| Kangdong Residence | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 강동관저 |
|---|---|
| Hancha | |
| Revised Romanization | Gangdong Gwanjeo |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kangdong Kwanjŏ |
Kangdong Residence [1] is the summer residence and second residence of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after Ryongsong Residence. [2]
The residence is located in Kangdong-gun, a suburban county of Pyongyang, around 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Kim Il-sung Square. [3] Taedong River is just 1 km (0.62 mi) to the north. [4] The size of the whole leadership complex is around 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi). According to Kim Jong Il’s former bodyguard Lee Young-kuk there are at least eight North Korean leader's residences outside Pyongyang. [5]
The compound was constructed in the 1980s and expanded in the 1990s under the order of Kim Jong Il. [6] It contains buildings for Kim Jong Il, his late wife Ko Yong-hui, his sister Kim Kyong-hui and his brother-in-law Jang Sung-taek. [7] The area is mostly used as a summer residence, to spend holidays [8] or for parties with close officials. [6] The estate has an elaborate garden, set around many lakes. There are numerous guest houses, and a banqueting hall. [9] The whole compound is a maximum security area, surrounded by two armored fence lines [10] with guards huts and checkpoints, clearly visible on satellite pictures.[ citation needed ] Kim Jong Il's former cook Kenji Fujimoto worked and lived in a guest house within the compound and provided some photographs dated 1989. [7] Analysis of satellite pictures showed that the area changed significantly since then and even after 2006 new buildings and a new railway station were established. [11] Defectors reported that in Hyangmok-ri, not far from the residence and from the Mausoleum of Tangun, Kim Jong Un's birthplace is being built, [12] though he was actually born in Changsong, North Pyongan Province. [13]
The residence has many facilities for entertainment of the residents and their families :
Kangdong airfield is 4 km (2.5 mi) south. [9]
Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about 109 km (68 mi) upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. Pyongyang is a directly administered city with a status equal to that of the North Korean provinces.
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 Il Sung University (Korean: 김일성종합대학) is a public university in Taesong, Pyongyang, North Korea. Founded on 1 October 1946, it is the first institution of higher learning in North Korea since its foundation.
Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader 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.
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, the founder of North Korea, and for his son Kim Jong Il, both posthumously designated as the Eternal leaders of North Korea.
Kangdong County is one of Pyongyang's two suburban counties. In 1983 it was separated from South P'yongan Province and assumed direct governance by the Pyongyang City People's Committee. It is bordered by Sŏngch'ŏn-gun, South P'yongan in the north and east, Sŭngho-guyŏk from the south and the Taedong River from the west.
Kim Kyong-hui is the aunt of current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. She is the daughter of the founding North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and the sister of the late leader Kim Jong Il. She currently serves as Secretary for Organization of the Workers' Party of Korea. An important member of Kim Jong Il's inner circle of trusted friends and advisors, she was director of the WPK Light Industry Department from 1988 to 2012. She was married to Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang, after being charged with treason and corruption.
Kim Yong Ju was a North Korean politician and the younger brother of Kim Il Sung, who ruled North Korea from 1948 to 1994. Under his brother's rule, Kim Yong Ju held key posts including Politburo member in the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) during the 1960s and early 1970s, but he fell out of favour in 1974 following a power struggle with Kim Jong Il. From 1998 until his death in 2021, he held the ceremonial position of Honorary Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), North Korea's parliament.
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.
Kangdong concentration camp is a reeducation camp in North Korea. The official name of the camp is Kyo-hwa-so No. 4.
Ryongsong Residence, also called Residence No. 55, is the main official residence of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un and first lady Ri Sol Ju.
There are more than a dozen leader's residences in North Korea, according to Kim Jong Il’s former bodyguard Lee Young-kuk. Many of the residences were identified on satellite images in the North Korea Uncovered project. Ryongsong Residence is the central residence of Kim Jong Un. All residences are kept secret by the North Korean government and few photographs exist.
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 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 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 Party Foundation Day is an annual public holiday in North Korea marking the 10 October 1945 foundation of the "Central Organizing Committee of the Communist Party of North Korea", known as the "North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea" in the West and considered a predecessor to the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
Changsan Revolutionary Site is a Revolutionary Site in Ryonmot-dong, Sosong District in Pyongyang.