Kim Jong Il

Premier of North Korea (1994–2011)

• Born: February 16, 1941
• Birthplace: Vyatskoye, Siberia, Soviet Union (now in Russia)

Known for his eccentricities, Kim Jong Il was notorious for leading North Korea’s isolationist and strict police-state policies. North Korea remains one of the world’s few remaining communist nations, and it has begun a nuclear program.

Early Life

Kim Jong Il (kihm juhng ihl) was the oldest son of Kim Il Sung, the former premier of North Korea, and his first wife, Kim Jong Suk. Born in a Russian camp in Korea during World War II, he was raised with all the pomp and circumstance of the son of the president of communist North Korea.

Kim attended school in China during the Korean War and graduated from Naman School in Pyongyang, Korea, a school specifically for the privileged children of Communist Party members. According to his official biography, Kim graduated in 1964 from Kim Il Sung University with a degree in political economy. Kim is rumored to have learned the English language at the University of Malta during the early 1970s at the invitation of Maltese prime minister Dom Mintoff.

Life’s Work

Kim began his political career after graduation in 1964 from the university by working his way through the ranks of the Korean Workers’ Party. He began in the party’s elite organization department before he was named to the politburo in 1968 and was appointed deputy director of the propaganda and agitation department in 1969. He was made party secretary of organization and propaganda in 1972 and officially named his father’s successor in 1974.

Kim asserted himself within the Korean Workers’ Party during the seventh plenum of the Fifth Central Committee in September, 1973, by leading the so-called Three-Revolution Team campaigns. This earned him the nickname Party Center because of his growing influence over the day-to-day operations of the party. At the time of the Sixth Party Congress in October of 1980, Kim had gained complete control of the party’s operation. He advanced through senior posts in the politburo, the military commission, and the party secretariat. By the time of his appointment to the Seventh Supreme People’s Assembly in February, 1982, it had become clear to international observers that he was the heir apparent as the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Kim consolidated his power with his assumption of control over the civil administration and was named the supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army.

This last act was completed by his father, Kim Il Sung, in December of 1991, when he announced that his son would replace him as supreme commander. Upon taking control of the post, Kim was given the title of marshal, even though he had never served in the military. Obtaining the title marshal was particularly significant given the military’s power in North Korea’s communist state.

Kim became the supreme leader (premier) of North Korea upon the death of his father in 1994. Upon becoming the general secretary of the Korean Workers’ Party, Kim had accomplished a dynastic transfer of power never before seen in a communist country. In September of 1998, Kim was reconfirmed as chair of the National Defense Commission, and the Supreme People’s Assembly declared that position the highest office of state.

The Kim family dynasty had been sustained by a cult of personality unrivaled in modern times. The North Korean people have suffered through war, food shortages, a lack of electricity, political divisions, and countless human-rights violations. Reports by North Korean defectors recall political prisons not unlike the old Soviet-style gulags, facilities for political prisoners and others who have spoken against Kim, his father, or the North Korean government.

During the 1980s, Kim’s father reinforced a policy of self-reliance. North Korea discontinued all trade with its two biggest trading partners, China and the Soviet Union. Through self-reliance the Kims attempted to fend off foreign criticism and influence in North Korea, placing a great strain on North Korea’s already weak economy. Without outside markets, North Korea’s economic crisis increased. The country began to default on its loan repayments to various countries. Kim was forced to take extreme measures to raise hard currency to repel debt collectors, measures that included state-sanctioned drug dealing and the kidnapping of Japanese citizens.

The North Koreans have also been accused of kidnapping South Koreans, as well as Japanese citizens, to teach in their espionage schools. A book published by two former captive South Koreans, a film producer and an actress, discussed how the two were forced to improve their skills to help North Korea’s fledgling film industry, which included films of propaganda. Other books, by North Korean defectors, describe Kim as an insecure man who was self-conscious about his height and had luxuries that included a ten-thousand-bottle wine cellar, sports cars, and extravagant parties. Kim’s indulgence lived side by side with the fact of millions of North Koreans faced food shortages and starvation.

In 2008, reports began to surface of Kim's poor health; rumors persisted after he failed to appear at an official celebration for North Korea's sixtieth anniversary. However, in 2009, he was unanimously reelected as the chairman of his country's National Defense Commission. During the same year, he began to groom his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, to assume the role of North Korean leader following his death. In 2010 and 2011, Kim made several public appearances and engaged in diplomatic missions to China and Russia, two longtime North Korean allies. Kim died of a heart attack on December 17, 2011, while traveling by train near Pyongyang.

Significance

In a significant move for Kim, the world was stunned when he announced that North Korea had developed a nuclear arsenal. Possessing nuclear weapons had been a major goal of Kim’s, making explicit the country’s intention of being a player in regional and world affairs. As one of the last communist countries in the world, North Korea has had few friends. Even so, Kim argued that by becoming a nuclear power, he could influence regional politics, violating many treaties and agreements in the process. Nuclear weapons testing was carried out toward the end of Kim's life, and the following North Korean regime has appeared unwilling to give up the country's ambitions to possess nuclear weaponry.

Bibliography

Bechtol, Bruce E. The Last Days of Kim Jong-il: The North Korean Threat in a Changing Era. Washington, DC: Potomac, 2013. Print.

Becker, Jasper. Rogue Regime: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print. Becker paints a disturbing picture of North Korea and Kim. He describes the cult of personality around Kim as unmatched in modern history.

Breen, Michael. Kim Jong Il: North Korea’s Dear Leader. New York: Wiley, 2004. Print. Breen takes an in-depth look into one of the world’s remaining communist countries. Examines how the people continue to support the North Korean leadership, despite severe food and energy shortages.

Cha, Victor D. The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future. New York: Ecco, 2012. Print.

Harrold, Michael. Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea. New York: Wiley, 2004. Print. Harrold served seven years as an English translator and adviser to both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. His insights into the leadership and youth of North Korea are impressive.

Jeffries, Ian. North Korea, 2009–2012: A Guide to Economic and Political Developments. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.

Kwon, Heonik, and Byung-Ho Chung. North Korea: Beyond Charismatic Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman, 2012.

Park, Kyung-Ae, and Scott Snyder. North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society. Lanham, MD: Rowman, 2013. Print.