Kim Jong Il was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea. He led North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Ko Yong Hui, also spelled Ko Young-hee, was the mistress of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Il and the mother of his successor, Kim Jong Un. Within North Korea, she is only referred to by titles, such as "The Respected Mother who is the Most Faithful and Loyal 'Subject' to the Dear Leader Comrade Supreme Commander", "The Mother of Pyongyang", and "The Mother of Great Songun Korea".
Kim Pyong Il is the younger paternal half-brother of the former leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, and the only surviving son of former leader and president of North Korea Kim Il Sung. He worked as a diplomat and lived overseas between 1979 and 2019, serving in various diplomatic positions such as ambassador of North Korea to Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since December 2011 and the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, who was the second supreme leader of North Korea, and a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of the country.
Kim Ok is a former North Korean government employee who served as Kim Jong Il's personal secretary from the 1980s until his death in 2011. After the death of Ko Yong Hui in August 2004, she regularly met with foreign officials as the de facto first lady of North Korea, and was rumored to be the supreme leader's fourth wife.
The eternal leaders of North Korea are mentions of deceased leaders of North Korea. The phrase was mentioned in a line of the preamble to the Constitution, as amended on 30 June 2016, and in subsequent revisions.
The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, formerly the Kumsusan Memorial Palace (금수산기념궁전), is a building near the northeast corner of the city of Pyongyang that serves as the mausoleum for Kim Il Sung, first Supreme Leader and founder of North Korea, and for his son Kim Jong Il, both posthumously designated as the Eternal leaders of North Korea.
The President of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, alternatively styled "President of State Affairs" in official translations, is the supreme leader and head of state of North Korea. The president chairs the State Affairs Commission (SAC), which is the highest leadership institution in North Korea, and serves as the commander-in-chief of the North Korean armed forces.
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is the oldest active party in Korea. It also controls the Korean People's Army, North Korea's armed forces. The WPK is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists with two other legal parties that are completely subservient to the WPK and must accept the WPK's "leading role" as a condition of their existence. The WPK is banned in the Republic of Korea under the National Security Act and is sanctioned by the United Nations, the European Union, Australia, and the United States.
Kim Il Sung was a North Korean politician, revolutionary, and military leader. He founded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, which he led as Supreme Leader from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Afterwards, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il and was declared Eternal President.
The supreme leader of North Korea is the de facto hereditary leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. Each individual North Korean leader have assumed different offices and positions, and different titles were used in North Korean propaganda that could be translated from Korean as "Great Leader", "Dear Leader", or "Supreme Leader".
The death of Kim Jong Il was reported by North Korean state television news on 19 December 2011. The presenter Ri Chun-hee announced that he had died on 17 December at 8:30 am of a massive heart attack while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. Reportedly, he had received medical treatment for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases, and during the trip, Kim was said to have had an "advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock". However, it was reported in December 2012 by South Korean media that the heart attack had instead occurred in a fit of rage over construction faults in a crucial power plant project at Huichon in Chagang Province.
The North Korean cult of personality surrounding the Kim family has existed in North Korea for decades and can be found in many examples of North Korean culture. Although not acknowledged by the North Korean government, many defectors and Western visitors state there are often stiff penalties for those who criticize or do not show "proper" respect for the former leaders of the country, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, officially referred to as "eternal leaders of Korea". The personality cult began soon after Kim Il Sung took power in 1948, and was greatly expanded after his death in 1994.
Kim Yo Jong is a North Korean politician and diplomat, and sister of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. She is the Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Since September 2021, she has been a member of State Affairs Commission of North Korea.
The Kim family, officially the Mount Paektu bloodline (Korean: 백두혈통), named for Paektu Mountain, in the ideological discourse of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), and often referred to as the Kim dynasty after the Cold War's end, is a three-generation lineage of North Korean leadership, descending from the country's founder and first leader, Kim Il Sung. Kim Il Sung came to rule the north in 1948, after the end of Japanese rule split the region in 1945. Following his death in 1994, Kim Il Sung's role as supreme leader was later passed on to his son, Kim Jong Il, and his grandson, Kim Jong Un. All three leaders in different generations have served as leaders of the WPK and served as North Korea's supreme leaders since the state's establishment in 1948.
Events from the year 1983 in North Korea.
The Day of the Sun is an annual public holiday in North Korea on 15 April, the birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, founder and Eternal President of North Korea. It is the most important national holiday in the country, and is considered to be the North Korean equivalent of Christmas. Kim's birthday, which had been an official holiday since 1968, was renamed Day of the Sun in 1997, three years after his death. The name takes its significance from his name: Il-sung.
The Day of the Shining Star is a public holiday in North Korea falling on 16 February, the anniversary of the birth of the country's second leader, Kim Jong Il. Along with the Day of the Sun, the birthday of his father Kim Il Sung, it is the most important public holiday in the country.
Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 10 March 2019 to elect the members of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly. The elections were announced on 6 January 2019. With only one candidate on the ballot in each constituency, outside observers described it as a show election. 687 candidates for the DPRK deputies to the SPA were elected. Kim Jong Un did not stand for election, marking the first time that a North Korean leader did not participate as a candidate.
