North Korea's enfant terrible

In the two years since he came to power, Kim Jong-un has wrought significant changes on North Korea.

1. Personal life

Previous leaders of North Korea kept their wives and mistresses in the background. Kim Jong-un paraded Ri Sol-ju around from the summer of 2012, six months after inheriting leadership of the nation from Kim Jong-il.

2. Gulags expanded

Satellite images show that the regime has embarked on a massive expansion programme of its already extensive network of labour camps and prisons, which hold as many as 130000 inmates in appalling conditions.

3. Increasing ruthlessness

According to intelligence reports from South Korea, there were 17 public executions in 2012, the first full year that Kim was in power. The most high-profile execution to date this year has been Jang Song-thaek, his uncle and mentor . Kim also ordered the execution of a former mistress, Hyon Song-wol, along with several of the country' s top pop stars. All were machine-gunned while their families were forced to watch. They were accused of making pornographic videos of themselves and selling them.

4. Star-struck

A fan of basketball, Kim enticed former star Dennis Rodman to North Korea on two occasions.

5. Economic policies

Long reliant on China to survive economically, Kim gave hints in his early days in power that he would try to introduce similar liberalisation measures that have helped turn China into an economic powerhouse.

6. Projects for the people

Kim has apparently decided to spend some of the nation's cash on projects to keep the people happy, or at least the privileged few who are loyal to the regime and permitted to live in Pyongyang. T housands of "soldier-workers" are labouring to build the Masik Pass Skiing Ground over more than 109km of mountainside, complete with cable cars, a hotel, equipment stores, restaurants and a heliport.

7. Relations with China

Kim seems more willing to thumb his nose at Beijing than his father. Beijing' s displeasure was demonstrated by its support for UN sanctions on Pyongyang .

8. Defectors

Agents are working more closely with the Chinese authorities to recapture defectors . In June, a group of nine defectors - the youngest just 13 - was caught on the border with Laos and forcibly returned to North Korea. After appearing on state television to insist they were delighted to be home, the nine were reportedly executed.

9. Missiles and nuclear warheads

Under Kim, the reactor at Yongbyon has been restarted and the plant is capable of producing 6kg of plutonium a year to add to its existing stockpiles.

10. Rhetoric

There have been repeated threats in North Korean media to turn the South Korean capital, Seoul, into "a sea of fire" .