Kim Jong IL: Brief History [pdf]

Description

The official biography published by the Worker’s Party of Korea. Originally published in 1998 in North Korea.

Kim Jong-il was born on February 16, 1942 to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jung-sook in Khabarovsk, Russia. (North Koreans claim that he was born in a military hideout in Mt. Baekdu of Yang-gang Province’s Samjiyon County). Currently the most powerful man in North Korea, he has held office as the General Secretary of the KWP, Chairman of the NDC, Commander-in-chief of the KPA, Head of the Republic, member of the KWP Central Committee and the SPA, Cadre of the KWP Central Committee’s Political Bureau, etc.

Designated as his father’s successor as early as the mid 1970s, he began his apprenticeship by taking office in key positions such as Secretary of the KWP Central Committee and member of the KWP Central Committee’s Political Bureau. In 1990, he became the de facto no.2 man in power by being appointed as the 1st Division Chief of the NDC, while in 1991, he took office as Commander-in-chief of the KPA. The preparatory process for Kim Jong-il’s succession to power was completed when he became the Chairman of the NDC in 1993. He overcame the crisis following Kim Il-sung’s death through the three-year ‘bequest rule’ period initiated in 1994. Upon his taking office in 1997 as the Secretary General of the KWP, the ‘Kim Jong-il Era’ was in full effect. Kim Jong-il is known to have a love for the arts, especially cinema.