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.
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.