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.
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.