Hong Il-chon
Hong Il-chon (, born 1942) was the first wife of Kim Jong-il. She was the daughter of a soldier who died during the Korean War. In the early 1960s, Kim Il-sung, father of Kim Jong-il, introduced her to his son and handpicked her to marry him in 1966. Her only daughter is named Kim Hye-gyong, born in 1968, and is the first child of Kim Jong-il. They divorced in 1969.
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.