Kim Il-sung, << kihm ihl sung >> (1912-1994), headed the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea—commonly called North Korea—from 1948, when the country was established, until his death in 1994. He served as premier (later president) and head of the Korean Workers’ Party, North Korea’s Communist ruling party. Kim led a strict dictatorship, exercising total control over North Korea’s armed forces, economy, educational system, and other aspects of society.
Kim was born Kim Sung-ju on April 15, 1912, in Ch’ilgol-dong, near Pyongyang. His father was a schoolteacher. During Kim’s boyhood, his family moved to Jilin (also spelled Kirin), China, where he joined the Communist Party in the early 1930’s. Around that time, he adopted the name Kim Il-sung. In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, Kim led Korean guerrilla forces against the Japanese in Korea and in Manchuria, a region in northeastern China. Japan had ruled Korea since 1910 and had taken control of Manchuria in 1931. In 1940, Kim and his forces retreated to the eastern Soviet Union. In September 1945, after Japan’s defeat in World War II (1939-1945), Kim returned to Pyongyang and rose to leadership in the northern branch of Korea’s Communist Party.
Kim died on July 8, 1994. The government preserved his body and placed it on display. He was succeeded by his oldest son, Kim Jong-il.
