Kim Il Sung . Politician and activist of the Korean Communist Youth, of peasant origin, presided over the State of North Korea from 1948 until his death, at which time the Supreme People’s Assembly anointed his son Kim Jong-il as president. He held the positions of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 , and President thereafter. He was also General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and was elected Eternal President of the Republic. The State’s propaganda apparatus led citizens to call him the Great Leader.
Known for being the creator of the Juche ideology and founder of North Korea from its creation in 1948 until his death in 1994 where the Supreme People’s Assembly would elect his son Kim Jong-il as the new president of North Korea .
The date of his birth (April 15) and his death (July 8) are national commemorations in North Korea.
Childhood
He spent his childhood in various parts of the country and China , where he fled in 1920 because his family was staunchly opposed to the Japanese, and his parents engaged in revolutionary activities. His father, Kim Hyong Jik, gave him the name Song Ju (a word meaning “to constitute the pillar”), hoping that he would become a pillar of the country. With a vision for the future, his father made him learn Chinese from a very young age and study at a Chinese primary school. As a result, he became fluent in the language, which later served him well in the anti-Japanese struggle in China.
Adolescence
In March 1923, Juche 12 , mindful of his father’s advice that he should learn the realities of China in order to carry out the revolution, he left Badaogou (八道沟) in China and arrived at his native Mangyongdae (this journey on foot is called the “Thousand-Ries Path for Study”) and entered Changdok School (창덕학교/昌德学校) in Chilgol (칠골/七谷), where his maternal grandparents’ house is located. In January 14, Juche 192, upon receiving the unexpected news that his father had been arrested by the Japanese again, he resolutely left Mangyongdae (만경대/万景台) with a firm resolve not to return until the country’s independence was achieved. In June 15 Juche 192 , upon the death of his father, Kim Il Sung enrolled in the Hwasong School (창덕학교/华成义塾), a two-course military-political school established in Huadian by anti-Japanese nationalist organizations. On October 17 of the same year, he founded the Union for Defeating Imperialism ( UD) and was elected its head. In order to more widely deploy revolutionary activities, Kim Il Sung stopped studying at the Hwasong School six months after entering and moved the scene of his actions to Jilin. While studying at Jilin Yuwen High School (吉林毓文中学), he reorganized the UDI into the more comprehensive mass organization of Anti-Imperialist Youth on August 27, Juche 16, 1927 , and founded the Communist Youth Union of Korea on August 28. He formed several mass organizations and led the anti-Japanese struggle.
Military preparation
He elucidated the path to be taken by the Korean Revolution and the strategic and tactical problems for carrying out its fundamental task at the Kalun Conference held from June 30 to July 2, Juche 19, 1930. On July 3, he organized the Comrade Konsol Association, the first party organization in Kalun, and on July 6 , he founded the Korean Revolutionary Army (KRA), a military-political organization for preparations for armed struggle, in Guyushu, Yitong County.
Foundation of the Guerrilla
On April 25, Juche 21 ( 1932 ), he founded the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerrilla (later reorganized into the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army), leading the anti-Japanese armed struggle, and thus achieving the restoration of the Fatherland on August 15, Juche 34 ( 1945 ). He returned to the Fatherland in September of the same year. On October 10, Juche 36 ( 1945 ), he structured the Central Organizational Committee of the Communist Party of Korea and declared the birth of the Party to the world.
President elected
On February 8, Juche 35 ( 1946 ), he organized the Provisional People’s Committee of Korea and was elected Chairman and proclaimed the Twenty-Point Platform. In August, Juche 35 (1946), he formed the Workers’ Party of Korea by merging the Communist Party and the Neo-Democratic Party. He successfully led the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal democratic revolution in a short period of time. He established the People’s Assembly of Korea through the first democratic elections and was elected Chairman of the People’s Committee of Korea, the new central organ of state power, and presented the tasks of the period of transition to Socialism.
Transformation of the army
In February of Juche 37 ( 1948 ) he transformed the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army into the regular revolutionary armed forces, EPC.
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
On September 9, Juche 37 ( 1948) , he founded the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , a unified central government of the Korean people, and was elected Prime Minister and head of state by the unanimous will and desire of all the Korean people. On June 30, Juche 38 ( 1949 ), he convened the Joint Plenum of the Central Committees of the Workers’ Parties of North and South Korea and was elected Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea. He led the Fatherland Liberation War to brilliant victory from June 25 , Juche 39 ( 1950 ) to July 27, Juche 42 ( 1953 ), safeguarding the sovereignty of the nation and beginning the downhill roll of US imperialism. On August 5, Juche 42 ( 1953 ), at the 6th Plenum of the Party Central Committee, he put forward the basic line of post-war economic construction and led the struggle to to fulfill it. At the same time, he promoted the Socialist Revolution and directed the relations of production in the cities and the countryside along a socialist path.
Re-elections
He was re-elected Chairman of the Party Central Committee at the Third and Fourth Congresses held in April of Juche 45 ( 1956 ) and September of Juche 50 ( 1961 ) respectively. In 1972 he was appointed President of North Korea for the first time. He was re-elected in 1977, 1982, 1987 and 1990. He put forward the new idea of a continuing revolution and defined three main aspects as its main content:
- ideological,
- technical
In December 51 Juche ( 1962 ), he convened the Fifth Plenum of the Fourth Period of the Central Committee of the Party, where he put forward the new strategic line of developing economic construction and national defense in parallel in view of the aggravating provocative maneuvers of the new war of the US imperialists. He was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea at the Fourteenth Plenum of the Fourth Period of the Central Committee of the Party held in October 55 Juche ( 1966 ). He successfully led the fulfillment of the historic tasks of industrialization from 46 Juche (1957) to 59 Juche (1970). He was elected President of the Republic according to the new Socialist Constitution of the DPRK approved in December 61 Juche (1972) at the first session of the Fifth Legislature of the Supreme People’s Assembly. He was re-elected General Secretary of the Party Central Committee at the Fifth Party Congress held in Juche 59 ( 1970 ) and at the Sixth Party Congress held in October 69 Juche ( 1980 ). He defined the general task of the Korean revolution as transforming the whole society according to the requirements of the Juche idea.
Reunification of the Fatherland
In order to safeguard socialism and complete the revolutionary cause of Juche, he made a brilliant resolution to the problem of a successor. In June 1983 Juche ( 1994 ) he received Carter, former President of the United States of America, in Pyongyang and thus prepared a new favorable juncture for bilateral negotiations on the nuclear conflict and the summit meeting of North and South Korea.
Private life
Kim Il Sung was married twice. His first wife, Kim Chong-suk, gave birth to two sons (including Kim Jong-il; the other died in a swimming accident) and a daughter; Kim Chong-suk
Death
President Kim Il Sung, who worked selflessly for the Party and the Revolution, the Motherland and the People, and for the verification of Independence and Socialism throughout the world, died suddenly of a heart attack in his office on July 8 , Juche 83 ( 1994 ), at two o’clock in the morning. His funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of people. After his death, Kim’s body was placed in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, which was his residence during his lifetime, and access to which is tightly controlled. He regarded as his maxim the idea of Iminwichon, which means to regard the people as heaven.
Kim Il-sung’s death prompted a ten-day mourning period declared by Kim Jong-il. His funeral in Pyongyang was attended by hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country. Kim Il-sung’s body was laid to public display at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace mausoleum, where his embalmed and preserved body is currently housed under a glass coffin for viewing purposes. His head rests on a Korean-style pillow and is covered by the flag of the Workers’ Party of Korea. News footage of his funeral in Pyongyang is now posted on various internet networks.[17]
Titles and distinctions
He was awarded the titles of Generalissimo, Hero of the Republic (three times) and Hero of Labor of the DPRK. He has entertained more than 70,000 foreign guests, including heads of state and government and party leaders, and has made more than 54 official and unofficial visits to more than 87 countries. He has been awarded more than 180 supreme orders and medals by more than 70 countries and international organizations, honorary citizen titles by more than 30 cities, honorary professor and doctor titles by more than 20 renowned foreign universities, and 165,920 gifts from party and state leaders and progressive peoples of more than 169 countries. Bronze statues of him have been erected in China and Mongolia. More than 480 buildings, streets, institutions and organizations in over 100 countries bear his name, and the Kim Il Sung International Prize is awarded worldwide. His classic works have been published in 24,570,000 copies in over 60 languages in over 110 countries.