Misplaced Pages

#424575

26-433: The hall was built in 1989 and is normally a venue for performances that celebrate North Korea's dynastic leaders and national achievements. The December before the concert, it had hosted an opera honoring Kim Jong-suk , the mother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il . In 2005, the theatre suffered a fire that resulted in the loss of its original facade and interior elements. On New Year's Day 2007, following reconstruction,

52-534: A chance to meet with N. G. Lebedev in 1989 and 1990. During these conversations, I was amazed that, despite extreme old age, N. G. Lebedev retained a brilliant memory and a sharp, somewhat ironic mind, which contrasted sharply with his extreme physical decrepitude". Lebedev died in Moscow on 10 May 1992. He is buried at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery . The memoirs he left are an important historical data related to

78-488: A kitchen helper. The KCNA, however, reports that Kim Jong Suk and Kim Ki-song joined the guerrilla forces after their mother and their elder brother's wife were murdered by the Japanese. During this time, Kim Jong Suk worked various odd jobs, and was arrested by the Japanese in 1937 in an undercover attempt to secure food and supplies. After her release, she rejoined the guerrillas, where she cooked, sewed, and washed. It

104-626: A member of the Military Council of the 25th Army . Following the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Lebedev was promoted to major general in 1942. In 1944, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star for good combat and political training of military units transferred from the 25th Army to the Western Front . In August 1945, Lebedev was one of the commanders of military operations of the 25th Army of

130-864: A peasant family. Until 1916, he studied at a zemstvo school and later attended a teacher's seminary in Kozelsk until 1918. In 1920, he joined the Communist Party of Soviet Union and began serving in the Red Army . In 1924, he graduated from the Higher Military Pedagogical School and in the same year, he was appointed as a teacher of social studies at the Tver Cavalry School of the Comintern named after Leon Trotsky . In December 1927, he completed his post-graduate courses in social studies. Lebedev

156-796: A show dedicated to the story behind the ring, which was, purportedly, given to her by Kim Il Sung in 1938 for her role in the anti-Japanese guerrilla movement. Many places in North Korea are named after her, including Kimjongsuk County , Kim Jong Suk Naval Academy , Kim Jong Suk Teacher Training College, Kim Jong Suk Rest Home, and Kim Jong Suk Pyongyang Silk Mill. In North Korean News The KCNA regularly reports on Kim Jong Suk, either honoring her memory or describing her revolutionary activities. The following are headlines from articles relating to Kim Jong Suk from 2012: Nikolai Georgiyevich Lebedev Nikolai Georgiyevich Lebedev ( Russian : Никола́й Гео́ргиевич Ле́бедев ; 3 December 1901 – 10 May 1992)

182-478: A small, quiet woman, not particularly well educated, but friendly and life-loving." Major General N.G. Lebedev , an executive Soviet officer during the Soviet occupation of North Korea , recalled Kim Jong Suk as "a vivacious and generous lady who always cooked enormous amounts of food for the hungry Soviet generals when they visited Kim's home." In commentary on one edition of Kim Il Sung's official autobiography, With

208-402: A woman from Vyatskoye, was in her teens when Kim Il Sung's guerrilla group camped there. She remembers Kim Jong Suk, and how she would come to the village to barter military rations for chicken and eggs. Her son, Kim Jong Il, would be holding her hand. A year after the establishment of North Korea and until her death, Kim Jong Suk was the first lady. According to some accounts, Kim Jong Suk "was

234-499: Is "bland communist", and a "hulking, ramshackle structure the locals struggle to keep heated and lit at night." Kim Jong-suk Kim Jong Suk ( Korean :  김정숙 ; Hancha :  金正淑 ; 24 December 1917  – 22 September 1949) was a Korean revolutionary, anti-Japanese guerrilla , Communist activist, the first wife of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung , the mother of former leader Kim Jong Il and grandmother of current leader Kim Jong Un . Kim Jong Suk

260-477: Is a memorial near Mount Kumgang that marks where Kim Jong Suk stopped "when she realized she had forgotten to bring the great leader's lunch, and had turned back to prepare something to eat for when he returned from the mountains." Kim Jong Suk is also credited with inspiring Kim Jong Il to build the Ryugyong Hotel . Harrold relates that Kim Jong Suk told a young Kim Jong Il that he "must build tall buildings for

286-703: Is considered as one of the founders of the Workers' Party of Korea . On 10 September 1948, he returned to the Soviet Union after the official establishment of the North Korean government. Kim invited him to North Korea every year since then. Following his return to Soviet Union, Lebedev served as the deputy commander for political affairs of the Don Military District from August 1949 to July 1950. He served in numerous positions and assignments until his retirement from

SECTION 10

#1733107110425

312-770: The Far Eastern Front during the Soviet-Japanese War , which led to the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japanese rule . Following the liberation of Korean Peninsula and the subsequent Soviet occupation of the northern part of Korean Peninsula, Lebedev was appointed as the head of the Soviet Civil Administration. He was in charge of carrying out the instructions from the top officials, such as Terenty Shtykov in Pyongyang . During his time as

338-612: The Soviet Union , most likely in 1941. On 16 February 1941 (or 1942, sources vary), in the Soviet village of Vyatskoye , Kim Jong Suk had Kim Jong Il , who was given the Russian name "Yuri Irsenovich Kim," and the nickname "Yura." In 1944, Kim Jong Suk had Kim Man-il , in Korean and "Alexander" or "Shura" in Russian. In 1946, she gave birth to a daughter, Kim Kyŏng-hŭi . Augustina Vardugina,

364-501: The Century , it is stated that she died of an ectopic pregnancy on September 22, 1949. According to Harrold, she died from "the hardships she had endured during the years as a guerrilla fighter." After Kim Jong Il succeeded Kim Il Sung, he began to make his mother, Kim Jong Suk, into "a revolutionary immortal ." This campaign created "a holy trinity known as the 'Three Generals' [of Paektu Mountain ]". Instead of touting Kim Jong Suk as

390-531: The General with her own body and shot down an enemy with her revolver. The General also shot down the second enemy. Two revolvers spurted fire in turn and annihilated the enemy in a twinkle. But this was not the only time such dangers occurred, and each time, Comrade Kim Jung Sook rose to the occasion with fury, and protected the Headquarters of the revolution at the risk of her life. Kim Jong Suk married Kim Il Sung in

416-447: The head of Soviet civil administration in Korea, Lebedev directed several political initiatives to make Kim Il Sung , who was an unknown person at home, the leader of North Korea . Il-Sung Park, who taught Marxist-Leninist ideology to Kim at that time, testified that Lebedev was the first person to initiate the idolization and cult of personality of Kim Il Sung. For his efforts, Lebedev

442-584: The head of the Military-Political School at the Kiev Military District. In August 1939, Lebedev was appointed head of the political department of the 49th Rifle Corps. As part of this unit, he participated in the Soviet invasion of Poland and the Winter War . For this, he received the Order of Lenin . In 1940, Lebedev was promoted to brigade commissar. On 15 June 1941, he was appointed

468-670: The military in 1966. After his retirement, he lived a relatively long life. In 1988, he was involved and appeared in the Korean War documentary Korea: The Unknown War by Thames Television . Lebedev was interviewed by the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo , who visited his home in Moscow in 1991. Andrei Lankov , a Russian scholar and specialist in Korean studies , writes in his book The DPRK Yesterday and Today: An Unofficial History of North Korea about his meeting with Lebedev: "I had

494-553: The people, of 30 or even 40 stories," and the son replied that he would build housing 100 stories high. This led to the construction of the 105-story Ryugyong Hotel, which is still not opened. On 1 June 2015, the Daily NK reported that Kim Jong Suk's wedding ring had gone missing from Pyongyang's Korean Revolution Museum sometime in late May. Items belonging to key figures of the Kim family are of great importance. In 2010, state television aired

520-526: The quiet woman that she was, she became the heroine of the revolution. The website of the National Democratic Front of South Korea (NDFSK) says she was "a peerless heroine ... an anti-Japanese heroine ... a faithful retainer who faithfully carried out General Kim Il Sung's [Kim Il Sung] will but also a lifeguard who safeguarded the General of every dangerous movement." Kim Jong Suk was recorded to have "conducted on-the-spot guidance sessions" and

546-614: The theatre hosted the Mansudae Art Troupe . Its "massive" stage needed an acoustic shell built to properly project the orchestra's sound. The theatre was specifically chosen by Zarin Mehta , who rejected the home of the North Korea State Symphony as too small. The overall size is more than 62,000 square meters. A colonnaded great hall (lobby) includes a mural of Ulrim Falls. According to a Reuters journalist, its architecture

SECTION 20

#1733107110425

572-693: Was a Red Army major general . Lebedev served in both the Eastern Front and Soviet-Japanese War . He later served as head of the Soviet Civil Administration in Korea (present-day North Korea ) from 1947 to 1948. He is considered as one of the founders of North Korea and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea . Lebedev was born in 1901 in the Buda village in the Zhizdrinsky Uyezd of Kaluga Governorate (now Duminichsky District , Kaluga Oblast ) to

598-596: Was a "great strategist". In her home town of Hoeryong, "a museum, a library, a statue, a square and the house in which she was born" are "devoted to the 'Mother of Korea'". She arranged parachute training and won several shooting competitions. One story says that she would wash Kim Il Sung's socks and dry them in her bosom, or cut her hair and spread it in Kim Il Sung's shoes. Michael Harrold, in his memoir Comrades and Strangers , relates several stories he heard about Kim Jong Suk while in North Korea. According to him, there

624-495: Was appointed as an assistant to the head of the educational unit for party political work at the school of anti-aircraft artillery . In March 1934, he was appointed as the political commissar to the commander of the 45th Artillery Regiment. In November 1936, Lebedev was appointed as the head of the propaganda, agitation and press department of the political department of the Kiev Military District . From 1939, he served as

650-408: Was around this time that Kim Jong Suk reportedly saved Kim Il Sung's life. Baik Bong relates the story in Kim Il Sung's official biography: One day, while the unit was marching under the General's [Kim Il Sung] command, five or six enemies unexpectedly approached through the reeds and aimed at the General. The danger was imminent. Without losing a moment, Comrade Kim Jung Sook [Kim Jong Suk] shielded

676-834: Was born on 24 December 1917 in Hoeryong County, Kankyōhoku-dō , Empire of Japan (now in North Hamgyong Province , North Korea). Suh Dae-sook writes that she was "the elder of two daughters of a poor farmer." However, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), states that she had a younger brother, Kim Ki-song ( 김기송 ), who was born 9 February 1921. Kim Jong Suk followed her mother to Manchuria to look for her father, but they discovered that he had already died there. Soon after that, her mother died and she became an orphan. Most sources agree that Kim Jong Suk then joined Kim Il Sung 's guerrilla force in 1935 or 1936 as

#424575