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78-478: The term Chollima originates from the Chinese mythological flying horse. The word Chollima can be translated as "thousand-li horse," referring to its ability to travel 1,000 li (500 kilometers or 310 miles) in a single day. It also was said that no mortal man could ride it. It is known for accomplishing the most difficult tasks and having led heroes to victory. This idea of Chollima was used by Kim Il Sung to energize

156-515: A "Military-First" policy to strengthen the country and reinforce the regime. On the national scale, the Japanese Foreign Ministry acknowledges that this has resulted in a positive growth rate for the country since 1996, with the implementation of "landmark socialist-type market economic practices" in 2002, keeping the North afloat despite a continued dependency on foreign aid for food. In

234-413: A cerebral hemorrhage , and that Beijing dispatched five military doctors at the request of Pyongyang. Kim will require a long period of rest and rehabilitation before he fully recovers and has complete command of his limbs again, as with typical stroke victims". Japan's Mainichi Shimbun claimed Kim had occasionally lost consciousness since April. Japan's Tokyo Shimbun on 15 September, added that Kim

312-487: A period of massive energy shortages and severe famine . The Chollima Movement was the first of many mass mobilization campaigns in North Korea, and probably the most famous one. Chollima has since become an icon of North Korea. Several statues of the winged horse have been constructed throughout the country. Most significant is the 46-meter high Chollima Statue on Mansu Hill  [ ko ] , Pyongyang . This statue

390-543: A French neurosurgeon was aboard a plane for Beijing, en route to North Korea. Further, Kim Sung-ho, director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a closed parliamentary session in Seoul that "Kim appeared to be recovering quickly enough to start performing his daily duties". The Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported "a serious problem" with Kim's health. Japan's Fuji Television network reported that Kim's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam , traveled to Paris to hire

468-565: A bomb in the case of the second, saying the operation was ordered by Kim personally. On 24 December 1991, Kim was also named Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army . Defence Minister Oh Jin Wu , one of Kim Il Sung's most loyal subordinates, engineered Kim's acceptance by the Army as the next leader of North Korea, despite his lack of military service. In 1992, Kim Il Sung publicly stated that his son

546-685: A brand name for trucks, buses, and tractors in North Korea. One of the lines on the Pyongyang Metro is called Chollima , as is the North Korean national football team . The winged horse has been depicted on North Korean currency starting in 1978, as well as being seen on postage stamps. The most recent orbital rocket developed by the North Korean space agency, the National Aerospace Development Administration, or NADA ,

624-569: A known earlier recording. It was also noted that Kim did not appear in public for the Olympic torch relay in Pyongyang on 28 April 2008. The question had reportedly "baffled foreign intelligence agencies for years". On 9 September 2008, various sources reported that after he did not show up that day for a military parade celebrating North Korea's 60th anniversary, United States intelligence agencies believed Kim might be "gravely ill" after having suffered

702-686: A meeting with Madeleine Albright , he agreed to a moratorium on missile construction. In 2002, Kim's government admitted to having produced nuclear weapons since the 1994 agreement. Kim's regime argued the secret production was necessary for security purposes – citing the presence of United States-owned nuclear weapons in South Korea and the new tensions with the United States under President George W. Bush . On 9 October 2006, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency announced that it had successfully conducted an underground nuclear test . Kim

780-547: A military parade for the KPA's 60th anniversary and said: "Glory to the officers and soldiers of the heroic Korean People's Army!". These words were followed by a loud applause by the crowd at Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square where the parade was held. Kim was named Chairman of the National Defence Commission on 9 April 1993, making him day-to-day commander of the armed forces. According to defector Hwang Jang Yop ,

858-482: A neurosurgeon for his father, and showed footage where the surgeon boarded flight CA121 bound for Pyongyang from Beijing on 24 October. The French weekly Le Point identified him as Francois-Xavier Roux, neurosurgery director of Paris' Sainte-Anne Hospital, but Roux himself stated he was in Beijing for several days and not North Korea. On 19 December 2011, Roux confirmed that Kim suffered a debilitating stroke in 2008 and

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936-495: A result of the new policy, the Kaesong Industrial Park was constructed in 2003 just north of the demilitarized zone . In 1994, North Korea and the United States signed an Agreed Framework which was designed to freeze and eventually dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid in producing two power-generating nuclear reactors and the assurance that it would not be invaded again. In 2000, after

1014-515: A sign of disloyalty. According to Hwang, Kim Jong Il personally directed even minor details of state affairs, such as the size of houses for party secretaries and the delivery of gifts to his subordinates. On 8 July 1994, Kim Il Sung died at the age of 82 from a heart attack. Kim Jong Il had been his father's designated successor as early as 1974, named commander-in-chief in 1991, and became Supreme Leader upon his father's death. He officially took over his father's old post as General Secretary of

1092-436: A stroke. He had last been seen in public a month earlier. A former CIA official said earlier reports of a health crisis were likely accurate. North Korean media remained silent on the issue. An Associated Press report said analysts believed Kim had been supporting moderates in the foreign ministry, while North Korea's powerful military was against so-called "Six-Party" negotiations with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and

1170-452: A subsequent best-selling book, The True Character of Kim Jong Il , Shigemura cited apparently unnamed people close to Kim's family along with Japanese and South Korean intelligence sources, claiming they confirmed Kim's diabetes took a turn for the worse early in 2000 and from then until his supposed death three-and-a-half years later he was using a wheelchair. Shigemura moreover claimed a voiceprint analysis of Kim speaking in 2004 did not match

1248-415: A thriving nation in hearty response to Kim Jong Un's call "Forward towards the final victory!" In other areas of North Korea society the term “Chollima speed” is still used to depict rapid completion of expectations, referring to both the mythical horse but also to the economic growth in the 1950s. In the late 1990s North Korea again called on a second Chollima movement to help strengthen the nation during

1326-500: A white winter parka, Kim stood in front of trees with autumn foliage and a red-and-white banner. The Times questioned the authenticity of at least one of these photos. In November 2008, Japan's TBS TV network reported that Kim had suffered a second stroke in October, which "affected the movement of his left arm and leg and also his ability to speak". However, South Korea's intelligence agency rejected this report. In response to

1404-519: Is also said to have received English language education in Malta in the early 1970s on his infrequent holidays there as a guest of Prime Minister Dom Mintoff . The elder Kim had meanwhile remarried and had another son, Kim Pyong Il . Since 1988, Kim Pyong Il has served in a series of North Korean embassies in Europe and was the North Korean ambassador to Poland . Foreign commentators suspect that Kim Pyong Il

1482-574: Is called Chŏllima 1 . Chollima The qianlima ( [tɕʰjɛ́nlǐmà] ; also chollima or cheollima in Korean, and senrima in Japanese; lit.   ' thousand-li horse ' ) is a mythical horse that originates from the Chinese classics and is commonly portrayed in East Asian mythology. The winged horse is said to be too swift and elegant to be mounted by any mortal man and

1560-460: Is controlled by the government." Kim's government was accused of " crimes against humanity " for its alleged culpability in creating and prolonging the 1990s famine . Human Rights Watch characterized him as a dictator and accused him of human rights violations . Amnesty International condemned him for leaving 'millions of North Koreans mired in poverty' and detaining hundreds of thousands of people in prison camps. Kim Jong Il claimed that

1638-469: Is for this reason that from early times horses have been used allegorically to represent extraordinary people." Bole recognizing a qianlima was a metaphor for a wise ruler selecting talented shi " scholar-officials ". Thus, (Henry 1987:28) "Geniuses in obscurity were called thousand li horses who had not yet met their [Bole]". Keitoku Senrima (Kim Ge-dok), a professional middleweight boxer in Japan, uses

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1716-514: Is frequently associated with the fabled qianlima ( Chinese : 千里馬 ) "thousand- miles horse", which was supposedly able to gallop one thousand li (approximately 400 km) in a single day (e.g. Red Hare , sweats blood horse ). Qianlima was a literary Chinese word for people with latent talent and ability; and Spring (1988:180) suggests, "For centuries of Chinese history, horses had been considered animals capable of performing feats requiring exceptional strength and endurance. Possibly it

1794-564: Is named after its ability to travel one thousand li in a single day. Since the 3rd century BCE, the qianlima was used as a metaphor for exceptionally talented people and animals, such as Red Hare . The chollima is an important symbol in North Korea and is the namesake of the Chollima Movement . Beginning around the 3rd century BCE, Chinese classics mention Bole , a mythological horse-tamer, as an exemplar of horse judging. Bole

1872-449: Is still supported and used by the current North Korean regime. The term Chollima and ideas from the early movement still exist in North Korea today. Kim Jong Un has given field guidance to major industrial establishments, exactly as Kim Il Sung had done in the past. North Korean workers have been depicted by the KCNA as being “filled with the will to strive for victory in the cause of building

1950-468: Is that the people's adherence to Kim's cult of personality was solely out of respect for Kim Il Sung or out of fear of punishment for failure to pay homage. Media and government sources from outside North Korea generally support this view, while North Korean government sources aver that it was genuine hero worship. The song " No Motherland Without You ", sung by the KPA State Merited Choir ,

2028-579: The Communist lifestyle and working under the lofty socialist ideal " One for all and all for one ." “A work team would receive the title of Chollima Work Team by setting a production target high enough to stand out among other work teams in the whole nation and actually attaining the target as assessed competitively under a national evaluation system.” If the title was awarded the team and its members would receive honorific items such as Chollima embossed banners, flags and notebooks. The Chollima Work Team Movement

2106-612: 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 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

2184-414: The stage name "Senrima" (the Japanese form of Qianlima/Chollima) to reference North Korea's Chollima campaigns and thereby express his Zainichi Korean heritage. The chollima is an important symbol in North Korea . It is used as the nickname of its national association football team . The state also gave the name to the Chollima Movement , which promoted fast economic development, similar to that of

2262-423: The 1990s, primarily due to mismanagement. In addition, North Korea experienced severe floods in the mid-1990s, exacerbated by poor land management. This, compounded with the fact that only 18% of North Korea is arable land and the country's inability to import the goods necessary to sustain industry, led to a severe famine and left North Korea economically devastated. Faced with a country in decay, Kim adopted

2340-484: The 60th anniversary of the country with general secretary Kim Jong Il, we celebrated on our own". Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador said, "We see such reports as not only worthless, but rather as a conspiracy plot". Seoul's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that "the South Korean embassy in Beijing had received an intelligence report that Kim collapsed on 22 August". The New York Times reported on 9 September that Kim

2418-695: The Central Committee already appointed him successor to Kim Il Sung in 1974. The first public confirmation of Kim Jong Il's position as successor came in 1977, when in a booklet he was designated as Kim Il Sung's only heir. By the time of the Sixth Party Congress in October 1980, Kim's control of the Party operation was complete. He was given senior posts in the Presidium , the Military Commission and

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2496-663: The Chinese Great Leap Forward and the Soviet Stakhanovite movement . After the Korean War , the country required rebuilding to function again. In order to expedite the construction, President Kim Il Sung devised the slogan "rush at the speed of chollima ". Several statues are found of this creature in Pyongyang , the capital of North Korea. The Chollima Statue symbolizes "heroism, the constant, fighting spirit of

2574-814: The Korean people, and the innovations and advance so quickly, at the speed of the chollima ". A notable one can be found near Mansu Hill  [ ko ] , which was finished on 15 April 1961. It stands roughly 46 meters high and 16 meters long, measured from the pavement to the top of the Red Letter of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea representing the working class. Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il ( / ˌ k ɪ m dʒ ɒ ŋ ˈ ɪ l / ; Korean :  김정일 ; Korean pronunciation: [kim.dzɔŋ.il] ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim ; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011)

2652-517: The North Korean government system became even more centralized and autocratic during the 1980s and 1990s under Kim than it had been under his father. In one example explained by Hwang, although Kim Il Sung required his ministers to be loyal to him, he nonetheless and frequently sought their advice during decision-making. In contrast, Kim Jong Il demanded absolute obedience and agreement from his ministers and party officials with no advice or compromise, and he viewed any slight deviation from his thinking as

2730-578: The United States aimed towards ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons. Some United States officials noted that soon after rumours about Kim's health were publicized a month before, North Korea had taken a "tougher line in nuclear negotiations". In late August North Korea's official news agency reported the government would "consider soon a step to restore the nuclear facilities in Nyongbyon to their original state as strongly requested by its relevant institutions". Analysts said this meant "the military may have taken

2808-559: The Workers' Party of Korea on 8 October 1997. In 1998, he was re-elected as chairman of the National Defence Commission, and a constitutional amendment declared that post to be "the highest post of the state." Also in 1998, the Supreme People's Assembly wrote the president's post out of the constitution and designated Kim Il Sung as the country's " Eternal President " in order to honor his memory forever. Officially, Kim

2886-592: The attendees sometimes shouted, "Long live Kim Pyong Il!" Kim Jong Il reported this to his father, knowing that it could be portrayed as a threat to the personality cult surrounding him. Reportedly, Kim Il Sung was infuriated and Pyong Il thus fell out of favor, strengthening Kim Jong Il's position. In 1979, Kim Pyong Il began a series of diplomatic postings in Europe , arranged so as then he couldn't influence politics in North Korea. Kim Pyong Il only returned to North Korea in 2019. According to Kim Jong Il's official biography,

2964-617: The barometer for distinguishing whether a person can be deemed a member of North Korean society and hence entitled to rights 'lies not on the grounds of his social class but on the grounds of his ideology'. In an August 2008 issue of the Japanese newsweekly Shūkan Gendai , Waseda University professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, an authority on the Korean Peninsula , claimed that Kim died of diabetes in late 2003 and had been replaced in public appearances by one or more stand-ins previously employed to protect him from assassination attempts. In

3042-505: The country off from almost all external trade, even with its traditional partners, the Soviet Union and China. South Korea accused Kim of ordering the 1983 bombing in Rangoon , Burma which killed 17 visiting South Korean officials, including four cabinet members, and another in 1987 which killed all 115 onboard Korean Air Flight 858 . A North Korean agent, Kim Hyon Hui , confessed to planting

3120-517: The country. It worked to nationalize industry and agriculture completely and become largely self-sufficient in producing food, clothing, and housing for all of its citizens. Kim Il Sung started the Chollima movement to motivate hard work for the sake of the nation to achieve the desired outcomes of the five-year plan. At a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea held in December 1956, Kim Il Sung called on

3198-462: The course of general education between September 1950 and August 1960. He attended Primary School No. 4 and Middle School No. 1 ( Namsan Higher Middle School ) in Pyongyang. This is contested by foreign academics, who believe he is more likely to have received his early education in the People's Republic of China as a precaution to ensure his safety during the Korean War . Throughout his schooling, Kim

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3276-412: The following year. However, when Kim Il Sung began to contemplate the succession question in the early 1970s, it was not certain that Kim Jong Il would be his successor. There was Kim's uncle, Kim Yong-ju , who was once believed to be Kim Il Sung's eventual successor but who had made several mistakes in the struggle for power, had serious flaws, and was becoming increasingly marginalized. Then there

3354-501: The following year. Kim Jong Suk died in 1949 from an ectopic pregnancy. In 1945, Kim was four years old when World War II ended and Korea regained independence from Japan . His father returned to Pyongyang that September, and in late November Kim returned to Korea via a Soviet ship, landing at Sonbong . The family moved into a former Japanese officer's mansion in Pyongyang, with a garden and pool. Kim's brother drowned there in 1948. According to his official biography, Kim completed

3432-563: The government and the country. Although not required to stand for popular election to his key offices, he was unanimously elected to the Supreme People's Assembly every five years, representing a military constituency, due to his concurrent capacities as supreme commander of the KPA and chairman of the NDC. Kim had a "reputation for being almost comically incompetent in matters of economic management". The economy of North Korea struggled throughout

3510-437: The government began building a personality cult around him patterned after that of his father, the "Great Leader". Kim was regularly hailed by the media as the "fearless leader" and "the great successor to the revolutionary cause". He emerged as the most powerful figure behind his father in North Korea. By the 1980s, North Korea began to experience severe economic stagnation. Kim Il Sung's policy of Juche (self-reliance) cut

3588-419: The health of the ailing leader. By 29 October 2008, reports stated Kim suffered a serious setback and had been taken back to the hospital. The New York Times reported that Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso , on 28 October 2008, stated in a parliamentary session that Kim had been hospitalized: "His condition is not so good. However, I don't think he is totally incapable of making decisions". Aso further said

3666-536: The nation to be more motivated in economic production. He said, “Let us produce more, practice economy, and overfulfill the five-year plan ahead of schedule!” Within four years the aims of the five-year plan were met. The successes of the Chollima movement were first seen in 1957 when Kim Il Sung called on workers in a factory in the Kangdong County (near Pyongyang) which only had a capacity of 60,000 tons to produce an extra 10,000 tons of steel. The factory, however,

3744-516: The nation was facing an exhausted labor force. During the mid-1960s, North Korea stopped publishing economic statistics except for percentage increase over previous periods. The Kim Il Sung-directed economy undoubtedly needed alterations. Kim Il Sung however, had no economists who were willing or able to tell him that his economic plans needed to be changed. North Korea has never denounced Chollima or recognized its failures. Even Kim Jong Il gave speeches praising Chollima until his death. Chollima

3822-519: The party Secretariat . When he was made a member of the Seventh Supreme People's Assembly in February 1982, international observers deemed him the heir apparent of North Korea. Prior to 1980, he had no public profile and was referred to only as the "Party Centre". At this time Kim assumed the title "Dear Leader" ( Korean :  친애하는 지도자 ; MR :  ch'inaehanŭn jidoja ), and

3900-448: The party, Kim Il Sung called for loyalty in the film industry that had betrayed him with An Act of Sincerity . Kim Jong Il himself announced that he was up to the task and thus begun his influential career in North Korean film-making, during which he made significant efforts to further intensify the personality cult of his father and attach himself to it. Kim Jong Il was elected to the Central Committee in 1972 and became its secretary

3978-511: The restrooms as often. The slogan of ‘Let us dash forward in the spirit of Chollima’ was adopted to help motivate workers, with the result that successes were reported in many areas of economic activity. North Korea experienced an annual industrial growth of 36.6 percent during the five-year plan. In 1959, the Chollima Work Team Movement was started. This was a system of socialist competition waged among teams of workers, upholding

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4056-486: 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

4134-543: 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". Soviet records show that Kim Jong Il

4212-509: The semblance of a free market system". In 2002, Kim declared that "money should be capable of measuring the worth of all commodities." These gestures toward economic reform mirror similar actions taken by China's Deng Xiaoping in the late 1980s and early 90s. During a rare visit in 2006, Kim expressed admiration for China's rapid economic progress. An unsuccessful devaluation of the North Korean won in 2009, initiated or approved by Kim personally, caused brief economic chaos and uncovered

4290-418: The upper hand and that Kim might no longer be wielding absolute authority". By 10 September, there were conflicting reports. Unidentified South Korean government officials said Kim had undergone surgery after suffering a minor stroke and had apparently "intended to attend 9 September event in the afternoon but decided not to because of the aftermath of the surgery". Kim Yong Nam said, "While we wanted to celebrate

4368-431: The vulnerability of the country's societal fabric in the face of crisis. Kim was known as a skilled and manipulative diplomat. In 1998, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung implemented the " Sunshine Policy " to improve North-South relations and to allow South Korean companies to start projects in the North. Kim announced plans to import and develop new technologies to develop North Korea's fledgling software industry. As

4446-512: The wake of the devastation of the 1990s, the government began formally approving some activity of small-scale bartering and trade. As observed by Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at the Stanford University Asia–Pacific Research Center , this flirtation with capitalism was "fairly limited, but – especially compared to the past – there are now remarkable markets that create

4524-399: The workers in North Korea to bring the country out of the rubble of the Korean War to obtain a better life and a more prosperous country in a short amount of time. Kim Il Sung first introduced the term Chollima in December 1956, shortly before the start of the 1957-61 five-year plan. During this five-year period, North Korea strove to complete a socialist transformation of industry within

4602-427: The world. Kim ruled North Korea as a repressive and totalitarian dictatorship. 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

4680-422: The younger Kim took part in the investigation and purges that followed the incident. In addition, Kim Jong Il gave a speech at the plenum; it was his first as a figure of authority. Kim Jong Il's name was also mentioned in public documents, possibly for the first time, indicating that Kim Il Sung might have already planned for Jong Il to succeed him as leader. Only six months after, in an unscheduled meeting of

4758-400: 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

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4836-478: Was "very ill and most likely suffered a stroke a few weeks ago, but United States intelligence authorities do not think his death is imminent". The BBC noted that the North Korean government denied these reports, stating that Kim's health problems were "not serious enough to threaten his life", although they did confirm that he had suffered a stroke on 15 August. Japan's Kyodo News agency reported on 14 September, that "Kim collapsed on 14 August due to stroke or

4914-650: Was Kim Il Sung's first wife. Inside his family, he was nicknamed "Yura", while his younger brother Kim Man Il (born Aleksandr Kim) was nicknamed "Shura". Kim's official biography states he was born in a secret military camp on Paektu Mountain ( Korean :  백두산밀영고향집 ; Baekdusan Miryeong Gohyang jip ) in Korea, Empire of Japan on 16 February 1942. According to one comrade of Kim's mother, Lee Min, word of Kim's birth first reached an army camp in Vyatskoye via radio and that both Kim and his mother did not return there until

4992-498: 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 death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un . Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). In the early 1980s, Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of North Korea, thus being established

5070-402: Was able to produce 120,000 tons, 60,000 tons more than its capacity. This achievement was credited as lighting the torch of the Chollima movement. The term ‘Chollima rider’ was given to workers who surpassed their targeted goals of production. This title encouraged people to work harder. The North Korean government even started a slogan of ‘drink no soup’ to make it so workers did not need to use

5148-558: Was born Yuri Kim. In literature, it is assumed that he was born in 1941 in either the camp of Vyatskoye , near Khabarovsk , or camp Voroshilov near Nikolsk . According to Lim Jae Cheon, Kim cannot have been born in Vyatskoye as Kim Il Sung's war records show that he arrived at Vyatskoye only in July 1942 and had been living in Voroshilov before, thus Kim Jong Il is generally agreed to have been born in Voroshilov. Kim's mother, Kim Jong-suk ,

5226-461: Was completed in 1961 and was built “to honour the heroism and invincible fighting spirit of the Korean people like the legendary winged horse Chollima that is said to cover a thousand ri in a day. Mounted on the winged horse are a worker holding high the "Red Letter" of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and a young peasant woman holding a sheaf of rice.” Chollima has been used as

5304-507: Was created especially for Kim in 1992 and is frequently broadcast on the radio and from loudspeakers on the streets of Pyongyang. According to a 2004 Human Rights Watch report, the North Korean government under Kim was "among the world's most repressive governments", having up to 200,000 political prisoners according to U.S. and South Korean officials, with no freedom of the press or religion, political opposition or equal education: "Virtually every aspect of political, social, and economic life

5382-485: Was in charge of all internal affairs in the Democratic People's Republic. In 1992, radio broadcasts started referring to him as the "Dear Father", instead of the "Dear Leader", suggesting a promotion. His 50th birthday in February was the occasion for massive celebrations, exceeded only by those for the 80th birthday of Kim Il Sung himself on 15 April that same year. In 1992, Kim made his first public speech during

5460-501: Was initiated by Chin Ung-won (진응원) who organized fellow workers on his work team for the goal of achieving production far exceeding the quota assigned to them. With Chin's success and the encouragement from the national government the movement gained rapid massive support and Chin became the ideal Korean worker. The Chollima Work Team Movement gained 178,000 members less than a year and a half after its start. This Chollima movement, however,

5538-569: Was involved in politics. He was active in the Korean Children's Union and the Democratic Youth League of North Korea (DYL), taking part in study groups of Marxist political theory and other literature. In September 1957, he became vice-chairman of his middle school's DYL branch (the chairman had to be a teacher). He pursued a programme of anti-factionalism and attempted to encourage greater ideological education among his classmates. Kim

5616-427: Was not able to remain successful indefinitely. The nation obtained the short-term gains in quantity of production but at the cost of lower quality. The economy was distorted as resources were shifted to extensively fund industries while neglecting other needed sectors. Human exhaustion also followed this movement. Little labor remained and resources were stretched to their limits. Economic output began to fall and by 1961

5694-404: Was part of a triumvirate heading the executive branch of the North Korean government along with Premier Choe Yong Rim and parliament chairman Kim Yong Nam (no relation). Kim commanded the armed forces, Choe Yong Rim headed the government and handled domestic affairs and Kim Yong Nam handled foreign relations. However, in practice, Kim, like his father before him, exercised absolute control over

5772-506: Was sent to these distant posts by his father in order to avoid a power struggle between his two sons. Kim Jong Il officially joined the Workers' Party of Korea in July 1961. He rose up the ranks during the 1960s, and benefited greatly from the Kapsan faction incident around 1967, which was the last credible challenge to Kim Il Sung's rule. This incident marked the first time Kim Jong Il was – at age 26 – given official duties by his father, when

5850-659: Was staying at the Bongwha State Guest House. He was apparently conscious "but he needs some time to recuperate from the recent stroke, with some parts of his hands and feet paralyzed". It cited Chinese sources which claimed that one cause for the stroke could have been stress brought about by the United States delay to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. On 19 October, North Korea reportedly ordered its diplomats to stay near their embassies to await "an important message", according to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun , setting off renewed speculation about

5928-480: Was the focus of an elaborate personality cult inherited from his father and founder of the DPRK, Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Il was often the centre of attention throughout ordinary life in the DPRK. On his 60th birthday (based on his official date of birth), mass celebrations occurred throughout the country on the occasion of his Hwangap . In 2010, the North Korean media reported that Kim's distinctive clothing had set worldwide fashion trends. The prevailing point of view

6006-488: Was the more serious threat posed by his stepmother's, Kim Song-ae 's, children, especially by the eldest, Kim Pyong Il . In the end, Kim Jong Il won out: Kim Yong-ju was removed from his top posts and demoted to vice-premier. Then Kim Song-ae lost her position as chair of the KDWL , which was her vital power base. Kim Pyong Il had many positive characteristics but he was also known as a womanizer who threw raucous parties where

6084-415: Was treated by himself and other French doctors at Pyongyang's Red Cross Hospital. Roux said Kim suffered few lasting effects. On 5 November 2008, the North's Korean Central News Agency published 2 photos showing Kim posing with dozens of Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers on a visit to military Unit 2200 and sub-unit of Unit 534. Shown with his usual bouffant hairstyle, with his trademark sunglasses and

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