When was Kim Hong-il born?
Day of the Shining Star
Kim Jong-il was born in February 1941 to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-suk in Siberia in the Russian Federal Republic, Soviet Union where his father had been in exile because of his guerilla activities. North Korean propaganda, however, dates Kim Jong-il's birth to 16 February 1942 and locates it at the Mount Paektu area in Korea, the mythical place of origin of the Korean people, where Kim Il-sung supposedly ran a guerilla camp. In reality, the guerillas were based in Manchuria at the time and Kim himself had been to the Soviet Far East before and after Kim Jong-il's birth.
Song Hye-rim
Song began dating Kim Jong-il in 1968, after divorcing her first husband; she is believed to have been his first mistress. In 1971, she gave birth to Kim Jong-nam, who at one time was believed to be favoured to succeed Kim Jong-il. The birth of her son is said to have been kept secret from Kim Il-sung until 1975.
Kim Jong-hak
Kim Jong-hak was born on November 5, 1951 in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, the fourth son of seven siblings. While attending Hwimun High School, he won an Excellence Award at the National High School Theater Competition in 1966.
Kim Chi-ha
Kim Jiha was born Kim Yeongil on February 4, 1941 in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do. As a university student, Kim took part in April Revolution demonstrations that toppled the regime of President Syngman Rhee in April 1960. In March 1963, under the pen name Kim Jiha, he published the poem "Evening Story" (Jeonyeok iyagi) in the journal Mokpo Literature. In 1964, Kim took part in the demonstrations against the normalization treaty establishing diplomatic relations with Japan, for which he was briefly arrested. In 1966, he graduated with a degree in Aesthetics from Seoul National University. He made his official literary debut in 1969.
Vyatskoye, Khabarovsk Krai
During World War II near Vyatskoye was a camp for the Soviet 88th Brigade, which was made up of Korean and Chinese guerrillas. Kim Il-sung, future leader of North Korea, was stationed there as a Captain in the Soviet Red Army commanding a battalion, and according to some sources his family was there as well. According to those same sources his son Kim Jong-il was born there on February 16, 1941 (although the North Korean government claims Kim Jong-il was born on Paektu Mountain in Japanese Korea a year later, on February 16, 1942). Residents of the town claim that his brother Shura Kim (sometimes known as the first Kim Pyong-il) fell into a well and died, and was buried there; however other sources claim that Kim Jong-il's sibling drowned in a pool in Pyongyang in 1947.
Kim Jong-il
In an August 2008 issue of the Japanese newsweekly "Shūkan Gendai", Waseda University professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, an authority on the Korean Peninsula, claimed that Kim Jong-il died of diabetes in late 2003 and had been replaced in public appearances by one or more stand-ins previously employed to protect him from assassination attempts. In a subsequent best-selling book, "The True Character of Kim Jong-il", Shigemura cited apparently unnamed people close to Kim's family along with Japanese and South Korean intelligence sources, claiming they confirmed Kim's diabetes took a turn for the worse early in 2000 and from then until his supposed death three and a half years later he was using a wheelchair. Shigemura moreover claimed a voiceprint analysis of Kim speaking in 2004 did not match a known earlier recording. It was also noted that Kim Jong-il did not appear in public for the Olympic torch relay in Pyongyang on 28 April 2008. The question had reportedly "baffled foreign intelligence agencies for years".
Kim Seoung-il
Kim Seoung-il (Hangul: 김성일; ; born 19 December 1990 in Daegu) is a South Korean short track speed skater.
Kim Hong-il (general)
In 1977 Kim was elected the sixth president of the , an organisation for Korean independence activists and their families. He was re-elected as the seventh president in 1979.
Kim Jung-won
Kim Jung-won (born 20 January 1973) is a North Korean long-distance runner. He competed in the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics. Kim is married to fellow marathoner Jong Song-ok since March 2001. The couple's first child, Hyo-il, was born in 2002. Jong stated that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il personally suggested the name.
Kim Haki
Kim Haki was born on June 24, 1958 in Ulsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. Kim attended Busan National University, and after participating in the student movement was arrested in 1980 for demonstrating against the expansion of Korean Martial Law. Involved in the Burim incident, Kim was sentenced to ten years in prison, of which he served eight years, and was released in 1988.
Kim Sung-il (general)
Kim Sung-il () is a former Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Air Force. He was born on August 24, 1948, and attended the Korea Air Force Academy and Korea National Defense University. He served as commander of the 11th Wing and the Aerospace Project Group, and later became the Director of Korea Defense Intelligence Agency, a position traditionally held by Army generals
Kim Hyong-uk
Kim Hyong-uk (Hangul: 김형욱, Hanja:金炯旭, January 16, 1925 – c. October 8 1979) was a South Korean brigadier general who served as director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. Born in Hwanghae province, he left for the South after high school and was a classmate of future President Park Chung-hee at military academy, graduating in 1949. He was an infantry troop commander in the Korean War. He attended the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1955. As colonel, he took part in the May 16 coup in 1961, when he led a group of soldiers to take Prime Minister John M. Chang into custody. He served for two years as Minister for Home Affairs in the junta and then was director of the KCIA from March 1963 to October 1969, where he was notorious for his brutality and corruption. After refusing to support Park's bid for a third term, he was replaced as head of the KCIA by Lee Hu-rak. Reportedly, at a meeting with Park, the President asked him, "why don't you take a rest after your long service?" - and on returning to his office, he discovered it had already been cleared out. In 1971, he became a member of the powerless parliament. Kim went into exile in the United States in 1973.
Chilgol
Chilgol is known as the place where Kang Pan-sok, the mother of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's first leader, was born in 1892 and spent her childhood. The area features many buildings and fixtures related to Kim Il-sung's life. Kim attended Changdok School in Chilgol between 1923 and 1925. According to legend, Kang Pan-sok's father Kang Ton-uk founded the school, although in reality it had been established by the missionary Samuel A. Moffett. Kim Il-sung's desk, in the front of the classroom and left of the teacher, remains preserved there. There are statues for Kim Il-sung, Kang Pan-sok, and Kang Ton-uk, and a marked spot where Kim Il-sung used to read among the trees outside. Also on the premises is Chilgol Church, which Kang Pan-sok used to attend, sometimes with Kim Il-sung, and Chilgol Museum of Revolutionary History. The museum houses Kang Pan-sok's possessions including kitchen utensils. Kang Pan-sok Senior Middle School in Chilgol is named after her.
Kim Ok
Kim Ok was born in 1964. Her father is Kim Hyo, who was a senior official of the Workers Party. She attended Pyongyang University. Kim was previously a musician and was a piano major at Pyongyang University of Music and Dance. In 1987 she joined Kim Jong-il's management. She served as the department director in the National Defence Commission. In September 2012, she reportedly went to Berlin for medical treatment.
Kim Kyong-il
Kim Kyong-Il (Hanja: 金京一, , born 11 December 1988 in Pyongyang) is a North Korean international football player. He plays for Rimyongsu in the DPR Korea League.
Kim Jong-chang
Kim was born on 13 October 1948 in Yecheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do near the Sobaek Mountains. He was raised by his mother and paternal grandfather after losing his father to the Korean War at the age of two. He studied primary, middle, and high school in his hometown; he states that his home room teacher at Daechang High School left an indelible mark on him during his formative years. He matriculated at Seoul National University as an undergraduate in 1967, graduating in 1971 with a degree in commerce. He passed the State Administration Examination for Civil Servants in 1970 while in his senior year.
Kim Won-il (boxer)
Kim Won-il (born January 3, 1982) is a South Korean boxer best known to win the gold medal in the men's bantamweight division at the Asian Games 2002.
Kim Sung-kil
Kim Sung-Kil (; born July 8, 1983) is a footballer who played in South Korea and Australia. Kim previously played for Japanese side Oita Trinita. He also played for Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i, Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo and Gyeongnam FC in the K-League.
Kim Hoon
Kim was born on May 5, 1948 in Seoul, Korea. After graduating from Whimoon High School, Kim Hoon entered Korea University in 1966. He joined Hankook Ilbo as a journalist in 1973.
He made his debut as a novelist at the age of forty-seven with the publication of Memories of Earthenware with Comb Teeth Pattern. His second novel Song of Sword, which was awarded the prestigious Dong-in Literature Prize, was a literary sensation and elevated him into one of the most recognized names in Korean literature. Two years later in 2003, Kim’s reputation as a writer of exceptional talent was affirmed when his first published short-story “Cremation” was chosen as the winner of Lee Sang Literature Prize. Kim worked as a journalist for 20 years before becoming a writer and is well known for refusing to use anything but a pencil when he writes. He is also an avid bicyclist who does not have a driver’s license and has written a series of essays on his bicycle travels across the south of the Korean peninsula.
Kim Hong-il (general)
Being one of the most experienced and high-ranked among the officer corps that commanded the early Republic of Korea Army, he was nicknamed the "Five-star General".
North Korean cult of personality
In keeping with the modern mythologies that pervade North Korea's version of history, which is seen as crucial to the cult of personality and political control, it is alleged that Kim Jong-il was born on Mount Paektu at his father's secret base in 1942 (his actual birth was in 1941 in the Soviet Union) and that his birth was heralded by a swallow, caused winter to change to spring, a star to illuminate the sky, and a double rainbow spontaneously appeared.
Kim Jong-il
His second mistress, Ko Yong-hui, was a Japanese-born ethnic Korean and a dancer. She had taken over the role of First Lady until her deathreportedly of cancerin 2004. They had two sons, Kim Jong-chul (in 1981) and Kim Jong-un, also "Jong Woon" or "Jong Woong" (in 1983). They also had a daughter, Kim Yo-jong, who was about 23 years old in 2012.
Kim Hong-il (general)
Kim Hong-il (23 September 1898 – 8 August 1980) was a Korean independence activist and a general of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Korean War, who later became a diplomat and politician in South Korea. Born in North Pyongan, he did his early schooling in China and Korea, and had a brief career as a teacher before his connections with the nascent Korean independence movement led to his imprisonment. He fled into exile in China in 1918, and served in the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army from 1926 to 1948, following which he moved to the newly-independent South Korea to join the Republic of Korea Army. He commanded South Korea's I Corps during the first year of the Korean War, and was then sent to Taipei as South Korea's ambassador to the Republic of China, which by then had retreated to Taiwan. His assignment there ultimately lasted nine years. He returned to South Korea in 1960 following the April Revolution which ended the rule of Syngman Rhee, and served briefly as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the Park Chung-hee junta. He ran for the National Assembly, first unsuccessfully in 1960 and 1963, and was then elected in 1967 and became a major figure in the opposition New Democratic Party.
Kim Jong-gil
Kim Jong-gil was born on November 5, 1926 in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. and graduated from Korea University with undergraduate and graduate degrees in English Literature. He also conducted research in English Literature at Sheffield University. Kim has worked as a professor at several universities including Chonggu University, Gyeongbuk University and Korea University. He died on April 1, 2017.
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2
The name "Kwangmyŏngsŏng" is richly symbolic for North Korean nationalism and the Kim family cult. While Soviet records recount that the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was born in the village of Vyatskoye near Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East, DPRK internal sources claim that Kim was born on Mount Baekdu and that on that day a bright lodestar ("kwangmyŏngsŏng") appeared in the sky.
Kim Nam-gil
Kim Nam-gil (; born March 13, 1981) is a South Korean actor, producer, singer and philanthropist. He is best known from leading roles in disaster blockbuster "Pandora" (2016); crime thriller "The Shameless" (2015); adventure film "The Pirates" (2014) and period drama "Portrait of a Beauty" (2008). His breakthrough role was Bidam in the hit television period drama "Queen Seondeok" (2009). Kim is also the founder and CEO of a non-profit organization "Gilstory" that focuses on preserving cultural heritage, promoting arts and raising special purpose relief funds.
Kim Jong-ok
Kim Jong-ok (born 1973) is a South Korean writer. He began his literary career when his short story "Georiui masulsa" (거리의 마술사 The Street Magician) won the 2012 Munhwa Ilbo New Writer's Contest. For the same short story he was also awarded Munhakdongne Young Writers' Award Grand Prize.
Kim Jong-il
Kim's first mistress, Song Hye-rim, was a star of North Korean films. She was already married to another man and with a child when they met. Kim is reported to have forced her husband to divorce her. This relationship, started in 1970, was not officially recognized. They had one son, Kim Jong-nam (1971–2017), who was Kim Jong-il's eldest son. Kim kept both the relationship and the child a secret (even from his father) until he ascended to power in 1994. However, after years of estrangement, Song is believed to have died in Moscow in the Central Clinical Hospital in 2002.
Kim Jong-pil (footballer, born 1956)
Kim Jong-pil (born 26 November 1956) is a South Korean former football defender who played for the national team in the 1980 Asian Cup. He also played for Korea Electronics FC.
Kim Kon-il
Kim Kon-il (born 19 October 1966) is a South Korean sport shooter who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics and in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Kim Jong-il (athlete)
Kim Jong-il (, born 11 September 1962), sometimes transliterated Kim Yong-il, is a South Korean retired long jumper, best known for winning two gold medals at the Asian Games. He also competed in the Olympics twice, and was the first Korean athlete to have made a final round at the Olympics. His personal best jump was 8.00 metres, achieved in August 1988 in Seoul. After retiring as an active athlete, he turned to a career in coaching and academics.
Kim Jong-suk
Kim Jong-suk was born on December 24, 1919 in Hoeryong County, North Hamgyong Province, Japanese Korea. Suh Dae-sook writes that she was "the elder of two daughters of a poor farmer." However, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), states that she had a younger brother, Kim Ki-song, who was born February 9, 1921.
Kim Jong-ik
Kim Jong-ik (born 25 May 1949) is a North Korean boxer. He competed in the men's bantamweight event at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Kim Kyong-hui
General Kim Kyong-hui (; born 30 May 1946) is the aunt of current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. She is the daughter of the founding North Korean leader Kim Il-sung and the sister of the late leader Kim Jong-il. She currently serves as Secretary for Organization of the Workers' Party of Korea. An important member of Kim Jong-il's inner circle of trusted friends and advisors, she was director of the WPK Light Industry Department from 1988 to 2012. Her husband was Jang Sung-taek, who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang, after being charged with treason and corruption.
Kim Hong-il (general)
Kim died at his home in Hyochang-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul on 8 August 1980. He was survived by his wife Min Gyeong-ran and three sons. Although a public funeral had been planned, in the end Kim's family decided to hold a private funeral at their home, followed by a procession to the Seoul National Cemetery where he was buried. Pastor Kyung-Chik Han of Young Nak Presbyterian Church, the church of which Kim had been a member, presided over the funeral. Roughly 1,500 people visited the family home to pay their respects, including Chun Doo-hwan, United States Forces Korea commander John A. Wickham Jr., and fellow independence activist .
Kim Jung-il (writer)
Kim Jung-il (born 1977) is a South Korean poet.
Kim Ho-kon
South Korea
Cho Hae-il
Cho Hae-il was born April 18, 1941 in Manchukuo and was originally given the name Haeryong, which means "Sea Dragon". After the liberation of Korea his family returned to Seoul, and five years later the Korean War began. During the war his family joined the stream of refugees who retreated to Busan, only returning so Seoul in 1954 after the cessation of hostilities. Cho entered Posung High School where, by his own admission, he had "the lowest scholastic achievements". At this school he entered the creative writing club. In 1960 he lived through the student revolution of April 19, about which he said made him very proud for the achievements of others and very shamed for his own failure to participate.
Kim Jong-il (athlete)
In January 1985, Kim competed at the inaugural World Indoor Games in Paris. Here, he finished in eleventh place with 7.31 metres. Only four days earlier he had jumped 7.84 metres in a meet in Osaka. In 1986, Kim would try to defend his gold medal in the 1986 Asian Games, which was this time staged in Seoul in his home country. Kim again jumped 7.94 metres, which was enough to win the gold medal, two centimetres ahead of Junichi Usui and fourteen ahead of Chen Zunrong. Kim also entered as a part of the South Korean 4 x 100 metres relay team, and eventually won a bronze medal. In 1986 to 1987 he had lived in the United States to train with the Houston Cougars under the University of Houston.
Kim Jong-ok
Kim Jong-ok was born in Seoul in 1973. He graduated in Korean Literature from Kyung Hee University. He married Son Bo-mi, a fellow writer who graduated from the same department at the same university 7 years his junior.
Kim Myeong-sik
Kim Myeong-sik (September 26, 1890 - April 11, 1943) was a Korean independence activist and writer during the period of Japanese occupation. He joined the editorial committee of the "Donga Ilbo" in 1920. In the same year, he formed the Korean Workers' League (노동공제회) with others including Pak Jung-hwa and Jang Deok-su and published the league magazine "Gongje". In 1922, he was arrested and imprisoned for two years by the Japanese government, due to his involvement with the magazine "New Life" (신생활) which was managed by Pak Hui-do.
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3
The name "Kwangmyŏngsŏng" is richly symbolic for North Korean nationalism and the Kim family cult. Even though the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was born in the village of Vyatskoye near Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East, DPRK sources claim Kim was born on Mount Paektu, and on that day a bright lode star (kwangmyŏngsŏng) appeared in the sky, so everyone knew a new general had been born.
Kim Jong-pil
Kim Jong-pil (; January 7, 1926 – June 23, 2018) was a South Korean politician and founder of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (the KCIA, now the National Intelligence Service), who served as Prime Minister twice, from 1971–1975 during president Park Chung-hee (1961–1979) and from 1998–2000 during president Kim Dae-jung (1998–2002).
Kim Hong-il (general)
After his release, Kim fled into exile in China in 1918. There, he was able to enter the Guizhou Military Academy thanks to an introduction by . In China he used a variety of aliases, including the Korean name Choe Se-pyeong () and the Chinese names Wang Hsiung (), Wang Yi-shu (), and Wang Fu-kao (). After his graduation in 1920 he proceeded to the Russian Far East to try to gain Russian support for the Korean independence movement, but faced numerous setbacks: first the fratricidal killings of the in 1921, and then the withdrawal of Russian support in 1922. As a result, he crossed back into Northeast China late that year. He remained there for a few years, and briefly returned to teaching to make a living, taking up a post at the established by in the village of Mingdong (Myeongdong) in Helong County, Jilin. His alias Choe Se-pyeong itself embroiled him in a minor scandal in the village: it was rumoured he wanted to court a woman there whose surname was also Choe, but romance between individuals with the same surname was not encouraged in traditional Korean society, due to the possibility of violating the prohibition on marriage between people belonging to the same "bon-gwan" (clan). As a result, he revealed his real name to several people.
Kim Ki-duk
Kim Ki-duk was born on December 20, 1960 in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. He studied fine arts in Paris from 1990 to 1993. After returning to South Korea, Kim began his career as a screenwriter and won the first prize in a scenario contest held by Korean Film Council in 1995. In the following year, Kim made his debut as a director with a low budget movie titled "Crocodile" (1996). The film received sensational reviews from movie critics in South Korea. Kim has said that his international breakthrough occurred with The Isle at the Toronto International Film Festival. His 2000 film "Real Fiction" was entered into the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival.
Kim Hong-il (general)
However, Japanese secret police were increasingly active in Northeast China hunting down Korean partisans, and for his own safety Kim left the region and went to Shanghai. In 1926, he joined the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army. His second son Kim Yong-jae was born around this time. He participated in the Northern Expedition, and was later stationed at Wusong Fort and then the . While assigned to the latter post, at the request of Kim Koo of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, he provided Lee Bong-chang and Yun Bong-gil with the bombs used in 1932 in the Sakuradamon assassination attempt against Emperor Hirohito and the Hongkew Park attack on Japanese troops which killed General Yoshinori Shirakawa of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army. During the Shanghai War of 1932, he served as an intelligence officer with the 19th Route Army. In 1934, he was reassigned to the Luoyang branch of the Republic of China Military Academy, where he was in charge of a special course for Korean officer candidates in the ROC army.
History of the Workers' Party of Korea
In 1980, the WPK Congress elevated Kim Jong-il to senior positions and publicized his status as heir apparent. Until then, it seemed likely that Kim's successor would be either Oh Jin-wu or Prime Minister Kim Il (not related to Kim Il-sung). In fact, it seems that Kim Il-sung had always planned that his son would succeed him, and had been advancing him within the Army (the real source of power in the DPRK) since 1974. Kim Il was removed from office in 1976 and died in 1984, and Oh remained loyal to the Kim family. Well before Kim Il-sung's death in 1994, Kim Jong-il had become the day-to-day ruler of the country, and had promoted his own followers to key positions in the Army. Kim Jong-il's accession was followed by a round of purges in the WPK, in which some of his father's old followers were removed from office.
Kim Jong-pil
Kim Jong-pil was born in Buyeo County, Chungcheongnam-do. He was educated as Hwangukshinmin seosa (황국신민서사) education victim of Japanese imperial rule during primary school of 8 years old and onwards. Japanese rule period until 19 years old to be suppressed and forceful military conscription, was made for Korean people to attack America during Pacific War and Second Sino-Japanese War period since 1938. He graduated from the Korea Military Academy in 1949 (KMA class No. 8).He studied in the USA in 1951 and participated in the Korean War as an intelligence officer of the Republic of Korea Army.
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1
The names "Paektusan" and "Kwangmyŏngsŏng" are richly symbolic for Korean nationalism and the Kim family cult. Paektusan (Mount Paektu) is the highest mountain in Korea (North and South) and is located on the border with China. According to Korean nationalist mythology, Tangun, the mythical founder of Korea, was born on the mountain in 2333 BC. And according to DPRK hagiographic propaganda, the mountain is sacred as the home of Kim Il-sŏng’s anti-Japanese guerrilla base, as well as the birthplace of Kim Jong il. Even though Kim Jong-il was born in the former Soviet Far East near Khabarovsk, DPRK sources claim Kim was born on Mount Paektu, and on that day a bright lode star (kwangmyŏngsŏng) appeared in the sky, so everyone knew a new general had been born.
Kim Jong-il
On 8 July 1994, Kim il-sung died at the age of 82 from a heart attack. Although Kim Jong-il had been his father's designated successor as early as 1974 and had been named commander-in-chief in 1991, it took him some time to consolidate his power.
Kim Hyun-chul (politician)
Kim Hyun-chul (November 13, 1901 – February 27, 1989) was a Korean independence activist and politician.
Kim Jong-il
Kim was born in Vyatskoye, Russia, then part of the Soviet Union. By the early 1980s, Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and assumed important posts in the party and army organs. Kim succeeded his father and DPRK founder, Kim Il-sung, following the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), WPK Presidium, Chairman of the National Defence Commission (NDC) of North Korea and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the fourth-largest standing army in the world.
Kim Hong-il
Kim Hong-il may refer to:
Kim Jong-hak
Kim Jong-hak (November 5, 1951 – July 23, 2013) was a South Korean television director and producer, best known for the seminal and highly rated Korean dramas "Eyes of Dawn" (1991) and "Sandglass" (1995). After financial losses incurred by the big-budget fantasy series "The Legend" (2007) and "Faith" (2012), Kim was under investigation when he committed suicide in 2013.
Kim Jong-gil
Kim Jong-gil (Hangul: 김종길; November 5, 1926 – April 1, 2017) was an early-modern South Korean poet.
Kim Yeon-woo
Kim Hak-chul, better known by his stage name Kim Yeon-woo (; born July 22, 1971) is a South Korean male singer, vocal coach, and professor at Seoul Art College () well known for his ballads, smooth singing voice, and ability to hit high notes. Kim recorded a number of hit ballads with the South Korean band, Toy, in the mid 1990s, gathering a sizable cult following. In 2011, Kim achieved more widespread fame and popular recognition in South Korea through his participation on "I Am a Singer", along with numerous appearances on variety and entertainment shows.
Kim Pyong-il
Kim was born to Kim Il-sung and Kim Song-ae, Kim Il-sung's former secretary. Kim had one younger brother, Yong-il, and one older half-sister, Kyong-hui, who would go on to marry senior official Chang Sung-taek. He was named after another son with the same name, who was born in Vyatskoye in 1944; that son, also known as Shura Kim, allegedly drowned in Pyongyang in 1947. He graduated from Kim Il-sung University with a major in economics, and later attended the Kim Il-sung National War College, following which he was appointed a battalion commander.
Abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee
Kim Jong-il joined the Propaganda and Agitation Department in 1966 and soon became director of the Motion Picture and Arts Division. He was a big fan of films, with a library of 15,000 at his disposal. As director he reached the public with films and operas homogenous in theme: pride in the nation and specifically in Kim Il-sung. Charles K. Armstrong writes in his book, "Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World 1950-1992", that "Kim took North Korean arts in a direction that seemed specifically designed to ensure his father's favor: under his guidance, new films and operas focused as never before on the anti-Japanese struggle of Kim Il Sung and his comrades in Manchuria during the 1930's".
Kim Jong-dal
Kim Jong-dal (born 28 May 1946) is a South Korean judoka. He competed in the men's heavyweight event at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Kim Cheon-il
Kim Chŏn-il (; 1537 – July 27, 1593) was a Korean military leader in the 16th century. He was a Joseon dynasty official and became a "righteous army" leader during the Imjin war to repel the 1592 Japanese invasion of Korea. He was killed in the second siege of Jinju in 1593.
Abduction of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee
Actress Choi Eun-hee was abducted in Hong Kong when she was propositioned to direct a film and possibly run a performing academy in a Hong Kong school. She was taken from Repulse Bay and arrived in Nampo Harbor, North Korea, on January 22, 1978. She was housed in a luxury villa called Building Number 1. She toured the city and was shown Pyongyang as well as Kim Il-sung's birthplace, among other landmarks and museums. She was given a tutor who instructed her on the life and achievements of Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-il took her to movies, operas, musicals, and parties. He asked her opinion on various films and respected her perspective. It was five years before she knew that she had been kidnapped as bait for Shin.
Kim Hong-kyun (rower)
Kim Hong-kyun (born 30 April 1989) is a South Korean rower. He competed in the men's lightweight double sculls event at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Kim Dong-kil
Kim Dong-kil (; born May 19, 1963 in Damyang, Jeollanam-do, South Korea) is a former South Korean amateur boxer.
Kim Hyo-il
Kim Hyo-Il (born 7 September 1979) is a South Korean football midfielder currently playing for Chungju Hummel in the K League Classic as a player-coach. Kim often plays as a defensive midfielder, but also as an attacking midfielder and right winger.
Kim dynasty (North Korea)
Kim Jong-il was appointed to the party's Politburo (and its Presidium), Secretariat and the Central Military Commission at the 6th Congress in 1980, which formalized his role as heir apparent. He led their military beginning in 1990, and had a 14-year grooming period before he became North Korea's ruler. Kim Jong-il had a sister, Kim Kyung-hee, who was North Korea's first female four-star general and married to Jang Sung-taek, who was the second most powerful person in North Korea before his December 2013 execution for corruption. Kim Jong-il had four partners, and at least five children with three of them. His third son, Kim Jong-un, succeeded him. Scholar Virginie Grzelczyk wrote that the Kim Dynasty represented "one of the last bastions of totalitarianism as well as perhaps 'the first Communist Dynasty'".
Kim Hong-il (general)
In August 1948, Kim moved to South Korea to join the newly-formed Republic of Korea Army. He was assigned to be the principal of the Korea Military Academy. In 1949, he finished writing the "Outline of National Defense", one of the earliest works of the new country's Ministry of National Defense regarding military strategy.
Jong-il Peak
Initially, the peak was named Changsu. In 1930—1940, there was the secret camp of anti-Japanese guerrillas under with the rate of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army. According to the official North Korean historiography, Kim Jong-il was born there. In 1988, the peak was renamed to Jong-il, in honour of Kim Jong-il. A “Revolutionary Historic Site” was arranged at the territory of the former camp. Three granite plates with the name of peak, carved in red letters, were constructed on the southern rock. In 1992, for the Kim Jong-il’s 50ᵗʰ anniversary, a memorial plate with congratulatory ode “To the Shining Star” by Kim Il-sung was placed near the camp.
Propaganda and Agitation Department
Kim Jong-il had entered service of the PAD in February 1966. He was appointed the head of the PAD's Guidance Section of Culture and Art and Publication and Press section in September 1967 after a meeting in which Kim Il-sung criticized those who were associated with the Kapsan Faction Incident. In 1969, Kim Jong-il was promoted the deputy chief of the entire PAD. During this time he not only designed and issued party IDs and oversaw the handling of portraits of Kim Il-sung. In practice, Kim Jong-il ran the entire department because his nominal superior Kim Kuk-tae suffered from ill health and Yang Hyong-sop, who was tasked with ideological affairs, was engaged with science and education policy instead of propaganda. In September 1973, Kim Jong-il became the chief of the PAD, a position which he held until 1985.
Kim Jong-il
Kim was said to be a huge film fan, owning a collection of more than 20,000 video tapes and DVDs. His reported favourite movie franchises included "James Bond", "Friday the 13th", "Rambo", "Godzilla" and Hong Kong action cinema, with Sean Connery and Elizabeth Taylor his favourite male and female actors. He authored "On the Art of the Cinema". In 1978, on Kim's orders South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee were kidnapped in order to build a North Korean film industry. In 2006, he was involved in the production of the Juche-based movie "The Schoolgirl's Diary", which depicted the life of a young girl whose parents are scientists, with a KCNA news report stating that Kim "improved its script and guided its production".
Kim Dong-ryul
Kim Dong-ryul (; born March 15, 1974) is a South Korean pop singer-songwriter. He is a popular artist who composes, arranges, writes lyrics, produces, and performs his own music. He has been active since 1993.
Kim Jong-nam
Kim Jong-nam was born 10 May 1971 in Pyongyang, North Korea, to Song Hye-rim, one of three women known to have had children with Kim Jong-il. Because Kim Jong-il aimed to keep his affair with Song a secret due to the disapproval of his father Kim Il-sung, he initially kept Jong-nam out of school, instead sending him to live with Song's older sister Song Hye-rang, who tutored him at home. North Korea Leadership Watch says he left North Korea to visit his grandmother in Moscow, Soviet Union, and spent his childhood at international schools in both Russia and Switzerland until returning to his home country in 1988.
Kim Young-sik
Kim Young-sik (born 1953) is a Seoul engraver of Oriental seals who impersonates North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Ever since his sister-in-law teased the businessman's sagging form as a likeness to the chairman, Kim Young-sik has portrayed Kim Jong-il at every opportunity, in movies, television shows, commercials, and for personal appearances. "When someone tells me I don't resemble Kim Jong-il in certain respects, I'm unhappy," said Kim in "The Korea Times". Unlike his more cosmetically enhanced competitor Bae Eun-sik, "I am a natural," Kim told the "Los Angeles Times". "I didn't have to perm my hair. I didn't need plastic surgery. Even my family name, Kim, didn't have to be changed. Sometimes I feel like I "am" Kim Jong-il." Kim, whose stated goal is to have the leader say, "Little Brother, come and see me," affirms, "I wouldn't want Kim Jong-il to be offended by anything I do. I don't want to portray him as an evil person."
Kim Young-gil
Dr. Young-Gil Kim (born October 3, 1939) founded and chartered Handong Global University in Pohang, Korea in 1995, and has continued to the present day as its president. Since then, he nurtured HGU to what it is today with his new educational philosophy based on cross-border, multidisciplinary and whole-person education with global perspective commensurate with the 21st century.
Kim Kyung-cheon
Kim Kyung-chon (; June 5, 1888 – January 2, 1942) was a Korean independence activist and military leader. Several sources believe North Korean leader Kim Il-sung stole his identity after his death. In 1888, he was born in a rich, Yangban-traditioned family in South Hamgyong Province, Pukchong County, as the fifth son of his father Kim Ding-Hyung. His original name was Kim Ung-chon (Korean: 김응천, Chinese: 金應天). In 1909 he married You Jong. He later entered the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and graduated in 1911, attaing the rank of cavalry lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army. In June 1919 he fled to Manchuria along with Chi Chong-chon to join the Korean independence movement, working as a trainer but after only six months he communicated with some Korean activists and moved to Vladivostok to fight under Kim Kyu, who was renowned for victory over a Japanese battalion. His main operation after arriving in Vladivostok was fighting off Japanese-supported Chinese militias. In this period he chose Kim Kyung-cheon as a pseudonym. During the Russian Civil War, his troops managed to impress Red Army commanders with good discipline. In January 1923 he attended the conference of Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai and decided to create a communist Korean regime which would be based in the Soviet Union. However, the Comintern denied the "republic's" legitimacy as an independent entity, leading Ji to leave the Soviet Union while Kim remained. During the Great Purge, Kim was arrested for protesting against Joseph Stalin's Korean Dislocation policy and eventually died in a Soviet prison. He and Ji Cheong-cheon and Shin Dong-cheon were called "3 cheons of South Manchuria" (南满三天). He was also referred to as 擎天金将軍 (경천 김장군) (literally meaning Heaven-supporting General Kim) by Koreans in Manchuria.
Kim Jong-hyun (singer)
Kim Jong-hyun (April 8, 1990 – December 18, 2017), better known mononymously as Jonghyun, was a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, radio host, and author under the label SM Entertainment. He was the main vocalist of the South Korean boy band Shinee for nine years; releasing twelve albums with the group, in Korean and Japanese. He also participated in SM Entertainment's project group SM the Ballad for the release of two EP albums.
Kim Hong-il (general)
Kim arrived in Taipei, Taiwan on 3 November 1951 to begin his service as ambassador to the Republic of China. He remained in the position until 13 June 1960. On the occasion of his departure, General presented him with the Order of the Cloud and Banner in recognition of his wartime military service to the Republic of China, as well as the second rank of the civilian Order of Brilliant Star. Kim was one of a large number of high-level diplomatic personnel who resigned in the aftermath of the April Revolution, along with ambassador to the U.S. and ambassador to Japan . In the aftermath of Park Chung-hee's May 1961 coup, Kim served a brief term as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 21 May until his resignation on 21 July. He continued to play a role in foreign affairs after his resignation, and was dispatched to Niger in December 1961 as South Korea's representative to the celebrations for Niger's fourth Republic Day.
Censorship in North Korea
Kim Jong-il was made commander-in-chief and head of the military affairs commission by his father Kim Il-sung in the spring of 1994. Later that year in July, Kim Il-sung died of a heart attack and Kim Jong-il became the next member of the Kim Dynasty to rule North Korea. Kim Jong-il upheld his father's authoritarian regime and strict censorship. He was known for using military propaganda to distract North Korean citizens from their lack of freedoms and access to outside information. Despite only giving citizens access to hyper-militarized government propaganda, many cell phones and DVDs were obtained illegally under Kim Jong-il.
Kim Ha-neul
Kim Ha-neul (; born February 21, 1978) is a South Korean actress. After starting her career as a model, she rose to fame by starring in romantic-comedy films "My Tutor Friend" (2003) and "Too Beautiful to Lie" (2004) and the action-comedy film "My Girlfriend Is an Agent" (2009). In 2011, Kim won Best Actress at the 48th Grand Bell Awards and the 32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards for her performance in the serial killer thriller "Blind". Her television work includes romance series "Romance" (2002) and "A Gentleman's Dignity" (2012), "On Air" (2008) and the melodrama "On the Way to the Airport" (2016).
Kim Man-il
Kim Man-il (; 1944–1947/8) was the second son and child of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung and his first wife, Kim Jong-suk.
Kim Koo
Kim was born on August 29, 1876, in Teot-gol (텃골), Baek-un-bang (백운방), Haeju, South Hwanghae Province, Korea, the only son of a farmer Kim Soon-young (김순영) and his wife Kwak Nack-won (곽낙원). His name at birth was Kim Changahm (; ). When he was nine years old, he started to study Chinese classic texts such as "Zizhi Tongjian", and "Great Learning" at local seodangs.
Kim Jong-nam
Kim Jong-nam (, ; 10 May 1971 – 13 February 2017) was the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. From roughly 1994 to 2001, he was considered the heir apparent to his father. He was thought to have fallen out of favour after embarrassing the regime in 2001 with a failed attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland with a false passport (however, this may have been a lie told to Japanese security forces as a joke in reference to advertising slogan I'm going to Disney World!), although Kim himself said his loss of favour had been due to advocating reform.
Shin Sang-ok
From 1983 on, Shin directed seven films, with Kim Jong-il acting as an executive producer. The last and best-known of these films is "Pulgasari", a giant-monster film similar to the Japanese "Godzilla". In 1986, eight years after his kidnapping, Shin and his wife escaped while in Vienna for a film festival. They managed to obtain political asylum from the US embassy in Vienna and Kim Jong-il became convinced that the couple had been kidnapped by the Americans. Shin and his wife lived covertly for two years in Reston, Virginia, under American protection, and authorities debriefed the couple about Kim Jong-il and their experiences in North Korea.
Kim Young-ha
Kim was born in Hwacheon on November 11, 1968. He moved from place to place as a child, since his father was in the military. As a child, he suffered from gas poisoning from coal gas and lost memory before ten. He was educated at Yonsei University in Seoul, earning undergraduate as well as graduate degrees in Business Administration from Yonsei University, but he didn't show much interest in it. Instead he focused on writing stories. Kim, after graduating from Yonsei University in 1993, began his military service as an assistant detective at the military police 51st Infantry Division near Suwon. His career as a professional writer started in 1995 right after discharge when his short-story "A Meditation On Mirror" (Geoure daehan myeongsang) appeared in Review, and the following year, won the 1st New Writer’s Award given by Munhak Dongne with the novel, "I Have a Right to Destroy Myself" (Naneun nareul pagoehal gwolliga itda).
Hong Jong-u
Hong Jong-u (홍종우, 洪鍾宇, 1850 – 1913) was a Korean assassin, reformer, activist and statesman during the Korean Empire. He assassinated Kim Ok-gyun in Shanghai in 1894.
Birthday
In North Korea, people do not celebrate birthdays on July 8 and December 17 because these were the dates of the deaths of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, respectively. More than 100,000 North Koreans celebrate displaced birthdays on July 9 or December 18 to avoid these dates. A person born on July 8 before 1994 may change their birthday, with official recognition. Kim Il-sung's birthday, Day of the Sun, is the most important public holiday of the country, and Kim Jong-il's birthday is celebrated as Day of the Shining Star.
Kim Pyong-il
Kim Pyong-il (; born 10 August 1954) is the younger paternal half-brother of the former leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, and the only surviving son of former leader and president of North Korea Kim Il-sung. He is the current ambassador of North Korea to the Czech Republic.
Kim Yong-ju
Kim Yong-ju (Chosŏn'gŭl: 김영주; born 21 September 1920) is a North Korean politician and the younger brother of Kim Il-sung, who ruled North Korea from 1948 to 1994. Under his brother's rule, Kim Yong-ju held key posts in the Workers' Party of Korea during the 1960s and early 1970s, but he fell out of favor in 1974 following a power struggle with Kim Jong-il. Since 1998, he has held the ceremonial position of Honorary Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's parliament.
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (officially transcribed Kim Jong Un; ; ; born 8 January 1984) is a North Korean politician serving as Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and Leader of the Workers' Party of Korea since 2012. Kim is the second child of Kim Jong-il (1941–2011) and Ko Yong-hui (1952–2004). The grandson of Kim Il-sung, the first leader of North Korea from 1948 to 1994, he is the first North Korean leader to have been born after the country's founding.
Kim dynasty (North Korea)
Kim Il-sung married twice and had six children. He met his first wife, Kim Jong-suk, in 1936, and she bore Kim Jong-il, Kim Man-il, and Kim Kyong-hui before dying while bearing a stillborn daughter. Kim Jong-suk was born 24 December 1917 in Hoeryong in (North) Hamgyo’ng Province. Her family and she fled Korea to Yanji, Jilin (Kirin) Province around 1922. In October 1947, Kim Jong-suk presided over the establishment of a school for war orphans in South P’yo’ngan Province, which became the Mangyo’ngdae Revolutionary School. When the school opened in west Pyongyang one year after its foundation, Kim Jong Suk also unveiled the country's first statue to Kim Il-sung. In 1949, Kim Jong-suk was once again pregnant. She continued public activities, but her health diminished. She died on 19 September 1949 due to complications from pregnancy. Kim Il-sung had three children with his second wife, Kim Song-ae: Kim Kyong-il (born 1951), Kim Pyong-il (born 1953), and Kim Yong-il (born 1955). He had two younger brothers, Kim Chol-ju and Kim Yong-ju and a sister.
Kim Nam-il
Kim Nam-Il (; Hanja: 金南一; born 14 March 1977) is a retired South Korean footballer who played as defensive midfielder. He was virtually unknown before he became a superstar for his impressive defensive displays for his national team during the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Kim Seung-ho
Kim Seung-ho (July 13, 1917 – December 1, 1968) was a Korean actor. Kim was a star of the 1950s and 1960s and regarded as one of the best actors in Korean film history. Kim started acting at the age of 20, but he took lead roles when he was over 40 years old. Kim is also the father of actor Kim Hee-ra.
Kim Jong-il bibliography
Kim Jong-il (16 February 1941/1942 – 17 December 2011) was the Supreme Leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011.
Kim Min-ki
Kim was born on March 31, 1951, the youngest of 10 children, in Iri (present-day Iksan), North Jeolla Provence, South Korea. His family moved to Seoul in 1963, and he enrolled in Seoul National University to study fine arts in 1969.
Kim Han-sol
Kim Han-sol (, born 16 June 1995) is the eldest son of Kim Jong-nam and a grandson of the former North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-il. His father was the unofficial heir-apparent until 2001, when he fell out of favor with the regime after a failed attempt to secretly visit Japan's Disneyland in May 2001.
Kim Jong-chul
Kim Jong-chul (born 25 September 1981), sometimes spelled Kim Jong Chol, is a son of former North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il. His younger brother is Kim Jong-un, now the leader of North Korea. His older half-brother was Kim Jong-nam, who was assassinated in February 2017.
Kim Jong-pil
On 15 February 1951, Kim married Park Young-ok (30 October 1929 – 21 February 2015), who died on 21 February 2015 from Urethral cancer, aged 85. Park was President Park Chung-hee's niece.
Kim Sang-ok
Kim Sang-ok was born on March 15, 1920 in Tongyeong, Kyeongsangnam-do, Korea and died on October 31, 2004. Kim's sobriquet was Chojeong. During his life, Kim was repeatedly imprisoned for spreading anti-Japanese sentiments. In 1938, along with Kim Yongho and Ham Yunsu, Kim participated in the literary group that produced the magazine 'Barley', in which Kim published the poems "A Grain of Sand” (Moraeal) and "The Tea Room” (Dabang) in 1938. Following Korean Liberation, Kim taught at Masan High School, Busan Girls' High School, and Gyeongnam Girls' High School. He founded the Tongyeong Writers' Association in 1956.
Kim Hwang-sik
Kim Hwang-sik (; born 9 August 1948) is a South Korean lawyer and politician who was the country's Prime Minister from October 2010 to February 2013. He is the former Chairperson of the Board of Audit and Inspection.
Kangdong Residence
The compound was constructed in the 1980s and expanded in the 1990s under the order of Kim Jong-il. It contains buildings for Kim Jong-il, his late wife Ko Yong-hui, his sister Kim Kyong-hui and his brother-in-law Jang Sung-taek.
The area is mostly used as summer residence, to spend holidays or for parties with close officials. The estate has an elaborate garden, set around many lakes. There are numerous guest houses, and a banqueting hall. The whole compound is a maximum security area, surrounded by two armored fence lines with guards huts and checkpoints, clearly visible on satellite pictures. Kim Jong-il’s former cook Kenji Fujimoto worked and lived in a guest house within the compound and provided some photographs dated 1989. Analysis of satellite pictures showed that the area changed significantly since then and even after 2006 new buildings and a new railway station were established. Defectors reported that in Hyangmok-ri, not far from the residence and from the Mausoleum of Tangun, Kim Jong-un’s birthplace is being built, though he was actually born in Changsong, North Pyongan Province.
Kim Kwang-lim
Kim Kwang-lim was born on September 21, 1929 in Wonsan, Hamgyeongnam-do, Korea. Kim graduated from Korea University with a degree in Korean literature and later served as a professor at Jangan College and as the President of the Society of Korean Poets.
Kim Dong-in
Kim Dong-in, born on October 2, 1900 in Pyeongyang, Pyeongannam-do was a pioneer of realism and naturalism in Modern Korean literature. A son of a wealthy landowner, like many other young Korean intellectuals Kim took his higher education in Japan, attending the Meiji Academy in Tokyo and entering the Kawabata School of Fine Arts. Kim dropped out when he decided to pursue writing as a career. In 1919, Kim and other advocates for "art-for-art's-sake-literature," launched the influential but transitory journal "Creation" (Changjo) in Japan along with Joo Yohan, Jeon Yeongtaek, Choi Seungman, and Kim Hwan. "Creation" took a stand against the didactic literature ("national literature" to put it another way) proposed by Yi Kwang-su, In "Creation" Kim published his debut story, “The Sorrows of the Weak” (Yakhanjaui seulpeum). In 1925, Kim published one of his most famous works, "Potato," which was a breakthrough in Korean "realist" fiction and a further salvo in his ongoing literary war with Yi Kwang-su.