doesn’t want to be surrounded by taller people.
No one who is overweight or has facial scars that make them stand out are considered.
And four-eyes need not apply - anyone with a visual impairment is disqualified immediately.
And that’s before we get into the skills you’ll need.
Before being put on the high-risk duty of protecting the North Korean leader, the candidates
will be tested in skills including marksmanship and martial arts.
They need to be able to protect Kim at both close-range and long-range, which is similar
to the tests Secret Service agents undergo before being placed on Presidential duty.
They’re also put through an intense background check, where the last two generations of their
family are scrutinized to make sure they have no conflicts of interest or other potential
weak points that a blackmailer could exploit.
Weak points that might include…
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That’s nordvpn.com/infographics But back to Kim Jong Un and his strenuous
requirements for security.
And for many of them, they have a leg up.
This is considered one of the most prestigious positions in North Korea.
After all, you’re getting to be near the current leader of the Kim Dynasty all day!
Who wouldn’t want that?
Don’t answer that if you’re in North Korea.
And the most likely to be chosen, of course, are already insiders.
Distant relatives of the Kim family are often chosen - as long as they’re in the favor
of the regime - as are those from elite North Korean families or those whose parents are
trusted advisors of the Kim family.
But there’s one key difference between this and the Secret Service.
Saying no to this high-risk, high-profile position is not an option.
That’s because members of the North Korean military go where they’re told and don’t
have the luxury of refusing orders.
That’s the same in most militaries - but North Korea has one of the widest-reaching
conscription laws in the world.
Anyone is eligible to be pulled into active duty at any time.
Men in North Korea are conscripted across the board, with them being inducted into the
military at 14 and beginning their training at 17 for three years.
So just about every man in North Korea has some combat training, and a surprising number
of women do as well.
While not all women are drafted, the regime maintains the right to conscript any they
think has promise.
And that gives North Korea one of the most outsized militaries in the world.
North Korea has a population of only 25.5 million, the fifty-fifth largest in the world.
But its military is the fourth largest in the world by active military personnel!
Most of them stay at home, with elite units traveling with Kim around the world to protect
him.
By conscripting every North Korean male at an early age, the regime can study their skills
for years and pinpoint where they’ll best serve the Kim family.
While most never get close to the Presidential limo, you can bet that any who does has been
thoroughly vetted.
But the security that people see abroad is nothing compared to what awaits back home.
Most people who see the North Korean security teams assume that he has his own Secret Service.
But the reality is much crazier than that.
A whole unit of the North Korean military is devoted to protecting Kim Jong-Un.
The elite team running along the car is a tiny offshoot of this unit, chosen for their
appearance and the image they project.
But the actual North Korean security system is one of the most complex military teams
in the world, with a shocking staff of over a hundred thousand members.
And they all have their eyes on protecting one man.
The official name of the unit is Supreme Guard Command, and everything about it is to the
specifications of the Kim family.
Currently overseen by General Yun Jong-rin, it has a designation number of double-nine
- a number formation considered lucky in North Korea.
And it’s hard not to feel lucky when you’re protected by a team like this.
Its history dates back to before the Korean War, shortly after the Kim dynasty was founded.
Originally, Kim Il-Sung was protected by a division of the State Security Department,
and that continued until the 1990s.
But there was one problem.
They kept on trying to stage coups!
Needless to say, this wouldn’t do, and the second Kim leader, Kim Jong-Il, quickly reorganized
the guard.
He cut dozens of officers and replaced them with loyalists, giving himself a massive private
bodyguard unit of over two hundred men.
Today, it’s technically part of the Korean People’s Army Ground Force and has around
six divisions - three for combat and one for construction.
As for the bodyguard divisions, the regime isn’t sharing too many details on that,
but it’s believed the whole team has at least 95,000 members and probably more.
And every time there’s a new leader, the structure changes.
Kim Il-sung had his own dedicated unit, and his son Kim Jong-Il added his own.
Did Kim Jong-un create his own private division or inherit his father’s?
It’s not clear, but it’s not hard to see why he would.
Loyalists to the previous leader who had served him for decades might not agree with everything
the new kid on the block is doing.
They might even think they could do a better job.
So the notoriously paranoid Kim family is likely to keep replacing the staff as needed
and retiring the previous guys - just so they don’t feel the need to keep watching their
back.
And speaking of watching your back, they’re probably watching yours right now.
The Supreme Guard Command is based in Pyongyang near Kim Jong-un’s headquarters, but they’re
probably never far from anyone in North Korea.
They have camps around the country and keep an eye on all major military and party figures.
In this way, they combine the function of the Secret Service with groups like the FBI
that keep an eye out for chatter that could endanger the President.
Of course, in North Korea, the kind of chatter that could get someone a visit from the Command
is probably a lot less threatening.
And in the event of a crisis, they’re prepared.
The Supreme Guard Command has close ties with other military groups within the country and
has access to another 100,000 soldiers in case of a serious attack on the Capitol or
Kim Jong-un’s location.
If they’re called into action, they’ll be ready to move the leader in a hurry and
deploy armored vehicles to defend the location.
The people high up in command have access to classified information needed to secure
the current leader, including hidden bunkers that can protect him from any attack from
the air.
And other units have more specific purposes.
Having a hundred thousand people to protect one man would be overkill, even for the Kim
family.
So they’re put to work in unique ways.
Teams are sent to protect not just the Kim palace but shrines dedicated to the departed
leaders.
They man checkpoints controlling access to zones in the capital city.
They provide protection to other North Korean elites when needed, and supply medical care
that far exceeds the kind offered in the country’s hospitals.
And because all work and no play makes Kim a dull boy, they handle much of the country’s
smuggling operations, helping Kim Jong-un get his hands on luxury goods that he’s
banned from importing due to international sanctions.
Other units are there in the event of a crisis.
The team has a communications unit that monitors telephone and internet communications and
wires Kim’s orders to the military when needed.
This unit is heavily involved in spycraft, but in the event of an invasion would likely
be the ones relaying Kim’s orders for how to proceed.
That means that they would be the ones giving the orders to fire the nukes.
And then there’s the Rapid Response Force, a heavily militarized unit of trained soldiers,
armored cars, and heavy weapons that has one goal - put down a coup and keep Kim safe by
any means necessary.
If they storm into a place, the odds are good a heavy shootout is coming.
And there are more layers - all the way down.
This massive security force has smaller and smaller units until you get to the small,
secretive unit known as Office Number Six.
They’re tasked with protecting Kim Jong-un and his inner circle.
They reportedly have about twelve hundred members, about the size of a single battalion.
They report directly to Kim Jong-un’s personal Secretariat and coordinate all his public
appearances.
It’s not easy to get close to North Korea’s Supreme Leader, which means that anyone who
makes it into this group has the inner circle’s trust.
And getting that trust takes a lot of sacrifices.
After the candidates are screened for appearance, physical capabilities, and loyalty to the
party, their backgrounds are checked for Songbun.
This is the unofficial class structure in North Korea.
Your ranking based on your ancestors and relatives’ conduct in the country determines every area
of your life in North Korea.
This ranges from job opportunities to even food rations, and you’d better believe that
only those with the highest ranking in this system are considered to get into the inner
circle of the security system.
And what comes next is even more shocking when you consider that this starts with teenagers.
Those chosen as candidates for the security forces say goodbye to their names and past
identity.
They’re given an ID number and head to a special training camp.
They’re put through an intensive six-month program and go through two years of total
training.
Not only are they trained in combat, but they have to do regular 25-kilometer marches in
full gear to make sure they have the endurance for the task.
It might sound like a particularly brutal summer camp, but don’t expect to keep the
tradition of sending letters home.
Contact with family members is completely forbidden, and only one member of each family
is allowed to serve in this elite unit.
This is because once you join Kim Jong-un’s elite bodyguard team, he wants you to have
exactly one priority - keeping him safe.
No connections will be tolerated.
Your family was the past, and your role in the security forces is the future.
But hey, at least you’ll look super awesome running alongside his car.
Just don’t lag behind.
Sometimes the security in North Korea keeps people in rather than out, so check out “Why
It’s Almost Impossible to Escape from North Korea”, or watch “Regular Things That
Are Illegal In North Korea” for what anyone who wants a high ranking there should avoid.