Dynasty

The young dude on the left is succeeding the old dude on the right. I'm talking of course about Kim Jong Un following in his fathers footsteps Kim Jong Il which was all over the news the last couple of weeks. First and last names are probably swooped in North Korea now that I think about it. Il "inherited" the leadership of North Korea from his father as well, Kim Il-Sung. Ok, now I'm pretty confused with the names.
Lets take another approach. Grandfather took control of the communist party in North Korea during and after world war 2. His son followed him as president of that country, sorta, and now that the son is ill the grandson is next in line. Ummm, silly question maybe but doesn't that sound like a dynasty? Something comparable to the kings and queens in former times? When leaders of a country remain in a single family, I think that terminology qualifies.
In fact, I've heard some political commentators phrase it in similar fashion as well. They also compared North Korea to the empire of Japan prior and during world war 2, and to be honest, viewing developments from a distance I must concur. North Korea is very much different than other communist states such as China, the Soviet Union or Eastern European states before the fall of the Berlin Wall. When the reigns are passed onto the family members it becomes pretty obvious that a dynasty is taking place. Political ideology is intertwined with a single, elevated family. And that makes the North Korean society that much more peculiar. Maybe even nasty.