Kim Il-Sung

His Excellency Generalissimo Eternal President Kim Il Sung
김일성
Official Portrait, 1950
Supreme Leader of North Korea
In office 9 September 1948 – 8 July 1994 Head of State: 15 August 1945 - 8 September 1948
Preceded by	Office established; Nobuyuki Abe as Governor-General of Korea
Succeeded by	Kim Jong-il
President of North Korea
In office 28 December 1972 – 8 July 1994
Preceded by	Office established Choi Yong-kun, Head of State as President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly
Succeeded by	Office abolished (Proclaimed Eternal President of the Republic after his death)
Prime Minister of North Korea
In office 9 September 1948 – 28 December 1972
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Kim Il (Premier)
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea
In office 11 October 1966 – 8 July 1994
Preceded by	Himself as Chairman
Succeeded by	Kim Jong-il
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea
In office 30 June 1949 – 11 October 1966
Preceded by	Kim Tu-bong
Succeeded by	Himself as General Secretary
Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of North Korea
In office 28 August 1946 – 30 June 1949
Chairman	Kim Tu-bong
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Chairman of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea
In office 17 December 1945 – 28 August 1946
General Secretary	Pak Hon-yong
Preceded by	Kim Yong-bom
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	Kim Song-ju (1912-04-15)15 April 1912 Mangyŏngdae, Heian-nandō, Japanese Korea
Died	8 July 1994(1994-07-08) (aged 82) Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Resting place	Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Nationality	North Korean
Political party	Workers’ Party of Korea
Spouse(s)	Kim Jong-suk ​ ​ (m. 1940; died 1949)​ Kim Song-ae ​ (m. 1952)​
Children	Kim Jong-il Kim Man-il Kim Kyong-hui Kim Kyong-jin Kim Pyong-il Kim Yong-il
Parents	Kim Hyong-jik (Father) Kang Pan-sok
Relatives	Kim family
Residence	Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Occupation	Eternal President of the Republic
Profession	President of North Korea
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union(1941-1945) Democratic People's Republic of Korea(1948-1994)
Branch/service	Soviet Armed Forces ; Red Army (1941-1945) Korean People's Army (1948-1994)
Years of service	1941–1945 1948–1994
Rank	Dae wonsu (Grand Marshal)
Commands	All (supreme commander)
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War

Kim Il Sung (Hangul: 김일성; Hanja: 金日成, Kim Il Sŏng; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was the first leader of North Korea from 1948 until his death in 1994. His birth name was "Kim Song-ju". Kim created the Juche political idea. He ran North Korea differently than the Soviet Union and China.

By the late 1950s and during the 1960s and the 1970s, the North Korean economy preformed quite well and that many North Koreans enjoyed a higher standard of living than the South Koreans. By the 1980s however, the South started to take over. Despite this however, the North Korean economy still preformed quite well until the Fall of the Soviet Union, North Korea's biggest trading partner in 1991 where the North Korean economy declined and fell far behind the South. Kim died of a heart attack on 8 July 1994. He was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-il.

Kim Il Sung's name means "one who becomes the sun".^[1] There are more than 300 statues of Kim Il Sung in North Korea. ^[2]

1. ↑ Bradley K. Martin (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 0312323220.
2. ↑ Portal, Jane; British Museum (2005). Art under control in North Korea. Reaktion Books. p. 82. ISBN 978-1861892362.