Kim Jong-il

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This is a Korean name; the family name is Kim.

Kim Jong-il 김정일
Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea "Highest Post" since 05 September 1998
Incumbent
Assumed office  09 April 1993
President	Kim Yong-nam
Premier	Hong Song-nam Pak Pong-ju Kim Yong-il
Preceded by	Kim Il-sung
Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army
Incumbent
Assumed office  July 1994
Preceded by	Kim Il-sung
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
Incumbent
Assumed office  08 October 1997
Preceded by	Kim Il-sung
Born	16 February 1941 (1941-02-16) (age 67) Vyatskoye, Soviet Union (Soviet records) 16 February 1942 (1942-02-16) (age 66) Mt. Baekdu, Japanese Korea (North Korean records)
Political party	Workers' Party of Korea

Kim Jong-il
Chosŏn'gŭl 김정일 Hancha 金正日 McCune-Reischauer Kim Chŏngil Revised Romanization Kim Jeong(-)il

Kim Jong-il (also written as Kim Jong Il) (born February 16, 1941, Vyatskoye, Soviet Union; official biographies state February 16, 1942, Baekdu Mountain, Japanese Korea) is the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He is the Chairman of the National Defense Commission, Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, and General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (the ruling party since 1948). He succeeded his father Kim Il-sung, founder of North Korea, who died in 1994, and commands the fourth largest standing army in the world. North Korea officially refers to him as the "Dear Leader".

There are a number of disputes amongst historians in regard to events in Kim Jong-il's life. These relate to his alleged cult of personality, which is discussed here.

Contents 1 Childhood 1.1 Birth 1.2 Education 2 Early political career (1964-1979) 3 Presidium member and party secretary (1980-1994) 4 Ruler of North Korea 4.1 Economic policies 4.2 Foreign relations 4.3 Internal politics 5 Cult of personality 6 Personal life 7 Fictional portrayals 8 See also 9 Notes and references 10 Further reading 11 External links

Childhood

Birth

Kim Jong-il's official biography states that he was born in a secret military camp on Baekdu Mountain (백두산) in northern Korea on February 16, 1942^[1]. Official biographers claim that his birth at Baekdu Mountain was foretold by a swallow, and heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow over the mountain and a new star in the heavens. However, Soviet records show he was born in the village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk, in 1941^[2] where his father, Kim Il-sung, commanded the 1st Battalion of the Soviet 88th Brigade, made up of Chinese and Korean exiles.

Kim Jong-il's mother, Kim Jong-suk, was Kim Il-sung's first wife. During his youth in the Soviet Union, Kim Jong-il was known as Yuri Irsenovich Kim (Юрий Ирсенович Ким), taking his patronymic from his father's Russified name, Ir-sen.

In 1945, Kim was three years old when World War II ended and Korea regained independence from Japan. His father returned to Pyongyang that September, and in late November Kim returned to Korea via a Soviet ship, landing at Sonbong (선봉군, also Unggi). The family moved into a former Japanese officer's mansion in Pyongyang, with a garden and pool. Kim Jong-il's brother, "Shura" Kim (the first Kim Jong-il, but known by his Russian nickname), drowned there in 1948. In 1949 his mother died in childbirth.^[3]

Education

According to his official biography, Kim completed the course of general education between September 1950 and August 1960. He attended Primary School No. 4 and Middle School No. 1 in Pyongyang.^[4] This is contested by foreign academics, who believe he is more likely to have received his early education in the People's Republic of China as a precaution to ensure his safety during the Korean War.^[5]

Throughout his schooling, Kim was involved in political activities. He was active in the Childrens' Union^[6] and Democratic Youth League (DYL), taking part in study groups of Marxist political theory and other literature. In September 1957 he became vice-chairman of his middle school's DYL branch. He pursued a programme of anti-factionalism and attempted to encourage greater ideological education amongst his classmates. He organized academic competitions and seminars, as well as helping to arrange field trips.

During his youth Kim's interests included music, agriculture and automotive repair. At school he repaired trucks and electric motors in a practice workshop, and he often visited factories and farms with his classmates.^[7]

Kim Jong Il began studying at Kim Il Sung University in September 1960, majoring in Marxist political economy. His minor subjects included philosophy and military science. While at university, he also undertook production training at Pyongyang Textile Machinery Factory, as a road-working apprentice and as a worker building TV broadcasting equipment.

Kim joined the Workers' Party of Korea in July 1961. He began accompanying his father in 'tours of field guidance', which consisted of visits to factories, farms and workplaces around the country.

Kim graduated from Kim Il Sung University in April 1964.^[8]

Kim is also said to have received English language education at the University of Malta in the early 1970s, on his infrequent holidays in Malta as guest of Prime Minister Dom Mintoff.^[9]

The elder Kim had meanwhile remarried and had another son, Kim Pyong-il (named after Kim Jong-il's drowned brother). Since 1988, Kim Pyong-il has served in a series of North Korean embassies in Europe and is currently the North Korean ambassador to Poland. Foreign commentators suspect that Kim Pyong-il was sent to these distant posts by Kim Il-sung in order to avoid a power struggle between his two sons.^[10]

Early political career (1964-1979)

North Korea

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of North Korea

Constitution Juche Eternal President: Kim Il-sung National Defense Commission Chairman: Kim Jong-il Government Premier: Kim Yong-il Supreme People's Assembly President: Kim Yong-nam Subdivisions Judiciary Political parties Workers' Party of Korea Elections: 2003, 2008 Korean reunification Human rights Foreign relations Songun policy

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After graduating in 1964, Kim Jong-il began his ascension through the ranks of the ruling Korean Workers' Party (KWP). His entrance to politics was met by the tensions within the global communist movement caused by the Sino-Soviet split. Still following Marxism-Leninism as their core ideology, the KWP had launched an offensive against elements within the party deemed revisionist. Dubbed 'anti-Party revisionists,' senior cadre had spread feudal Confucian ideas, attempted to water down the party's revolutionary line and ignored orders from General Secretary Kim Il-sung.

Shortly after his graduation, Kim was appointed instructor and section chief to the Party Central Committee. His first activities were undertaking parts of the WPK offensive. He agitated amongst officials to ensure party activities did not deviate from the ideological line set by Kim-Il sung, and worked to reveal anti-Party revisionists. He also put in place measures to ensure the 'Party's monolithic idealogical system' was rigidly enforced amongst the media, writers and artists.^[11]

During the late 1960s, Kim wrote a number of discourses on economics. He rallied against moves to make material incentive the primary force behind economic development, and toured the country giving guidance on technical restructuring occurring within industry at the time.^[12]

Between 1967-1969, Kim turned his attention to the military. He believed bureaucrats within the Korean People's Army (KPA) were oppressing the Army's political organizations and distorting state orders. Kim decided these elements posed a threat to the WPK's control of the military. At the Fourth Plenary Meeting of the Fourth Party Committee of the KPA, he exposed certain officers believed to be responsible, who were subsequently expelled.^[13]

During his early years in the Party Central Committee, Kim also oversaw activities of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, in which he worked to revolutionize the Korean fine arts. Artists were encouraged to create works new in content and form, produced by new systems and methods, and abandoning old traditions in the Korean arts.

Kim's theory was that film combined a number of artistic forms, therefore the development of Korean cinema would in turn develop other artistic spheres. This began with film adaptations for Kim Il-sung's works written during World War II, beginning with Five Guerrilla Brothers in 1967. In the early 1970s, operatic adaptations of Kim Il-sung's works began.^[14]

Kim was appointed vice-director of the Party Central Committee (PCC) in September 1970, and became an elected member of the PCC in October 1972. By 1973 he was made secretary.^[15]

During the early 1970s, Kim worked to eliminate bureaucracy and encourage political activity amongst the people by Party officials. This included a policy forcing bureaucrats to work amongst workers at the next subordinate level for 20 days per month.^[16]

In February 1974, Kim Jong-il was elected to the Political Committee of the PCC. By this time he had acquired the nicknames of "dear leader" and "intelligent leader", according to his official biography.^[17]

That same year, Kim launched the Three-revolution Team Movement. Described as 'a new method of guiding the revolution', the movement introduced teams which travelled around the country providing political, scientific and technical training through short courses. The expertise gained was continually developed through mass meetings in which knowledge could be shared.

Kim also led the shock-brigade movement of scientists and technicians - a similar initiative for new scientific research.^[18]

During the late 1970s, Kim was involved in economic planning, including several campaigns to rapidly develop certain sectors of the economy.^[19] He worked on initiatives to build mass political movements within the military, including the Three Revolution Red Flag Movement, Red Flag Company Movement and the Red Flag Vanguard Company Movement.^[20]

He was also active in efforts to build a campaign for the reunification of Korea. This included assisting in the formation of the International Liaison Committee for the Independent and Peaceful Reunification of Korea in 1977, attending talks between political parties and groups within the DPRK, and taking part in high-level negotiations between the DPRK and Republic of Korea.^[21]

Presidium member and party secretary (1980-1994)

By the time of the Sixth Party Congress in October 1980, Kim Jong-il's control of the Party operation was complete. He was given senior posts in the Politburo, the Military Commission and the party Secretariat. When he was made a member of the Seventh Supreme People's Assembly in February 1982, international observers deemed him the heir apparent of North Korea.

At this time Kim assumed the title "Dear Leader" (친애하는 지도자, ch'inaehanŭn chidoja)^[22], the government began building a personality cult around him patterned after that of his father, the "Great Leader". Kim Jong-il was regularly hailed by the media as the "fearless leader" and "the great successor to the revolutionary cause". He emerged as the most powerful figure behind his father in North Korea.

On December 24 1991, Kim was also named supreme commander of the North Korean armed forces. Since the Army is the real foundation of power in North Korea, this was a vital step. It appears that the veteran Defense Minister, Oh Jin-wu, one of Kim Il-sung's most loyal subordinates, engineered Kim Jong-il's acceptance by the Army as the next leader of North Korea, despite his lack of military service. The only other possible leadership candidate, Prime Minister Kim Il (no relation), was removed from his posts in 1976. In 1992, Kim Il-sung publicly stated that his son was in charge of all internal affairs in the Democratic People's Republic.

In 1992, Radio broadcasts started referring to him as the "Dear Father", instead of the "Dear Leader", suggesting a promotion. His 50th birthday on February 16 was the occasion for massive celebrations, exceeded only by those for the 80th birthday of Kim Il Sung himself on April 15.

According to defector Hwang Jang-yop, the North Korean system became even more centralized and autocratic under Kim Jong-il than it had been under his father. Although Kim Il-sung required his ministers to be loyal to him, he nonetheless sought their advice in decision-making; Kim Jong-il demands absolute obedience and agreement, and views any deviation from his thinking as a sign of disloyalty. According to Hwang, Kim Jong-il personally directs even minor details of state affairs, such as the size of houses for party secretaries and the delivery of gifts to his subordinates.^[23]

By the 1980s, North Korea began to experience severe economic stagnation. Kim Il-sung's policy of juche (self-reliance) cut the country off from almost all external trade, even with its traditional partners, the Soviet Union and China.

South Korea accused Kim of ordering the 1983 bombing in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), which killed 17 visiting South Korean officials, including four cabinet members, and another in 1987 which killed all 115 on board Korean Air Flight 858 ^[24]. A North Korean agent, Kim Hyon Hui, confessed to planting a bomb in the case of the second, saying the operation was ordered by Kim Jong-il personally ^[25].

In 1992, Kim Jong-il's voice was broadcast for the first and only time. During a military parade, he approached the microphone and said "Glory to the heroic soldiers of the People's Army!"

Ruler of North Korea

President Kim Il-sung died July 8, 1994, at age 82 of a heart attack. He was not replaced as President, and received the designation of "Eternal President", resting in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in central Pyongyang. The active position has been abolished in deference to the memory of Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-il officially took the titles of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission on October 8, 1997. In 1998, his Defense Commission position was declared to be "the highest post of the state", so Kim may be regarded as North Korea's head of state from that date. Since Kim is not the president, he is not constitutionally required to hold elections to confirm his legitimacy and has not done so.

Economic policies

North Korea's state-controlled economy struggled throughout the 1990s, primarily due to the loss of strategic trade arrangements with the USSR^[26] and strained relations with China following China's normalization with South Korea in 1992.^[27] In addition, North Korea experienced record-breaking floods (1995 and 1996) followed by several years of equally severe drought beginning in 1997.^[28] This, compounded with only 18 percent arable land^[29] and an inability to import the goods necessary to sustain industry,^[30] led to an immense famine and left North Korea in economic shambles. Faced with a country in decay, Kim adopted a "Military-First" policy (선군정치, Sŏn'gun chŏngch'i) to strengthen the country and reinforce the regime.^[31] On the national scale, this policy has produced a positive growth rate for the country since 1996, and the implementation of "landmark socialist-type market economic practices" in 2002 kept the North afloat despite a continued dependency on foreign aid for food.^[32]

In the wake of the devastation of the 1990s, the government began formally approving some activity of small-scale bartering and trade. As observed by Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at Stanford's Asia-Pacific Research Center, this flirtation with capitalism is "fairly limited, but — especially compared to the past — there are now remarkable markets that create the semblance of a free market system."^[33] In 2002, Kim Jong-il declared that "money should be capable of measuring the worth of all commodities."^[34] These gestures toward economic reform mirror similar actions taken by China's Deng Xiaoping in the late 1980s and early 90s. During a rare visit in 2006, Kim expressed admiration for China's rapid economic progress.^[35]

Foreign relations

In 1998, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung implemented the "Sunshine policy" (햇볕 정책, Haetpyŏt chŏngch'aek) to improve North-South relations and to allow South Korean companies to start projects in the North. Kim Jong-il announced plans to import and develop new technologies to develop North Korea's fledgling software industry. As a result of the new policy, the Kaesong Industrial Park was constructed in 2003 just north of the inter-Korean border, with the planned participation of 250 South Korean companies, employing 100,000 North Koreans, by 2007.^[36] However, by March 2007, the Park contained only 21 companies - employing 12,000 North Korean workers.^[37]

In 1994, North Korea and the United States signed an Agreed Framework which was designed to freeze and eventually dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid in producing two power-generating nuclear reactors.^[38] In 2002, Kim Jong-il's government admitted to having produced nuclear weapons since the 1994 agreement. Kim's regime argued the secret production was necessary for security purposes - citing the presence of United States owned nuclear weapons in South Korea and the new tensions with the U.S. under President George W. Bush.^[39] On October 9, 2006, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency announced that it had successfully conducted an underground nuclear test.

Internal politics

North Korea remains silent on the issue of an appointed successor. South Korean media have suggested that he is grooming his son, Kim Jong-chul; however, Kim Yong Hyun, a political expert at the Institute for North Korean Studies at Seoul's Dongguk University, believes any appointee would be outside the family. "Even the North Korean establishment would not advocate a continuation of the family dynasty at this point."^[40] His eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, was earlier believed to be the designated heir, but he appears to have fallen out of favor after being arrested at Narita International Airport in Narita, Japan, near Tokyo, in 2001 while traveling on a forged passport.^[41]

Cult of personality

Critics maintain Kim Jong-il is the centre of an elaborate personality cult inherited from his father and founder of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung. Defectors have been quoted as saying that North Korean schools deify both father and son, teaching that they do not urinate or defecate like mortal humans.^[42] He is often the centre of attention throughout ordinary life in the DPRK. His birthday is one of the most important public holidays in the country. On his 60th birthday (based on his official date of birth), mass celebrations occurred throughout the country.^[43]

One point of view is that Kim Jong Il's cult of personality is solely out of respect for Kim Il-sung or out of fear of punishment for failure to pay homage.^[44] Media and government sources from outside of North Korea generally tout this view,^{[45][46][47][48][49]} while North Korean government sources claim that it is genuine hero worship.^[50]

Personal life

There is no official information available about the marital history of the Kim Jong-il, but he is believed to have been officially married once with three mistresses:

• Kim married his first wife, Kim Young-suk, after being forced by his father to marry the daughter of a senior military official - the two have been estranged for some years. Kim has a daughter from this marriage, Kim Sul-song (born 1974).^[51]
• Kim's first mistress, Song Hye-rim, was not officially recognized and after years of estrangement she is believed to have died in Moscow in the Central Clinical Hospital in 2002. They had one son, Kim Jong-nam (born 1971) who is Kim Jong-il's eldest son.
• His second mistress, Ko Young-hee, had taken over the role of First Lady until her death - reportedly of cancer - in 2004. They had two sons, Kim Jong-chul, in 1981, and Kim Jong-un (also "Jong Woon" or "Jong Woong"), in 1984.^[52]
• Since Ko's death, Kim has been living with Kim Ok, his third mistress, who had served as his personal secretary since the 1980s.^[53]

Like his father, Kim has a profound fear of flying, and has always traveled by private armored train for state visits to Russia and China. The BBC reported that Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian emissary who traveled with Kim across Russia by train, told reporters that Kim had live lobsters air-lifted to the train every day which he ate with silver chopsticks - historically used in the Chinese Forbidden City in the belief that they would detect poison.^[54][55]

Kim is said to be a fan of luxury cars and has been known for racing his cars at his palaces. Kim had spent $20,000,000 on importing 200 new Mercedes Benz S500 luxury sedans adding to North Korea's fleet of 7,000 Mercedes cars.^{[citation needed]} Kim is said to be a huge film buff, owning a collection of more than 20,000 video tapes.^[56] His reported favorites are the slasher films of the Friday the 13th series, Rambo, James Bond, Godzilla, Hong Kong action cinema, and any movie with Elizabeth Taylor.^[57] He is the author of the book On the Art of the Cinema. In 1978, on the orders of Kim, South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee were kidnapped in order to build a North Korean film industry.^[58] In 2006 he was involved in the production of the Juche (self-reliance) based movie Diary of a Girl Student – depicting the life of a girl whose parents are scientists – with a KCNA news report stating that Kim "improved its script and guided its production".^[59]

Kim reportedly enjoys basketball. Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended her summit with Kim by presenting him with a basketball signed by NBA legend Michael Jordan.^[60] Also an apparent golfer, North Korean state media reports that Kim routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round.^[61] His official biography also claims Kim has composed six operas and enjoys staging elaborate musicals.^[62] Kim also refers to himself as an Internet expert.^[63]

Defectors claim that Kim has 17 different palaces and residences, including a private resort near Paektu Mountain, a seaside lodge in the city of Wonsan, and a palace complex northeast of Pyongyang surrounded with multiple fence lines, bunkers, and anti-aircraft batteries.^[64]

Fictional portrayals

Despite his massive cult of personality, Kim Jong-il is a constant target for parody and satire in many free-speaking countries, especially the United States. Comedian Jay Leno constantly has a characterization of him appear in his "Celebrity Jeopardy!" sketch on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, often getting in feuds with a characterized George W. Bush. Comedian David Letterman refers to him as "Lil Kim" or "Ment-Ally Ill", and comedian Stephen Colbert often parodies him on The Colbert Report.

Kim Jong-Il is portrayed in the movie Team America: World Police as a villain wanting to destroy the world. In the movie, he feeds United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix to his pet sharks, sponsors a group of terrorists who bomb the Panama Canal, and attempts to assassinate world leaders at a gathering in Pyongyang. As he is killed at the end of the film, it is revealed that the fictional Kim Jong-Il is in fact an alien cockroach that retreats in his spaceship, promising to return.

Voice actor Jim Ward regularly portrays Kim Jong-Il on the Stephanie Miller Show.

Bobby Lee has often portrayed Kim Jong-il on MADtv.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• North Korea

Notes and references

Further reading

• Jasper Becker, "Rogue Regime: Kim John Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea", [1], Oxford University Press (October 2006), Softcover, 328 pages, ISBN 0-19-530891-3
• Michael Breen, Kim Jong-il: North Korea's Dear Leader, John Wiley and Sons (January, 2004), hardcover, 228 pages, ISBN 0-470-82131-0
• Bradley Martin, Under The Loving Care Of The Fatherly Leader: North Korea And The Kim Dynasty, St. Martins (October, 2004), hardcover, 868 pages, ISBN 0-312-32221-6
• Kim Chol U, Army-Centred Politics Of Kim Jong Il, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 2002, Softcover, 98 pages
• Kim Jong Il Brief History, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 1998, Hardcover, 149 pages
• Kim Jong Il Short Biography, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 2001, Hardcover, 215 pages
• Pae Kyong Su, Kim Jong Il The Individual Thoughts And Leadership Vol. 1, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 1993, Softcover, 225 pages
• Pae Kyong Su, Kim Jong Il The Individual Thoughts And Leadership Vol. 2, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 1995, Softcover, 164 pages
• Nada Takashi, Korea In Kim Jong Il's Era, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 2000, Softcover, 163 pages
• Li Il Bok, The Great Man Kim Jong Il, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 1989, Softcover, 167 pages
• Ri Il Bok, The Great Man Kim Jong Il Vol. 2, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 1995, Softcover, 84 pages
• Jo Song Baek, The Leadership Philosophy Of Kim Jong Il, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 1999, Softcover, 261 pages
• Guiding Light General Kim Jong Il, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 1997, Softcover, 357 pages

External links

Find more about Kim Jong-il on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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	Learning resources

• Kim Jong Il: Brief HistoryPDF (893 KiB) – Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang DPR Korea (1998)
• Born in the USSR – Kim Jong-il's childhood.
• The many family secrets of Kim Jong Il
• "Hidden Daughter" Visits Kim Jong-il Every Year (also includes photos of Kim during his youth)
• (Korean) Kim's family tree

Persondata
NAME	Kim Jong-il
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Yuri Irsenovich Kim,
SHORT DESCRIPTION	leader of Democratic People's Republic of Korea
DATE OF BIRTH	February 16, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH	village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH