Asian & Middle Eastern Monarchs & Strongmen Codexery

Kim Jong-il

Second supreme leader of North Korea

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He was born in 1941 according to most accounts, either in a camp near Khabarovsk or near Nikolsk.[1]

Life and work

Inside his family, he was nicknamed "Yura".[2] He became General Secretary of the Workers' Party on 8 October 1997.[3] Kim Jong-suk, who was Kim Il Sung's first wife and the mother of Kim Jong Il, passed away in 1949 due to an ectopic pregnancy.[1][4] Membership in the Workers' Party of Korea was taken up by Kim Jong Il during July 1961.[5]

Kim Il Sung's personal guard was placed under the leadership of Kim Jong Il in 1969.[6] To bolster the nation and its governing system, Kim Jong Il implemented the Songun policy, which is also referred to as "Military-First".[7]

What the cited sources add

Hwang stated that Kim's personality can be characterized by suspicion and is extremely emotional.[8] According to Hwang, Kim demanded absolute obedience and agreement from his ministers.[8] Hwang also noted that Kim Jong Il works or parties through the night on frequent occasions.[8] The testimony describes that workers at Kim's office spend most of their time procuring specialty items for him.[8]

Hwang stated that Kim Jong Il created a system of summarizing daily reports from all over North Korea.[8] According to testimony from Hwang Jang Yop, who defected, Kim Jong Il oversaw and directed even the smallest aspects of state operations.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Kim Jong Il" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Profile: Kim Jong-il", BBC News, 16 January 2009; Christopher Richardson, "Change and Continuity in North Korean Politics", Routledge, 2017, p. 121; Lim Jae-cheon, "Kim Jong Il's Leadership of North Korea", Routledge, 2009, p. 9–10 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Kim Jong Il" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Korea & World Affairs, Volume 27", Research Center for Peace and Unification, 2003, p. 246; Ness, "The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism", Springer, 2016, p. 112; Tertitskiy, "Busting the many myths of North Korea, from Juche to Kim Jong Il's Russian name", NK News, 28 January 2026 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Kim Jong Il" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tertitskiy, "Rules are rules: North Korean “democracy,” in theory and in practice", NK News, 6 December 2019; Buzo 2002, p. 127; Kleiner 2001, p. 291; Kleiner 2001, p. 291 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Kim Jong Il" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Breen 2012, p. 45; "Interview with Lee Min", Hankyoreh Shinmun, October 1999; "The Kims' North Korea", Asia Times, 4 June 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Kim Jong Il" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "략력", Our Nation School; Adrian Buzo, The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge Press, 2002, , p. 127.; Lim Jae-Cheon, Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North Korea: The Leader State. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2015, .; Lim Jae-Cheon, Kim Jong-il's Leadership of North Korea. New York: Routledge, 2008, , pp. 38–47. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Kim Jong Il" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tertitskiy, "Accidental Tyrant: The Live of Kim Il-sung", Oxford University Press, 2024; Tertitskiy, "Accidental Tyrant: The Live of Kim Il-sung", Oxford University Press, 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Kim Jong Il" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "North Korea's Military Strategy"; Kim, "Kim Jong-il's military-first policy a silver bullet", Asia Times Online, 4 January 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Testimony of Hwang Jang-yop", irp.fas.org. facts only, no text reused. irp.fas.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Kim Jong Il (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Kim Jong Il · East Asian Leaders

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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