Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim (according to Soviet records)[3][4][5][6] (16 February 1941 (Soviet records) or 16 February 1942 (North Korean records) – 17 December 2011[2]), was the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). He was the Chairman of the National Defence Commission, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling party since 1948, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth largest standing army in the world. In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended and now implicitly refers to him as the "Supreme Leader".[7] He was also referred to as the "Dear Leader", "our Father", "the General" and "Generalissimo".[8] His son Kim Jong-un was promoted to a senior position in the ruling Workers' Party and is heir apparent.[9] In 2010, he was ranked 31st in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People.[10] ! The North Korean government announced his death on 19 December 2011.[2] Contents 1 Childhood 1.1 Birth 1.2 Education 2 Presidium member and party secretary (1980–1994) 3 Ruler of North Korea 3.1 Economic policies 3.2 Foreign relations 3.3 Cult of personality 4 Persecution of Christians 5 2008 health and waning power rumors 5.1 Successor 5.2 Re-election as DPRK leader 5.3 2009 imprisonment and pardoning of American journalists 5.4 2010 and 2011 foreign visits 6 Cult of personality 7 Personal life 7.1 Family 7.2 Personality 7.3 Finances 7.4 Death 8 Official titles 9 See also 10 Notes and references 11 Further reading 12 External links Childhood Birth Soviet records show that Kim Jong-il was born in the village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk, in 1941,[11] 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. Kim Jong-il's offici! al biography[12] states that he was born in a secret military ! camp on Baekdu Mountain in Japanese Korea on 16 February 1942.[13] 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.[14] In 1945, Kim was three or four years old (depending on his birth year) 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. Unconfirmed reports suggest that five-year-old Kim Jong-il might have caused the accident.[15] In 1949, his mother died in childbirth.[16] Unconfirmed reports suggest that his mother might have been shot and left to bleed to death! .[15] 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 (Namsan Higher Middle School) in Pyongyang[citation needed] 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.[17] Throughout his schooling, Kim was involved in politics. He was active in the Children's Union[18] and the 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 among his classmates. Kim is also said to have received English language education at the University of Malta in the early 1970s,[19] ! on his infrequent holidays in Malta as guest of Prime Minister! Dom Min toff.[20] 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 his father in order to avoid a power struggle between his two sons.[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, chinaehaneun jidoja)[22] the government began building a personality cult arou! nd 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 24 December 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. 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", suggest! ing a promotion. His 50th birthday in February was the occasio! n for ma ssive celebrations, exceeded only by those for the 80th birthday of Kim Il Sung himself on 15 April that same year. According to defector Hwang Jang-yop, the North Korean government system became even more centralized and autocratic during the 1980s and 1990s under Kim Jong-il than it had been under his father. In one example explained by Hwang, although Kim Il-sung required his ministers to be loyal to him, he nonetheless and frequently sought their advice during decision-making. In contrast, Kim Jong-il demands absolute obedience and agreement from his ministers and party officials with no advice or compromise, and he views any slight 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 within North Korea for the first time during a military parade for the KPA's 60th year anniversary in Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square, in which Kim Il-sung attended with Kim Jong-il by his side. After Kim Il-sung's speech, and the parade inspection his son approached the microphone at the grandstand in response to the report of the parade inspector and simply said: "Glory to the heroic soldiers of the ! Korean People's Army!" Everyone in the audience applauded and ! the para de participants at the square grounds (which included veteran soldiers and officers of the KPA) shouted "ten thousand years" three times after that. Ruler of North Korea On 8 July 1994, Kim Jong-il's father, Kim Il-sung died, at the age of 82 from a heart attack. However, it took three years for Kim Jong-il to consolidate his power. He officially took the titles of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission on 8 October 1997. In 1998, his Defense Commission chairmanship 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. Also in 1998, the Supreme People's Assembly wrote the president's post out of the constitution in memory of Kim Il-Sung, who was designated the country's "Eternal President". It can be argued, though, that he became the country's leader when he became leader of the Workers' Party; in most Communist countries the party leader is the most! powerful person in the country. Officially, Kim was part of a triumvirate heading the executive branch of the North Korean government along with Premier Choe Yong-rim and parliament chairman Kim Yong-nam (no relations). Each nominally has powers equivalent to a third of a president's powers in most other presidential systems. Kim Jong-il was commander of the armed forces, Choe Yong-rim heads the government and Kim Yong-nam handles foreign relations. In practice, however, Kim Jong-il exercised absolute control over the government and the country. Although Kim was not required to stand for popular election to his key offices, he was unanimously elected to the Supreme People's Assembly every five years, representing a military constituency, due to his concurrent capacities as KPA Supreme Commander and Chairman of the DPRK NDC. Econo
kim jong il dynastic leader with nuclear ambition ksl com
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Kim Jong Il, the mercurial and ! enigmatic North Korean leader whose iron rule and nuclear ambi! tions do minated world security fears for more Read the rest
kim jong il news photos and video orlandosentinel com
News, Photos and Information about Kim Jong Il RSS feeds allow Web site content to be gathered via feed reader software. Read the rest
václav havel on kim jongil the globe and mail
Millions suffer under Kim Jong-il. We should have stood up to him long ago Read the rest
kim jongil
Leadership Succession; Leadership Ideology; Recent Developments; Kim Jong Il's Life Expectancy Resources. The Dear Leader, On a Platter- Sushi Chef's Book Details Kim Read the rest
kim jong il
Kim Jong Il. AKA Yuri Irsenowich Kim. Dictator of North Korea. Birthplace: Khabarovsk, Siberia, Russia. Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: Asian Sexual orientation Read the rest
kim jong il biography facts birthday life story biography
Biography.com offers an extensive review of the mysterious life of North Korean Dictator, Kim Jong Il. Read the rest
kim jongil wikipedia the free encyclopedia
Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim (According to Soviet records) born 16 February 1941 (Soviet records) or 16 February 1942 Read the rest
kim jongil biography from answers com
Born: c. 1941 Birthplace: Siberia, Soviet Union (now Russia) Best Known As: Dictatorial leader of North Korea, 1994-present Kim Jong-il has been the powerful leader Read the rest
kim jongil facts discussion forum and encyclopedia article
Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, born 16 February 1941 (Soviet records) or 16 February 19! 42 (North Korean records), is the leader. of the Democratic People's Read the rest
bbc news profile kim jongil
The little that is known about Kim Jong-il, North Korea's leader, conjures up a caricature of a diminutive playboy, a comic picture at odds with his brutal regime Read the rest