Kim Il Sung

Kim Il Sung (1912-1994), first premier of North Korea (1948-1994). Originally named Kim Sung Chu, he was born on a farm near P’yŏngyang, Korea (now in North Korea), and in 1926 he migrated with his family to Manchuria, in northeastern China. There he joined the Korean Communist Party in 1931 and fought in the guerrilla war against the Japanese occupation. After World War II (1939-1945) Kim returned to Korea with the Soviet occupation forces, who established a puppet regime in the north of Korea. By 1948 the Communists were well entrenched, and Kim became premier of North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea). Kim’s attempt to extend Communist rule into South Korea (Republic of Korea) resulted in the onset of the Korean War in 1950. After three years of bitter fighting, the Korean Peninsula remained divided. In 1953 North Korea signed an armistice agreement (the South refused to sign), and the fighting ended. Kim then focused his attention inward. He eliminated his last rivals in the North and set out, with some success, to improve the country's economy, simultaneously creating a cult of his own personality. Kim gradually relinquished control of the Korean Communist Party to his son, Kim Jong Il, but remained in control of the government. Kim Il Sung died suddenly of a heart attack in 1994 and the country entered a three-year mourning period. In 1997 Kim Jong Il officially became head of state, and the deceased Kim Il Sung was honored with the title Eternal President.