While his fellow countrymen and women lived in extreme poverty or starved to death, a young Kim Jong-un lived a spoilt life in the lap of luxury.
It is said that his father, Kim Jong-il, gave him his first car when he was just seven years old and he was raised to believe he was a "demigod".
His parents showered him with gifts and toys while normal North Korean children had nothing, adult servants were forced to tend to his every need, and he was shipped off to an exclusive school in Switzerland to study.
Very little changed when he became an adult and later succeeded his father in 2011, and now there are unverified claims that the dictator's reign has come to an end.