The New York Times Editorial Staff - North Koreas Supreme Leaders: Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un

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Title: North Korea's supreme leaders: Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un / edited by the New York Times editorial staff. Description: New York : New York Times Educational Publishing, 2019. | Series: Public profiles | Includes glossary and index. Identifiers: ISBN 9781642821697 (library bound) | ISBN 9781642821680 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781642821703 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Kim, Il-song, 1912-1994Juvenile literature. | Kim, Chong-il, 1942-2011Juvenile literature. | Kim, Chong-un, 1984Juvenile literature. | DictatorsKorea (North) BiographyJuvenile literature. | Heads of stateKorea (North) BiographyJuvenile literature. | Korea (North) Politics and governmentJuvenile literature. Classification: LCC DS934.6.K5 N678 2019 | DDC 951.9304'3'092 Bdc23

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On the cover: Soldiers paying respect to Kim Il-sung; narvikk/ iStock Unreleased/Getty Images.

CHAPTER 1
The Rise of Kim Il-sung

CHAPTER 2
The Cult of Kim

CHAPTER 3
Grooming an Heir, Building a Dynasty

CHAPTER 4
Kim Jong-il Takes Power

CHAPTER 5
Leading the Axis of Evil

CHAPTER 6
A New Leader Brings Renewed Tensions and Diplomacy

when world war ii ended in August 1945, the Korean peninsula was left divided. Once wartime allies, the relationship between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States quickly soured as the two nations came to represent opposing political and economic ideologies. Along the 38th parallel north, Korea was split into two zones: the Soviet-occupied North and the American-occupied South.

At the time, all parties desired a unified, independent Korea, but negotiations between the U.S.S.R. and the United States did not bear fruit. By 1948, the U.S.-occupied South held elections under the auspices of the United Nations, while the Soviet Union held its own elections in the North. On Sept. 9, 1948, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or North Korea, was proclaimed, with a Soviet-installed premier named Kim Il-sung as its leader.

Born in 1912, Kim had grown up first in Japanese-occupied Korea and later in Manchuria, where, as a teenager, he became influenced by communist ideology. When the Japanese began an occupation of Manchuria in 1935, Kim became a skilled guerrilla fighter and was a target of the Japanese army. He escaped to the Soviet Union, where he became a member of the Soviet army and fought with them against Japan until the end of World War II. Having impressed the Soviets, he swiftly rose to prominence in post-war North Korea.

In his first years as leader, Kim instituted reforms in labor rights, health care and land distribution. He also began to style himself as the Great Leader, the onset of an intense personality cult that would outlive Kim himself.

In 1950, with Soviet and Chinese support, North Korea launched an offensive to occupy South Korea, hoping to reunite the two under Kims leadership. Though the surprise invasion allowed the North Korean forces to advance quickly, United Nations forces intervened, and after three years of fighting, Korea remained divided fairly close to its pre-war boundary.

In the decades that followed, Kim Il-sung developed his cult of personality, reaching nearly God-like status for the North Korean people. Further, he promoted an ideology known as juche, or self-reliance. A blend of communism, Korean nationalism and admiration for Kim as leader, juche remains the official state ideology of North Korea to this day.

By the 1980s, foreign observers began to note the rising prominence of Kim Il-sungs son, Kim Jong-il. The cult of Kim began to extend to the younger Kim as he was appointed to increasingly important party positions.

The 1990s were a turning point for North Korea. In 1994, Kim Il-sung died, and after a lengthy mourning period, Kim Jong-il assumed formal leadership of the country. Meanwhile, however, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the aid it exported severely harmed the North Korean economy. North Koreans faced famine, in addition to the severe political repression and state surveillance that is a hallmark of the Kim regime. Without the powerful U.S.S.R. to protect his power, Kim Jong-il began developing nuclear weapons, engaging in a diplomatic game of cat and mouse with the United States over North Korean denuclearization.

The second Kim proved an enigma to Western media, who seemed to oscillate between depictions of the leader as an eccentric, megalomaniac film buff and a dangerous threat to the international community. In the early 2000s, George W. Bush branded North Korea a member of an axis of evil, further straining relations with the isolated state.

In 2011, Kim Jong-il died, but not without having appointed his son Kim Jong-un as his successor. Many were hopeful that the new Kim would bring about changes in North Korea, viewing a transition of power as an opportunity for the country to improve diplomatic relations, denuclearize and lighten political repression.

kyodo news/getty images

Three generations of the Kim dynasty are shown here. Featured from left to right are Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un.

In reality, the youngest Kim has been unpredictable. At times, he has revved up North Koreas nuclear testing, made threats toward neighboring countries and increased antagonism toward the United States. Still, in 2018, Kim Jong-un reversed course, meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald J. Trump.

The Kim dynasty is unique. They resemble a royal family but rule over a communist state. Militarism and nuclearization have given them disproportionate power in international relations, all the while engaging in horrific human rights abuses and extreme political repression.

What the future holds for the Korean peninsula is uncertain, but without doubt, the Kim familys impact on North Korean history and culture is indelible. No matter which direction the hermit state now takes, the impact of the Kims will assuredly last.

CHAPTER 1
The Rise of Kim Il-sung

With the end of World War II, Korea was at last freed by U.S. and Soviet forces from four decades of Japanese rule. But the swift rise of Cold War tensions prevented the two nations from establishing a unified Korean government. Failed negotiations led to the Korean War (1950-1953), which left the peninsula even more bitterly divided than before. South Korea became a U.S. ally under a successive series of strongmen, while in the North, the Soviet-backed Kim Il-sung consolidated power, establishing communist rule and Soviet-styled economic policies.