Kim Jong Il

Eternal General Secretary Kim Jong Il
김정일
Kim in 2011
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
In office 8 October 1997 – 17 December 2011
Preceded by	Kim Il Sung
Succeeded by	Kim Jong Un (as First Secretary)
Chairman of the National Defence Commission
In office 9 April 1993 – 17 December 2011
First Vice Chairman	O Jin-u Jo Myong-rok
Vice Chairman	Choe Kwang Kim Il-chol Ri Yong-mu Yon Hyong-muk Kim Yong-chun O Kuk-ryol Jang Song-thaek
Preceded by	Kim Il Sung
Succeeded by	Kim Jong Un (as First Chairman)
Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army
In office 24 December 1991 – 17 December 2011
Preceded by	Kim Il Sung
Succeeded by	Kim Jong Un
Personal details
Born	Yuri Irsenovich Kim (1941-02-16)16 February 1941 Primorsky Krai, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (Soviet records) (1942-02-16)16 February 1942 Baekdu Mountain, Korea, Empire of Japan (North Korean biography and records)[a]
Died	(2011-12-17)17 December 2011 (aged 69 or 70) Pyongyang, North Korea
Resting place	Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, Pyongyang, North Korea
Nationality	North Korean Soviet
Political party	Workers' Party of Korea
Spouses	Hong Il-chon ​ ​ (m. 1966; div. 1969)​ Kim Young-sook ​ (m. 1974)​
Domestic partners	Song Hye-rim (1968–2002) Ko Yong-hui (1977–2004) Kim Ok (2004–2011)
Children	Kim Hye-kyung Kim Jong-nam Kim Sol-song Kim Jong-chul Kim Jong Un Kim Yo-jong[1]
Parents	Kim Il Sung (father) Kim Jong Suk (mother)
Relatives	Kim family
Education	Mangyongdae Revolutionary School
Alma mater	Kim Il Sung University
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	North Korea
Branch/service	Korean People's Army
Years of service	1991–2011
Rank	Taewonsu(posthumously)
Commands	Supreme Commander
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	김정일
Hancha	金正日[2]
Revised Romanization	Gim Jeong(-)il
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Chŏngil
Central institution membership 1980–2011: Member, Presidium of the Political Bureau of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea 1974–2011: Member, Political Bureau of the 5th, 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea 1972–1997: Secretariat of the Workers' Party of Korea 1972–2011: Member, 5th, 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea 1982–2011: Deputy, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th Supreme People's Assembly Other offices held 1997–2011: Chairman, Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea 1980–1997: Member, Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea 1990–1993: First Vice Chairman, National Defense Commission Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ← Kim Il Sung Kim Jong Un →

Kim Jong Il^[b] (/ˌkɪm dʒɒŋˈɪl/;^[3] Korean: 김정일; Korean pronunciation: [kim.dzɔŋ.il];^[c] born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;^[d] 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea. He led North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his own death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the WPK.

In the early 1980s, Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of North Korea, thus being established the Kim dynasty, and he assumed important posts in party and army organs. Kim succeeded his father and founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, following his death in 1994. Kim was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), WPK Presidium, Chairman of the National Defence Commission (NDC) of North Korea and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the fourth-largest standing army in the world.

Kim ruled North Korea as a repressive and totalitarian dictatorship.^[e] Kim assumed leadership during a period of catastrophic economic crisis amidst the dissolution of the Soviet Union, on which it was heavily dependent for trade in food and other supplies, which brought a famine. While the famine had ended by the late 1990s, food scarcity continued to be a problem throughout his tenure. Kim strengthened the role of the military by his Songun ("military-first") policies, making the army the central organizer of civil society. Kim's rule also saw tentative economic reforms, including the opening of the Kaesong Industrial Park in 2003. In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended to refer to him and his successors as the "supreme leader of the DPRK".

The most common colloquial title given to Kim during his lifetime was "Dear Leader" to distinguish him from his father Kim Il Sung, the "Great Leader". Following Kim's failure to appear at important public events in 2008, foreign observers assumed that Kim had either fallen seriously ill or died. On 19 December 2011, the North Korean government announced that he had died two days earlier, whereupon his third son, Kim Jong Un, was promoted to a senior position in the ruling WPK and succeeded him. After his death, alongside "Eternal General Secretary" of the WPK, Kim Jong Il was declared "Eternal Chairman" of the now defunct National Defence Commission, in keeping with the tradition of establishing eternal posts for the dead members of the Kim dynasty. North Korean media also began referring to Kim as "the General" (Changun), similar to his father's posthumous designation as "the [eternal] President".^[7]

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