text: Former NBA All-Star Dennis Rodman sang 'Happy Birthday' to North Korean leader Kim Jung Un and proceeds to play half a game with an ex-NBA squad against a North Korean team. (Jan. 8) AP 
   
   North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a New Year's address in Pyongyang on Jan. 1, 2015. (Photo: Korean Central News Agency) 
   
   BEIJING — A year ago Thursday when Dennis Rodman sang Happy Birthday to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the Pyongyang crowd at the ex-NBA star's controversial "basketball diplomacy" game hesitated to join in, then clapped with him to the end. 
   
   Their confusion was understandable. Besides the language barrier, most North Koreans didn't know it was Kim's birthday. This year, they still don't know the age of the young "marshal" — Kim's official rank and title in North Korea. 
   
   The third generation of the Kim dynasty to dominate the isolated northeast Asian state, Kim may have been born in 1982, 1983 or 1984, according to the South Korean government. 
   
   Such is the secrecy surrounding his repressive regime that the birth of Kim's first child — and her name, Ju Ae — was only revealed by Rodman in a 2013 interview. 
   
   Yet for a secretive leader who never travels abroad and rarely meets foreign visitors, Kim's global profile has leaped ever higher during the past year. The portly Kim, whose striking haircut and swelling waistline recall his grandfather, regime founder Kim Il Sung, disappeared from public view for weeks in the fall. The absence was later blamed on a leg injury. 
   
   In recent weeks Kim has again dominated headlines as a result of the Hollywood comedy The Interview, which the U.S. government says sparked a North Korean cyberattack on the film's makers, Sony Pictures. Threats against movie theaters disrupted its distribution. 
   
   Nobody knows exactly how old Kim is, but the mystery reflects how his regime operates, said Park Young Ho, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in the South Korean capital of Seoul. 
   
   When his age is finally publicized, authorities are likely to pick 1982, Park said. Kim Il Sung was born in 1912, and Kim Jong Il, father of Kim Jong Un, was born in 1942. A 40-year gap to the current Kim offers a neater number and stronger symbolic connection with the former leaders, Park said. 
   
   Unlike his predecessors' birthdays, Jan. 8 is not yet a national holiday in North Korea. Sweets are distributed as well as some basic necessities — a tradition begun by the earlier Kims — but large celebrations are unlikely, Park said. 
   
   "He wants to show the people he keeps his birthday simple by showing affection to ordinary people and filial piety to his father and grandfather," he said. 
   
   The "Day of the Sun" for Kim Il Sung's birthday, and the "Day of the Shining Star" for Kim Jong Il, are major events in North Korea, said Simon Cockerell, managing director of Koryo Tours, who has experienced both festivals during 140 trips to North Korea since 2002. 
   
   For Kim Jong Il's fete in February expect mass dances featuring thousands of people, "highly politicized synchronized swimming", ice skating and children's performances, plus the Kim Jongilia flower show, featuring the begonia named after Kim, Cockerell said. 
   
   Such commemorations reinforce the family personality cult that dominates North Korean life. 
   
   While Thursday remains a working day in North Korea, the "marshal" will be uppermost in many minds as a nationwide campaign continues to praise and study his New Year speech. 
   
   Kim's rambling address contained "some promising signs," but reflected "a reactive, tentative and conditional frame of mind, and a hesitant leader," analyst Moon Chung-in wrote on the U.S.-based website 38 North, which provides analysis of the reclusive nation. 
   
   "(His) power grip is relatively secure, and he's been very successful in consolidating his power for the past three years" since Kim Jong Il's death in 2011, Park said. 
   
   Since the three-year mourning period ended in December, 2015 marks "the real beginning" of Kim Jong Un's era, when he may move to break the deadlock on dialogue with South Korea, Park said. 
   
   Regardless of whether Rodman returns, expect plenty more Kim headlines before his next birthday. 
   
   Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1IuWSzr ||||| Dennis Rodman belted out "Happy Birthday" -- not far from Marilyn Monroe's rendition -- as the Pyongyang crowd clapped in unison during a basketball game. 
   
   This year's birthday affairs are less likely to be bizarre -- Rodman is not in town. 
   
   Kim's birthday is believed to fall on January 8, but like most affairs of North Korea, his personal details are opaque. North Korean state media has not acknowledged the exact date of Kim's birth in either of its Korean and English-language archives. 
   
   "There is a lot of debate about the year he was born," said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, a Korean think tank. "Some say it is 1984 while others say is '83 or '82." 
   
   In previous years, Kim has distributed sweets to children on January 7 which was a tradition held by his grandfather and father during their birthdays. 
   
   The birthday of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the country, is considered the Day of the Sun and falls on April 15. Kim Jong Il's birthday, on February 16, is known as the Day of the Shining Star. These are the days when residents received goods from the state and children got sweets. The days are marked with pomp and circumstance, including military parades, patriotic chants and oaths of loyalty to the leaders. 
   
   But the current leader Kim's birthday has been decidedly more low-key during his three years in power. 
   
   
   
   "There's a lot of speculation why that's the case," said Lee Jung Hoon, professor of international relations at Yonsei University in South Korea. "Kim could be trying to put out this image as a humble guy, that he's not extravagant. Then there's sort of negative take on this issue, as to he's still very young, 29, 30 or 31. When you start marking his birthday, then the whole North Korean people will start to wonder, then what's his age?" 
   
   And revealing his age raises questions about experience. "It could be because he is a young leader. Being young could have its advantage and disadvantage, but it appears as though he doesn't want to make it public yet," said Cheong. 
   
   
   
   Unlike his predecessors, there's little sign that Kim's birthday is a major national holiday. 
   
   The Kyodo News reported last year that the current North Korean leader's birthday is not likely to be celebrated as a national holiday this year, after it reviewed five North Korean calendars for 2015. 
   
   And North Korean workers at the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex never have asked for a holiday on January 8 in the past two years, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry, the agency which handles North Korean affairs. 
   
   His birth date was first revealed by Kenji Fujimoto, the former sushi chef of Kim's father, Kim Jong Il. 
   
   "The date is known as accurate, but North Korea never officially confirmed it," said Cheong. 
   
   The Unification Ministry recorded Kim's birthday as January 8, although the exact year of birth is marked as 1982, 1983 or 1984. 
   
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   In Kim's three years in power, he's largely followed the legacies of his father and grandfather, said Lee. 
   
   A South Korean report that released this week indicated that North Korea could be closer to miniaturizing a nuclear warhead indicating that Kim has continued with the focus on nuclear weapons. 
   
   And his regime has also been marked by the purge of Kim's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who was executed after being branded a traitor in December 2013. 
   
   "Unfortunately, there were some hopes because he was educated in Switzerland and that he's young, people hoped that there might be some change. None of that has happened. It might be worse, because he's less experienced than his father and grandfather, and very rash and impatient as we've seen with the cyberattacks," Lee said, referring to a Sony hacking scandal in which the FBI blamed North Korea. ||||| 2015/01/08 17:27 
   
   (ATTN: UPDATES throughout with quotes, details; AMENDS headline) 
   
   BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- China said Thursday that it has sent a message of congratulations to North Korea on the birthday of its young leader Kim Jong-un, expressing its hope Kim can oversee a "new achievement" in socialism. 
   
   Kim, who inherited power after the death of his father in late 2011, was born on Jan. 8 and is believed to be in his early 30s, but his age has not been officially confirmed.
target: – In case you've somehow managed to erase this detail from memory, USA Today reminds us that exactly one year ago, Dennis Rodman was singing "Happy Birthday" to "best friend" Kim Jong Un. Today is indeed believed to be the North Korean leader's birthday, but it's unclear whether he's 31, 32, or 33. Kim's birth year, per the South Korean government, was likely 1982, 1983, or 1984. And while Yonhap reports that China sent him birthday wishes, USA Today notes there is no elaborate public celebration to mark the day, as was the case with his father's and grandfather's birthdays. "There's a lot of speculation why that's the case," a South Korean professor tells CNN. "Kim could be trying to put out this image as a humble guy," or he could just be trying to downplay the fact that he's young. "When you start marking his birthday, then the whole North Korean people will start to wonder, then what's his age?" USA Today speculates that when his age is finally revealed, 1982 will be the year named, perhaps regardless of whether that's the truth: His grandfather was born in 1912, and his father 30 years later. Forty years after that is ... 1982. (Meanwhile, Kim's eyebrows are shrinking.)