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138-581: The Korea Stamp Museum opened on April 9, 2012 as part of the centennial celebration of the birth of Kim Il Sung after being upgraded to a museum from an exhibition hall for the Korea Stamp Corporation . The museum closed for renovations in 2018 as part of an expansion project and reopened on February 11, 2019. Located in between the Koryo Hotel and Pyongyang station , the Korea Stamp Museum

276-652: A Supreme People's Assembly . The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed on 9 September 1948, with Kim as the Soviet-designated premier. On 12 October, the Soviet Union recognized Kim's government as the sovereign government of the entire peninsula, including the south. The Communist Party merged with the New People's Party of Korea to form the Workers' Party of North Korea, with Kim as vice-chairman. In 1949,

414-524: A puppet government . In 1935, Kim became a member of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army , a guerrilla group led by the CCP. Kim was appointed the same year to serve as political commissar for the 3rd detachment of the second division, consisting of around 160 soldiers. Here Kim met the man who would become his mentor as a communist, Wei Zhengmin, Kim's immediate superior officer, who at

552-680: A communist leader for the Soviet-occupied territories and Beria met Kim several times before recommending him to Stalin. Kim arrived in the Korean port of Wonsan on 19 September 1945 after 26 years in exile. According to Leonid Vassin, an officer with the Soviet MVD , Kim was essentially "created from zero". For one, his Korean was marginal at best; he only had eight years of formal education, all of it in Chinese. He needed considerable coaching to read

690-486: A five-year national economic plan (akin to Soviet Union's five-year plans ) to establish a command economy , with all industry owned by the state and all agriculture collectivized . The economy was focused on heavy industry and arms production. By the 1960s, North Korea enjoyed a standard of living which was higher than the standard of living in the South, which was fraught with political instability and economic crises . In

828-547: A glass coffin for viewing purposes. His head rests on a traditional Korean pillow and he is covered by the flag of the Workers' Party of Korea. Newsreel video of the funeral at Pyongyang was broadcast on several networks and can now be found on various websites. Kim Il Sung's most notable contribution to political theory is his conceptualization of the Juche idea, originally described as a variant of Marxism–Leninism . In his writings, Kim engaged with Karl Marx's metaphor that religion

966-727: A lesser extent, during the Five-Year Plan contributed to a false sense of confidence among the planners. Statistical over reporting—an inherent tendency in an economy where rewards lie in fulfilling the quantitative targets, particularly when the plan target year approaches—leads to overestimation of economic potential, poor product quality, and eventually to plan errors. Inefficient use of plants, equipment, and raw materials add to planning errors. Lack of coordination in planning and production competition among sectors and regions cause imbalances and disrupt input-output relationships. The planning reforms in 1964 were supposed to solve these problems, but

1104-540: A level unheard of anywhere else, either in past or present times, let alone in a country which calls itself socialist." He further claimed that "the leadership of the Communist Party of China has betrayed [the working people]. In Korea, too, we can say that the leadership of the Korean Workers' Party is wallowing in the same waters" and claimed that Kim Il Sung was begging for aid from other countries, especially among

1242-508: A member of the pro-Japanese and anti-communist Minsaengdan. A purge resulted: over 1,000 Koreans were expelled from the CCP, including Kim (who was arrested in late 1933 and exonerated in early 1934), and 500 were killed. Kim Il Sung's memoirs – and those of the guerrillas who fought alongside him – cite Kim's seizing and burning the suspect files of the Purge Committee as key to solidifying his leadership. After

1380-437: A new offensive, retaking Seoul and advanced north once again halting at a point just north of the 38th Parallel . After a series of offensives and counter-offensives by both sides, followed by a grueling period of largely static trench warfare that lasted from the summer of 1951 to July 1953, the front was stabilized along what eventually became the permanent " Armistice Line " of 27 July 1953. Over 2.5 million people died during

1518-488: A number of reforms. Over 50% of the arable land was redistributed, an 8-hour work day was proclaimed and all heavy industry was to be nationalized . There were improvements in the health of the population after he nationalized healthcare and made it available to all citizens. Archival material suggests that North Korea's decision to invade South Korea was Kim's initiative, not a Soviet one. Evidence suggests that Soviet intelligence , through its espionage sources in

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1656-777: A part of Kim's vast network of abusive penal and forced labor institutions , were fenced and heavily guarded colonies which were located in mountainous areas of the country, where prisoners were forced to perform back-breaking labor such as logging, mining, and picking crops. Most of the prisoners were incarcerated in these camps for their entire lives, and inside the camps, their living and working conditions were usually deadly. For example, prisoners were nearly starved to death, they were denied medical care, they were denied proper housing and clothes, they were subjected to sexual violence, they were regularly mistreated, and they were tortured and executed by guards. Despite his opposition to de-Stalinization, Kim never officially severed relations with

1794-580: A per capita income of US$ 5,569 in 1991. North Korea's GNP in 1991 showed a 5.2% decline from 1989, and preliminary indications were that the decline would continue. South Korea's GNP, by contrast, expanded by 9.3% and 8.4%, respectively, in 1990 and 1991. It is estimated that North Korea's GNP nearly halved between 1990 and 1999. North Korean annual budget reports suggest state income roughly tripled between 2000 and 2014. By about 2010, external trade had returned to 1990 levels. The South Korea-based Bank of Korea estimated that over 2000 to 2013 average growth

1932-535: A prominent early leader of the Korean resistance , Kim Kyung-cheon . The Soviet officer Grigory Mekler , who worked with Kim during the Soviet occupation , said that Kim took this name from a former commander who had died. However, historian Andrei Lankov has argued that this is unlikely to be true. Several witnesses knew Kim before and after his time in the Soviet Union, including his superior, Zhou Baozhong , who dismissed

2070-454: A shop than a museum to attract international tourists and philatelists despite the limitations of international sanctions . The Korea Stamp Museum houses over 6,000 stamps, envelopes, and postcards. In this collection, the museum contains relics from the ancient times and artifacts from the postal system established at the end of the Joseon dynasty, as well as relics since the establishment of

2208-419: A similar agenda can join the struggle and that "even a religionist ... must be enrolled in our ranks without hesitation." Kim Il Sung married twice. His first wife, Kim Jong Suk (1917–1949), gave birth to two sons and one daughter before her death in childbirth during the delivery of a stillborn girl. Kim Jong Il was his oldest son. The other son ( Kim Man-il , or Shaura Kim) of this marriage died in 1947 in

2346-584: A special unit known as the 88th Separate Rifle Brigade , which belonged to the Soviet Red Army . Kim's immediate superior was Zhou Baozhong . Kim became a Major in the Soviet Red Army and served in it until the end of World War II in 1945. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on 8 August 1945, and the Red Army entered Pyongyang on 24 August 1945. Stalin had instructed Lavrentiy Beria to recommend

2484-657: A speech (which the MVD prepared for him) at a Communist Party congress three days after he arrived. In December 1945, the Soviets installed Kim as first secretary of the North Korean Branch Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea . Originally, the Soviets preferred Cho Man-sik to lead a popular front government, but Cho refused to support a UN-backed trusteeship and clashed with Kim. General Terentii Shtykov , who led

2622-591: A spontaneous violent uprising in eastern Manchuria arose in which peasants attacked some local villages in the name of resisting "Japanese aggression". The authorities easily suppressed this impromptu uprising. Because of the attack, the Japanese began to plan an occupation of Manchuria. In a speech Kim allegedly made before a meeting of Young Communist League delegates on 20 May 1931 in Yenchi County in Manchuria, he warned

2760-541: A swimming accident. A daughter, Kim Kyong-hui , was born in 1946. Economy of North Korea The economy of North Korea is a centrally planned economy , following Juche , where the role of market allocation schemes is limited, although increased to an extent. As of 2024 , North Korea continues its basic adherence to a centralized planned economy . With a total gross domestic product of $ 28.500 billion as of 2016, there has been some economic liberalization , particularly after Kim Jong Un assumed

2898-555: A ten-day mourning period was declared by Kim Jong Il. His funeral was scheduled to be held on 17 July 1994 in Pyongyang but was delayed until 19 July. It was attended by hundreds of thousands of people who were flown into the city from all over North Korea. Kim Il Sung's body was placed in a public mausoleum at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun , where his preserved and embalmed body lies under

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3036-415: Is North Korea's largest trading partner. North Korea's ideology of Juche has resulted in the country pursuing autarky in an environment of international sanctions . While the current North Korean economy is still dominated by state-owned industry and collective farms , foreign investment and corporate autonomy have increased. North Korea had a similar GDP per capita to its neighbor South Korea from

3174-520: Is another practice of Kim Il Sung which persists to the present day. Kim Il Sung planned these operations to seize persons who could be used to support North Korea's overseas intelligence operations, or those who had technical skills to maintain the socialist state's economic infrastructure in farms, construction, hospitals, and heavy industry. According to the Korean War Abductees Family Union (KWAFU), those abducted by North Korea after

3312-480: Is centred on consumer goods production. This measure was so named after Kim Jong Il made an inspection tour of an exhibition of light industrial products held in Pyongyang on August 3, 1984. The movement charges workers to use locally available resources and production facilities to produce needed consumer goods. On the surface, the movement does not appear to differ much from the local industry programs in existence since

3450-589: Is considered “repressed” according to the 2024 Index. Beginning in the mid-1920s, the Japanese colonial administration in Korea concentrated its industrial-development efforts in the comparatively under-populated and resource-rich northern portion of the country, resulting in a considerable movement of people northward from the agrarian southern provinces of the Korean Peninsula. This trend did not reverse until after

3588-536: Is estimated to include more than 200,000 people. The vast majority of disappearances occurred or were linked to the Korean War, but hundreds of South Koreans and Japanese people were abducted between the 1960s and 1980s. A number of South Koreans and nationals of the People's Republic of China have also been apparently abducted in the 2000s and 2010s. At least 100,000 people remain disappeared. The Constitution of North Korea

3726-462: Is situated in a three floor building with awards from philatelic exhibitions housed in the ground level, a souvenir shop on the second floor, and an exhibition hall on the third floor. The exterior of the museum after its renovation was built to resemble a postage stamp and has a bronze statue of a dove holding a postcard while flying above the Earth located outside the building. The museum functions more as

3864-442: Is the opium of the people . He did so both in the context of responding to his comrades who objected to working with religious groups (Chonbulygo and Chondoism , respectively). In the first instance, Kim replies that a person is "mistaken" if he or she believes Marx's proposition regarding "opium of the people" can be applied in all instances, explaining that if a religion "prays for dealing out divine punishment to Japan and blessing

4002-517: The songbun , a caste system in which the North Korean people were divided into three groups. Each person was classified as belonging to the "core", "wavering", or "hostile" class, based on his or her political, social, and economic background—this caste system persists today. Songbun was used to decide all aspects of a person's existence in North Korean society, including access to education, housing, employment, food rationing, ability to join

4140-545: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – the Communist Party of Korea had been founded in 1925, but had been thrown out of the Communist International in the early 1930s for being too nationalist. He joined various anti-Japanese guerrilla groups in northern China. Feelings against the Japanese ran high in Manchuria, but as of May 1930 the Japanese had not yet occupied Manchuria. On 30 May 1930,

4278-705: The Clinton administration over its nuclear program. To the astonishment of the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency , Kim agreed to halt his nuclear research program and seemed to be embarking upon a new opening to the West. Shortly before noon on 7 July 1994, Kim Il Sung collapsed from a heart attack at his residence in Hyangsan , North Pyongan . After the heart attack, Kim Jong Il ordered

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4416-605: The Czech Republic and Iran . Largely because of these debt problems and because of a prolonged drought and mismanagement, North Korea's industrial growth slowed, and per capita GNP fell below that of the South. By the end of 1979 per capita GNP in North Korea was about one-third of that in the South. The causes for this relatively poor performance are complex, but a major factor is the disproportionately large percentage of GNP (possibly as much as 25%) that North Korea devotes to

4554-630: The Mangyongdae neighborhood of Pyongyang. Kim was reportedly born in the small village of Mangyungbong (then called Namni) near Pyongyang on 15 April 1912. According to a 1964 semi-official biography of Kim, he was born in his mother's home in Chingjong, and later grew up in Mangyungbong. According to Kim, his family was always a step away from poverty. Kim said that he was raised by a very active Presbyterian Christian family. His maternal grandfather

4692-591: The March First Movement , a member of the anti-communist terrorist group the White Shirts Society attempted to assassinate Kim by lobbing a grenade at his podium. However, Soviet military officer Yakov Novichenko grabbed the grenade and absorbed the blast with his body, leaving Kim and other bystanders unharmed. To solidify his control, Kim established the Korean People's Army (KPA), aligned with

4830-473: The North Korean Postal Service including the first stamps created by the service. The museum also houses an album of stamps collected by Kim Jong Il . The stamps displayed highlight events in the country's history, flora and fauna, and world events including the launch of Sputnik , the birth of Prince William , and the 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit . The museum appeared on

4968-480: The Soviet Union . By the 1960s, North Korea had a slightly higher standard of living than the South, which was suffering from political chaos and economic crises. The situation was reversed in the 1970s, as a newly stable South Korea became an economic powerhouse which was fueled by Japanese and American investment, military aid and internal economic development, while North Korea stagnated and then declined during

5106-601: The Taean Work System ( 대안의 사업체계 , Taeanŭi saŏpch'e ), was introduced in December 1961 as an application and refinement of agricultural management techniques to industry. The Taean industrial management system grew out of the Ch'ŏngsan-ni Method. The highest managerial authority under the Taean system is the party committee. Each committee has approximately 25 to 35 members elected from

5244-655: The Thirteenth World Festival of Youth and Students in July 1989 must have had a negative impact on industrial and agricultural development, although the expansion and improvement of social infrastructure have resulted in some long-term economic benefits. Although general economic policy objectives are decided by the Central People's Committee (CPC), it is the task of the State Planning Committee to translate

5382-514: The United States defense force 's presence in the region, which it considered imperialist , having seized the American ship USS  Pueblo in 1968. This was part of an infiltration and subversion campaign to reunify the peninsula under North Korea's rule. Kim outlived his allies, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong , by over four and almost two decades, respectively, and remained in power during

5520-848: The Yalu River late in 1950. At the outset of the war in June and July, North Korean forces captured Seoul and occupied most of the South, save for a small section of territory in the southeast region of the South that was called the Pusan Perimeter . But in September, the North Koreans were driven back by the US-led counterattack that started with the UN landing in Incheon , followed by a combined South Korean-US-UN offensive from

5658-568: The personality cult which was built around him, he was a significant guerrilla leader. Despite the United Nations ' plans to conduct nationwide elections in Korea, on 15 August 1948, the US-occupied south proclaimed the Republic of Korea , which claimed sovereignty over all of Korea. In response, the Soviets held elections of their own in their northern occupation zone on 25 August 1948 for

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5796-706: The "Ten Long-Range Major Goals of the 1980s for the Construction of the Socialist Economy". These goals, conceived in 1980, were to be fulfilled by the end of the decade. The fact that these targets were rolled over to the end of the Third Seven-Year Plan is another indication of the disappointing economic performance during the Second Seven-Year Plan. The three policy goals of self-reliance, modernization, and scientification were repeated. Economic growth

5934-511: The "profit" is taxed, the remaining half being kept by the enterprise for purchase of equipment, introduction of new technology, welfare benefits, and bonuses. As such, the system provides some built-in incentives and a degree of micro-level autonomy, unlike the budget allocation system, under which any surplus is turned over to the government in its entirety. Another innovation, the August Third People's Consumer Goods Production Movement,

6072-531: The 13th anniversary of the creation of the system, Kim Il Sung said that the Taean work system is the best system of economic management. It enables the producer masses to fulfill their responsibility and role as masters and to manage the economy in a scientific and rational manner by implementing the mass line in economic management, and by combining party leadership organically with administrative, economic, and technical guidance. Parallel to management techniques such as

6210-574: The 1956 August faction incident , Kim Il Sung successfully resisted Soviet and Chinese efforts to depose him in favor of pro-Soviet Koreans or Koreans who belonged to the pro-Chinese Yan'an faction. The last Chinese troops withdrew from the country in October 1958, which is the consensus as the latest date when North Korea became effectively independent, though some scholars believe that the 1956 August incident demonstrated North Korea's independence. During his rise and his consolidation of power, Kim created

6348-492: The 1960s, although some degree of local autonomy is allowed. However, a major departure places output, pricing, and purchases outside central planning. In addition, direct sales stores were established to distribute goods produced under the movement directly to consumers. The movement is characterized as a third sector in the production of consumer goods, alongside centrally controlled light industry and locally controlled traditional light industry. Moreover, there were some reports in

6486-524: The 1970s, Kim developed a calcinosis growth on the right side of the back of his neck. It was long believed that its close proximity to his brain and spinal cord made it inoperable. However, Juan Reinaldo Sánchez, a defected bodyguard for Fidel Castro who met Kim in 1986 wrote later that it was Kim's own paranoia that prevented it from being operated on. Because of its unappealing nature, North Korean reporters and photographers were required to photograph Kim while standing slightly to his left in order to hide

6624-709: The 1980s. The practical effect of Juche was to cut the country off from virtually all foreign trade in order to make it entirely self-reliant . The economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping in China from 1979 onward meant that trade with the moribund economy of North Korea held decreasing interest for China. The Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe and the dissolution of the Soviet Union , from 1989 to 1992, completed North Korea's virtual isolation. These events led to mounting economic difficulties because Kim refused to issue any economic or political reforms. As he aged, starting in

6762-549: The Bank of Korea is too conservative and the real growth rate is 3–4%. North Korea reported that the government budget has been increasing at between 5% and 10% annually from 2007 to 2015. Reported planned capital expenditure, mainly on roads and public buildings, increased by 4.3% in 2014, 8.7% in 2015 to 13.7% in 2016. According to a North Korea economist, the growth rate was 3.7% in 2017, lifting GDP to $ 29.6 billion in 2018. The Australian government estimated 1.3% growth in 2017, while

6900-451: The Ch'ŏllima Movement organized the labour force into work teams and brigades to compete at increasing production. The campaign was aimed at industrial and agricultural workers and at organizations in education, science, sanitation and health, and culture. In addition to work teams, units eligible for Ch'ŏllima citations included entire factories, factory workshops, and such self-contained units as

7038-452: The Ch'ŏngsan-ni Method and the Taean work system, which were designed to increase output in more normalized and regularized operations of farms and enterprises, the leadership continuously resorts to exhortations and mass campaigns to motivate the workers to meet output targets. The earliest and the most pervasive mass production campaign was the Ch'ŏllima Movement . Introduced in 1958 and fashioned after China's Great Leap Forward (1958–1960),

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7176-408: The Communist Party, and he recruited a cadre of guerrillas and former soldiers who had gained combat experience in battles against the Japanese and later against Nationalist Chinese troops. Using Soviet advisers and equipment, Kim constructed a large army skilled in infiltration tactics and guerrilla warfare. Prior to Kim's invasion of the South in 1950, which triggered the Korean War, Stalin equipped

7314-508: The Eastern Bloc and non-aligned countries like Yugoslavia . As a result, relations between North Korea and Albania would remain cold and tense right up until Hoxha's death in 1985. Although a resolute anti-communist, Zaire 's Mobutu Sese Seko was also heavily influenced by Kim's style of rule. The North Korean government's practice of abducting foreign nationals, such as South Koreans , Japanese , Chinese , Thais , and Romanians ,

7452-789: The Japanese, completely ignoring the assistance of the Chinese People's Volunteers . In addition, Li stated that in the process of agricultural collectivization, grain was being forcibly confiscated from the peasants, leading to "at least 300 suicides" and he also stated that Kim made nearly all major policy decisions and appointments himself. Li reported that over 30,000 people were in prison for completely unjust and arbitrary reasons which were as trivial as not printing Kim Il Sung's portrait on sufficient quality paper or using newspapers with his picture to wrap parcels. Grain confiscation and tax collection were also conducted with force, which consisted of violence, beatings, and threats of imprisonment. During

7590-493: The KPA with modern, Soviet-built medium tanks, trucks, artillery, and small arms. Kim also formed an air force, equipped at first with Soviet-built propeller-driven fighters and attack aircraft. Later, North Korean pilot candidates were sent to the Soviet Union and China to train in MiG-15 jet aircraft at secret bases. Several sources claim the name "Kim Il Sung" had previously been used by

7728-512: The Korean Communist Party, was purged and executed in 1955. Choe Chang-ik appears to have been purged as well. Yi Sang-Cho, North Korea's ambassador to the Soviet Union and a critic of Kim who defected to the Soviet Union in 1956, was declared a factionalist and a traitor. The 1955 Juche speech , which stressed Korean independence, debuted in the context of Kim's power struggle against leaders such as Pak, who had Soviet backing. This

7866-402: The Korean War. Chinese and Russian documents from that time reveal that Kim became increasingly desperate to establish a truce, since the likelihood that further fighting would successfully unify Korea under his rule became more remote with the UN and US presence. Kim also resented the Chinese taking over the majority of the fighting in his country, with Chinese forces stationed at the center of

8004-427: The Korean nation" then it is a "patriotic religion" and its believers are patriots. In the second, Kim states that Marx's metaphor "must not be construed radically and unilaterally" because Marx was warning against "the temptation of a religious mirage and not opposing believers in general." Because the communist movement in Korea was fighting a struggle for "national salvation" against Japan, Kim writes that anyone with

8142-474: The North and the South. In 1945, about 80% of Korean heavy industry was in the North but only 31% of light industry, 37% of agriculture, and 18% of the peninsula's total commerce. North and South Korea both suffered from the massive destruction caused during the Korean War. Historian Charles K. Armstrong stated that "North Korea had been virtually destroyed as an industrial society". In the years immediately after

8280-484: The Pusan Perimeter. By October, UN forces had retaken Seoul and invaded the North to reunify the country under the South. On 19 October, US and South Korean troops captured P'yŏngyang, forcing Kim and his government to flee north, first to Sinuiju and eventually into Kanggye . On 25 October 1950, after sending various warnings of their intent to intervene if UN forces did not halt their advance, Chinese troops in

8418-419: The South Korean government estimated −3.5%. In 2018, North Korea's government budget revenue plan overfulfilled 1.4%, an increase of 4.6% over 2017 year. In 2024, North Korea's "economic freedom" score from the free-market oriented Heritage Foundation was 2.9, making its economy the world’s least free. The country’s economic freedom score is lower than the world and regional averages. North Korea’s economy

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8556-574: The Soviet Union, and he did not take part in the Sino-Soviet split . After Khrushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev in 1964, Kim's relations with the Soviet Union became closer. At the same time, Kim was increasingly alienated by Mao's unstable style of leadership, especially during the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s. Kim in turn was denounced by Mao's Red Guards . At the same time, Kim reinstated relations with most of Eastern Europe's communist countries, primarily with Erich Honecker 's East Germany and Nicolae Ceaușescu 's Romania . Ceaușescu

8694-437: The Soviet occupation of northern Korea, supported Kim over Pak Hon-yong to lead the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea on 8 February 1946. As chairman of the committee, Kim was "the top Korean administrative leader in the North," though he was still de facto subordinate to General Shtykov until the Chinese intervention in the Korean War. On 1 March 1946, while giving a speech to commemorate an anniversary of

8832-457: The State Planning Committee. As a result of a reorganization in 1969, they are separated into provincial planning committees, city/county committees, and enterprise committees (for large-scale enterprises). The planning committees, under the auspices of the State Planning Committee, coordinate their work with the planning offices of the economy-related government organizations the corresponding regional and local areas. The system attempts to enable

8970-412: The Three-Year Plan for Light Industry as part of the Third Seven-Year Plan is intended to boost the standard of living by addressing consumer needs. The Third Seven-Year Plan gave a great deal of attention to developing foreign trade and joint ventures, the first time a plan has addressed these issues. The diversion of resources to build highways, theatres, hotels, airports, and other facilities to host

9108-539: The US government and British SIS , had obtained information on the limitations of US atomic bomb stockpiles as well as defense program cuts, leading Stalin to conclude that the Truman administration would not intervene in Korea. China acquiesced only reluctantly to the idea of Korean reunification after being told by Kim that Stalin had approved the action. The Chinese did not provide North Korea with direct military support (other than logistics channels) until United Nations troops, largely US forces, had nearly reached

9246-437: The United States. Following the military stalemate in the Korean War , a ceasefire was signed in July 1953 . He was the third-longest serving non-royal head of state/government in the 20th century, in office for more than 45 years. Under his leadership, North Korea was established as a totalitarian socialist personalist dictatorship with a centrally planned economy . It had very close political and economic relations with

9384-434: The Wangjaesan Cooperative Farm in Onsŏng County and the Kyŏngsŏn Branch Experimental Farm of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences between August 20 and 30, 1991. Kim Jong Il carried on the tradition, despite having refused to do so before, and even expanded it to the Korean People's Army. Today, Kim Jong Un continues the practices of the method. The industrial management system developed in three distinct stages. The first

9522-439: The Workers' Party of North Korea merged with its southern counterpart to become the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) with Kim as party chairman . By 1949, Kim and the communists had consolidated their rule in North Korea. Around this time, Kim began promoting an intense personality cult . The first of many statues of him appeared, and he began calling himself "Great Leader". In February 1946, Kim Il Sung decided to introduce

9660-441: The adoption of the subteam contract system as a means of increasing peasant productivity by adjusting individual incentives to those of the immediate, small working group. Thus the increasing scale of collective farms was somewhat offset by the reduction in the size of the working unit. "On-the-spot guidance" by high government functionaries, however, continued in the early 1990s, as exemplified by Kim Il Sung's visits to such places as

9798-419: The aftermath of the Korean War until the mid-1970s, but had a GDP per capita of less than $ 2,000 in the late 1990s and early 21st century. For the first time, in 2021, the South Korean Ministry of Unification estimated that the North Korean private sector outgrew the public sector until 2020. However, the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea introduced new policies in 2021 which aim to strengthen

9936-403: The age of 24, controlling a few hundred men in a group that came to be known as "Kim Il Sung's division". On 4 June 1937, he led 200 guerrillas in a raid on Poch'onbo , destroying the local government offices and setting fire to a Japanese police station and post office. The success of the raid demonstrated Kim's talents as a military leader. Even more significant than the military success itself

10074-670: The armed forces as well as the supreme commandership of the country's now million-man strong military force, the Korean People's Army – to his son in 1991 and 1993. So far, the elder Kim – even though he is dead – has remained the country's president and the chairman of the Party's Central Military Commission , the party's organization that has supreme supervision and authority over military matters. In early 1994, Kim began investing in nuclear power to offset energy shortages brought on by economic problems. This

10212-467: The book Surprise, Kill, Vanish , which further expounded that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) once concluded that Kim Il Sung was a blackmailed imposter operated by the Soviet Union. The dossier titled "The Identity of Kim Il Sung" ascribed the leader's true identity to Kim Song-ju, an orphaned child caught stealing money from a classmate who killed his classmate to avoid embarrassment. The dossier alleges Soviet intelligence officers identified

10350-596: The broad goals into specific annual and long-term development plans and quantitative targets for the economy as a whole, as well as for each industrial sector and enterprise. Under the basic tenets of the 1964 reforms, the planning process is guided by the principles of "unified planning" ( 일원화 , ilwŏnhwa ) and of "detailed planning" ( 새분화 , saebunhwa ). Under "unified planning", regional committees are established in each province, city, and county to systematically coordinate planning work. These committees do not belong to any regional organization and are directly supervised by

10488-489: The claim of a "second" Kim in his diaries. Historian Bruce Cumings pointed out that Japanese officers from the Kwantung Army have attested to his fame as a resistance figure. On August 12, 2009, Yonhap News Agency revealed that U.S. Army Military Government in Korea had already acknowledged that Kim Il Sung was in fact pretended by his nephew Kim Song-ju. In 2019, investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen published

10626-448: The decade, North Korea slowly began to modify its rigid self-reliant policy. The changes, popularly identified as the open-door policy, included an increasing emphasis on foreign trade, a readiness to accept direct foreign investment by enacting a joint venture law, the decision to open the country to international tourism , and economic cooperation with South Korea. The main targets of the Third Seven-Year Plan of 1987–1993 were to achieve

10764-421: The delegates against such unplanned uprisings as the 30 May 1930 uprising in eastern Manchuria. Four months later, on 18 September 1931, the " Mukden Incident " occurred, in which a relatively weak dynamite explosive charge went off near a Japanese railroad in the town of Mukden in Manchuria. Although no damage occurred, the Japanese used the incident as an excuse to send armed forces into Manchuria and to appoint

10902-410: The destruction of the suspect files and the rehabilitation of suspects, those who had fled the purge rallied around Kim. As historian Suzy Kim summarizes, Kim Il Sung "emerged from the purge as a definitive leader, not only for the bold move but also for his compassion." In 1935, Kim took the name Kim Il Sung , meaning "Kim become the sun". Kim was appointed commander of the 6th division in 1937, at

11040-620: The end in 1945 of the Second World War , when more than 2 million Koreans moved from North to South following the division of Korea into Soviet and American military zones of administration. This southward exodus continued after the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) in 1948 and during the 1950–53 Korean War . The post-World War II division of the Korean Peninsula resulted in imbalances of natural and human resources, with disadvantages for both

11178-574: The end of 1986, hard-currency debt had reached more than US$ 1 billion. It also owed nearly $ 2 billion to communist creditors, principally the Soviet Union. The Japanese declared North Korea in default. By 2000, taking into account penalties and accrued interest, North Korea's debt was estimated at $ 10–12 billion. By 2012, North Korea's external debt had grown to an estimated US$ 20 billion despite Russia reportedly writing off about $ 8 billion of debt in exchange for participation in natural resources development. Besides Russia, major creditors included Hungary ,

11316-409: The ensuing years, Kim established himself as an independent leader of international communism . In 1956, he joined Mao in the " anti-revisionist " camp, which did not accept Nikita Khrushchev 's program of de-Stalinization , yet he did not become a Maoist himself. At the same time, he consolidated his power over the Korean communist movement . Rival leaders were eliminated. Pak Hon-yong , leader of

11454-401: The existing system had occurred. The reluctance to initiate reform appears to be largely political. This concern is based on the belief that economic reform will produce new interests that will demand political expression and that demands for the institutionalization of such pluralism eventually will lead to political liberalization. Beginning in the mid-1980s and particularly around the end of

11592-572: The factory level. Each factory has two major lines of administration, one headed by the manager, the other by the party committee secretary. A chief engineer and his or her assistants direct a general staff in charge of all aspects of production, planning, and technical guidance. Depending on the size of the factory, varying numbers of deputies oversee factory logistics, marketing, and workers' services. The supply of materials includes securing, storing, and distributing all materials for factory use, as well as storing finished products and shipping them from

11730-420: The factory workers. The "internal accounting system", a spin-off of the "independent accounting system", grants bonuses to work teams and workshops that use raw materials and equipment most efficiently. These financial rewards come out of enterprise profits. A measure of the success of the Taean work system is its longevity and its continued endorsement by the leadership. In his 1991 New Year's address marking

11868-443: The factory. Deputies are assigned workers to their units and handle factory accounts and payroll. Providing workers' services requires directing any farming done on factory lands, stocking factory retail shops, and taking care of all staff amenities. Deputies in charge of workers' services are encouraged to meet as many of the factory's needs as possible using nearby agricultural cooperatives and local industries. The secretary of

12006-864: The farm management system. The leadership claimed that farm workers were unhappy and produced low output because low-ranking functionaries of the Workers' Party of Korea (who expounded abstract Marxist theories and slogans) were using tactics that failed to motivate. To correct this, the leadership recommended that the workers receive specific guidance in solving production problems and be promised readily available material incentives. The Ch'ŏngsan-ni Method called for high-ranking party officials, party cadres, and administrative officials to emulate Kim Il Sung by making field inspections. The system provided opportunities for farmers to present their grievances and ideas to leading cadres and managers. Perhaps more important than involving administrative personnel in on-site inspections

12144-430: The final national economic plan. The plan then becomes legal and compulsory. Frequent directives from the central government contain changes in the plan targets or incentives for meeting the plan objectives. Although the central government is most clearly involved in the formulation and evaluation of the yearly and long-term plans, it also reviews summaries of quarterly or monthly progress. Individual enterprises divide

12282-420: The front line, and the Korean People's Army being mostly restricted to the coastal flanks of the front. With the end of the Korean War, despite the failure to unify Korea under his rule, Kim Il Sung proclaimed the war a victory in the sense that he had remained in power in the north. However, the three-year war left North Korea devastated, and Kim immediately embarked on a large reconstruction effort. He launched

12420-583: The government has tightened border control and began major crackdowns on private economic activities with a shift to a state-run monopoly on food sales, followed by greater centralization of foreign trade, and overall control over the economy. The collapse of the Eastern Bloc from 1989 to 1992, particularly North Korea's principal source of support, the Soviet Union , forced the North Korean economy to realign its foreign economic relations, including increased economic exchanges with South Korea. China

12558-536: The government. The North Korean ambassador to the USSR, Li Sangjo , a member of the Yan'an faction , reported that it had become a criminal offense to so much as write on Kim's picture in a newspaper and that he had been elevated to the status of Marx , Lenin , Mao , and Stalin in the communist pantheon. He also charged Kim with rewriting history so it would appear as if his guerrilla faction had single-handedly liberated Korea from

12696-400: The growth from official photographs and newsreels. Hiding the growth became increasingly difficult as the growth reached the size of a baseball by the late 1980s. To ensure a full succession of leadership to his son and designated successor Kim Jong Il, Kim turned over his chairmanship of North Korea's National Defense Commission  – the body mainly responsible for control of

12834-472: The last say in any major factory disputes. The Taean system heralded a more rational approach to industrial management than that practised previously. Although party functionaries and workers became more important to management under the new system, engineers and technical staff received more responsibility in areas where their expertise could contribute the most. The system recognizes the importance of material as well as "politico-moral" incentives for managing

12972-467: The leadership in 2012, but reports conflict over particular legislation and enactment. Since the 1990s, informal market activity has increased, which the government has tolerated. These markets are referred to as ' Jangmadang ', and were formed as a result of the economic collapse during the 1990s, which made the regime unable to distribute food to its people. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic ,

13110-651: The leadership in South Korea. These efforts culminated in an attempt to storm the Blue House and assassinate President Park Chung Hee . North Korean troops thus took a much more aggressive stance toward US forces in and around South Korea, engaging US Army troops in fire-fights along the Demilitarized Zone . The 1968 capture of the crew of the spy ship USS Pueblo was a part of this campaign. Albania 's Enver Hoxha (another independent-minded communist leader)

13248-401: The mid-1980s of increasing encouragement of small-scale private handicrafts and farm markets. As of 1992 , however, no move was reported to expand the size of private garden plots. All these measures appear to be minor stop-gap measures to alleviate severe shortages of consumer goods by infusing some degree of incentives. In mid-1993, no significant moves signalling a fundamental deviation from

13386-475: The military. There were minor efforts toward relaxing central control of the economy in the 1980s that involve industrial enterprises. Encouraged by Kim Jong Il 's call to strengthen the implementation of the independent accounting system ( 독립채산제 , tongnip ch'aesanje ) of enterprises in March 1984, interest in enterprise management and the independent accounting system increased, as evidenced by increasing coverage of

13524-452: The most effective and popular Korean guerrilla leaders ever. He appeared on Japanese wanted lists as the "Tiger". The Japanese "Maeda Unit" was sent to hunt him in February 1940. Later in 1940, the Japanese kidnapped a woman named Kim Hye-sun, believed to have been Kim Il Sung's first wife. After using her as a hostage to try to convince the Korean guerrillas to surrender, she was killed. Kim

13662-429: The need for correct and detailed planning and strict implementation of plans was so great that their importance was emphasized in the report unveiling the Second Seven-Year Plan, indicating that planning problems persisted in the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, North Korea abandoned firm directive planning, and multi-year plans became more of a long-term economic strategy. The Ch'ŏngsan-ni Method ( 청산리방법 ) of management

13800-422: The ninth episode of The Amazing Race Vietnam 2019 as the site of a task where the competing teams had to search for a commemorative stamp of Kim Jong Un 's goodwill visit to Vietnam in 2019. Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung ( / k ɪ m ɪ l ˈ s ʌ ŋ , - ˈ s ʊ ŋ / ; Korean :  김일성 , Korean pronunciation: [kimils͈ʌŋ] ; born Kim Sung Ju ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994)

13938-618: The old command economy, it has been gradually implementing these policies forcing markets and private economic activities to significantly shrink. Estimating gross national product in North Korea is a difficult task because of a lack of economic data and the problem of choosing an appropriate rate of exchange for the North Korean won , the nonconvertible North Korean currency. The South Korean government's estimate placed North Korea's GNP in 1991 at US$ 22.9 billion, or US$ 1,038 per capita. In contrast, South Korea posted US$ 237.9 billion of GNP and

14076-569: The opportunity to blackmail Kim Song-ju into leading the North Korean Communist Party as a Soviet puppet under the name of the real war hero Kim-Il Sung, whom Stalin had disappeared. Jacobsen also writes that the CIA learned "specific instructions [were] given to the leaders of the regime that there should be no questions raised about Kim [Il Sung]'s identity." Historians generally accept the view that, while Kim's exploits were exaggerated by

14214-419: The party committee organizes all political activities in each of the factory party cells and attempts to ensure loyalty to the party's production targets and management goals. According to official claims, all management decisions are arrived at by consensus among the members of the party committee. Given the overwhelming importance of the party in the country's affairs, it seems likely that the party secretary has

14352-458: The production time into daily, weekly, ten-day, monthly, quarterly, and annual periods. In general, the monthly plan is the basic factory planning period. The success of an economic plan depends on the quality and detail of information received, the establishment of realistic targets, coordination among sectors, and correct implementation. High initial growth during the Three-Year Plan and, to

14490-515: The ranks of managers, workers, engineers, and the leadership of "working people's organizations" at the factory. A smaller "executive committee", about one-quarter the size of the regular committee, has practical responsibility for day-to-day plant operations and major factory decisions. The most important staff members, including the party committee secretary, factory manager, and chief engineer, make up its membership. The system focuses on co-operation among workers, technicians, and party functionaries at

14628-481: The regional planning staff to better coordinate with economic establishments in their areas, which are directly responsible to them in planning, as well as communicating directly with staff at the CPC. "Detailed planning" seeks to construct plans with precision and scientific methods based on concrete assessment of the resources, labour, funds, plant capacities, and other necessary information. There are four stages in drafting

14766-516: The ruling party, and even where a person was allowed to live. Large numbers of people from the so-called hostile class, which included intellectuals, land owners, and former supporters of Japan's occupying government during World War II , were forcibly relocated to the country's isolated and impoverished northern provinces. When years of famine ravaged the country in the 1990s, those people who lived in its marginalized and remote communities were hardest hit. During his rule, North Korea's government

14904-570: The rumors, however, by making a series of public appearances. It has been argued, however, that the incident helped establish the order of succession – the first apparent patrilineal in a communist state – which eventually would occur upon Kim Il Sung's death in 1994. From about this time, North Korea encountered increasing economic difficulties. South Korea became an economic powerhouse fueled by Japanese and American investment, military aid, and internal economic development, while North Korea stagnated and then declined in

15042-484: The running of the government to him. The Kim family was supported by the army, due to Kim Il Sung's revolutionary record and the support of the veteran defense minister, O Chin-u . At the Sixth Party Congress in October 1980, Kim publicly designated his son as his successor. In 1986, a rumor spread that Kim had been assassinated, making the concern for Jong-il's ability to succeed his father actual. Kim dispelled

15180-523: The same period. Differences emerged between North Korea and the Soviet Union; chief among them was Kim Il Sung's philosophy of Juche , which focused on Korean nationalism and self-reliance . Despite this, the country received funds, subsidies and aid from the USSR and the Eastern Bloc until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. The resulting loss of economic aid negatively affected North Korea's economy, contributing to widespread famine in 1994. During this period, North Korea also remained critical of

15318-450: The team of doctors who were constantly at his father's side to leave and arranged for the country's best doctors to be flown in from Pyongyang. After several hours, the doctors from Pyongyang arrived, but despite their efforts to save him, Kim Il Sung died at 02:00 am PST on 8 July 1994, aged 82. After the traditional Confucian mourning period, his death was declared 34 hours later. Kim Il Sung's death resulted in nationwide mourning and

15456-508: The terms of office of six South Korean Presidents and ten United States Presidents . Known as the Great Leader ( Suryong ), he established a far-reaching personality cult which dominates domestic politics in North Korea . At the 6th WPK Congress in 1980, his oldest son Kim Jong Il was elected to be a Presidium member and chosen to be his successor, thus establishing the Kim dynasty . Kim

15594-665: The thousands crossed the Yalu River and entered the war as allies of the KPA. There were nevertheless tensions between Kim and the Chinese government. Kim had been warned of the likelihood of an amphibious landing at Incheon, which was ignored. There was also a sense that the North Koreans had paid little in war compared to the Chinese who had fought for their country for decades against foes with better technology. The UN troops were forced to withdraw and Chinese troops retook P'yŏngyang in December and Seoul in January 1951. In March, UN forces began

15732-594: The time was chairman of the Political Committee of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. Wei reported directly to Kang Sheng , a high-ranking party member close to Mao Zedong in Yan'an , until Wei's death on 8 March 1941. Kim's actions during the Minsaengdan incident helped solidify his leadership. The CCP operating in Manchuria had become suspicious that any Korean could secretly be

15870-484: The topic in North Korean journals. Under the system, factory managers still are assigned output targets but are given more discretion in decisions about labour, equipment, materials, and funds. In addition to fixed capital, each enterprise is allocated a minimum of working capital from the state through the Central Bank and is required to meet operating expenses with the proceeds from sales of its output. Up to 50% of

16008-411: The war included 2,919 civil servants, 1,613 police, 190 judicial officers and lawyers, and 424 medical practitioners. In the hijacking and seizure of Korean Airlines flight YS-11 in 1969 by North Korean agents, the pilots and mechanics, and others with specialized skills, were the only ones never permitted to return to South Korea. The total number of foreign abductees and disappeared is still unknown but

16146-480: The war, North Korea mobilized its labour force and natural resources in an effort to achieve rapid economic development. Large amounts of aid from other communist countries, notably the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, helped the country achieve a high growth-rate in the immediate postwar period. In 1961, an ambitious seven-year plan was launched to continue industrial expansion and increase living standards, but within three years it became clear this

16284-642: The youngest member of the Korean Communist Youth Association  [ ko ] , an underground Marxist organization with fewer than twenty members. It was led by Hŏ So ( 허소 ; 許笑 ), who belonged to the South Manchurian Communist Youth Association  [ ko ] . The police discovered the group three weeks after it formed in 1929, and jailed Kim for several months. Kim's formal education ended after his arrest and imprisonment. In 1931, Kim joined

16422-510: Was the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) from 1949 to 1994 (titled as chairman from 1949 to 1966 and as general secretary after 1966). Coming to power after the end of Japanese rule over Korea in 1945 following Japan's surrender in World War II , he authorized the invasion of South Korea in 1950, triggering an intervention in defense of South Korea by the United Nations led by

16560-491: Was 1.4% per year. It has published the following estimates of North Korea's GDP growth: (in Bil. KR₩ nominal) (in KR₩ nominal) (real) This analysis converts production volume estimates into South Korean prices, so is subject to price changes over time of South Korean goods. According to analyst Andrei Lankov , writing in 2017, a significant number of observers believe that

16698-480: Was a North Korean politician, revolutionary, and military leader. He founded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea , which he led as Supreme Leader from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Afterwards, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il and was declared Eternal President . He held the posts of the Premier from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to 1994. He

16836-506: Was a Protestant minister , and his father had gone to a missionary school and he was also an elder in the Presbyterian Church. According to an official North Korean government account, Kim's family participated in anti-Japanese activities and fled to Manchuria in 1920. Like most Korean families, they resented the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula (which had begun on 29 August 1910). Japanese repression of Korean opposition

16974-411: Was a fierce enemy of the country and Kim Il Sung, writing in June 1977 that "genuine Marxist-Leninists " will understand that the "ideology which is guiding the Korean Workers' Party and the Communist Party of China ... is revisionist " and later that month he added that "in Pyongyang, I believe that even Tito will be astonished at the proportions of the cult of his host [Kim Il sung], which has reached

17112-467: Was a period of enterprise autonomy that lasted until December 1946. The second stage was a transitional system based on local autonomy, with each enterprise managed by the enterprise management committee under the direction of the local people's committee. This system was replaced by the "one-man management system" ( 지배인 단독 책임제 ), with management patterned along Soviet lines as large enterprises were nationalized and came under central control. The third stage,

17250-495: Was appointed commander of the 2nd operational region for the 1st Army, but by the end of 1940 he was the only 1st Army leader still alive. Pursued by Japanese troops, in late 1940, Kim and a dozen of his fighters escaped by crossing the Amur River into the Soviet Union. Kim was sent to a camp at Vyatskoye near Khabarovsk , where the Soviets retrained the Korean communist guerrillas. In August 1942, Kim and his army were assigned to

17388-615: Was born Kim Song Ju to father Kim Hyong Jik and mother Kang Pan Suk . Kim had two younger brothers, Kim Chul Ju  [ ko ] and Kim Yong-ju . Kim Chul Ju died while fighting the Japanese and Kim Yong-ju came to be involved in the North Korean government; he was considered as an heir to his brother before he fell out of favor. Kim's family, part of the Jeonju Kim clan , is said to have originated in Jeonju , North Jeolla Province . In 1860, his great-grandfather, Kim Ŭngu, settled in

17526-550: Was born out of Kim Il Sung's February 1960 visit to the Ch'ŏngsan-ni Cooperative Farm in South P'yŏngan Province. Influenced by Mao Zedong 's Great Leap Forward Policy, Kim and other members of the KWP Central Committee offered " on-the-spot guidance " ( 현지지도 , hyŏnji chido ) and spent two months instructing and interacting with the workers. The avowed objective of this new method is to combat " bureaucratism " and "formalism" in

17664-541: Was failing and the plan period was extended to 1970. The failure was due to reduced support from the Soviet Union when North Korea aligned more with China, and military pressure from the U.S. leading to increased defense spending. In 1965, South Korea's rate of economic growth first exceeded North Korea's in most industrial areas, though South Korea's per capita GNP remained lower than North Korea's. In 1979, North Korea renegotiated much of its international debt, but in 1980 it defaulted on its loans except those from Japan. By

17802-399: Was harsh, resulting in the arrest and detention of more than 52,000 Korean citizens in 1912 alone. This repression had forced many Korean families to flee the Korean peninsula, and settle in Manchuria. Nevertheless, Kim's parents, especially his mother, played a role in the anti-Japanese struggle that was sweeping the peninsula. Their exact involvement – whether their cause

17940-485: Was heavily influenced by Kim's ideology, and the personality cult which grew around him in Romania was very similar to that of Kim. In the 1960s, Kim became impressed with the efforts of North Vietnamese Leader Ho Chi Minh to reunify Vietnam through guerrilla warfare and thought that something similar might be possible in Korea. Infiltration and subversion efforts were thus greatly stepped up against US forces and

18078-515: Was little noticed at the time until state media started talking about it in 1963. Kim developed the policy and ideology of Juche in opposition to the idea of North Korea as a satellite state of China or the Soviet Union. Kim transformed North Korea into what Wonjun Song and Joseph Wright consider a personalist dictatorship, where power was centralized in Kim personally. Kim Il Sung's cult of personality had initially been criticized by some members of

18216-584: Was missionary, nationalist, or both – is unclear. North Korean government sources credit Kim with founding the Down-with-Imperialism Union in 1926. He attended Whasung Military Academy in 1926, but found the academy's training methods outdated and quit it in 1927. He then attended Yuwen Middle School in China 's Jilin province until 1930, when he rejected the feudal traditions of older-generation Koreans and became interested in communist ideologies. Seventeen-year-old Kim became

18354-582: Was proclaimed on December 27, 1972, which created the position of the President of North Korea . Kim gave up his former Premier of the Cabinet position, which he had held since 1948, and became instead president, after the 1972 North Korean parliamentary election . On 14 April 1975, North Korea discontinued most formal use of its traditional units and adopted the metric system . In 1980, he decided that his son Kim Jong Il would succeed him, and increasingly delegated

18492-418: Was responsible for widespread human rights abuses . Kim Il Sung punished real and perceived dissent through purges which included public executions and enforced disappearances . Not only dissenters but their entire extended families were punished by being reduced to the lowest songbun rank, and many of them were also incarcerated in a secret system of political prison camps. These camps or kwanliso ,

18630-491: Was set at 7.9% annually, lower than the previous plan. Although achieving the ten major goals of the 1980s was the main thrust of the Third Seven-Year Plan, some substantial changes have been made in specific quantitative targets. For example, the target for the annual output of steel was reduced by a third: from 15 million tons to 10 million tons. The output targets of cement and non-ferrous metals—two major export items—have been increased significantly. The June 1989 introduction of

18768-473: Was the first of many "nuclear crises" . On 19 May 1994, Kim ordered spent fuel to be unloaded from the already disputed nuclear research facility in Yongbyon . Despite repeated chiding from Western nations, Kim continued to conduct nuclear research and carry on with the uranium enrichment program. In June 1994, former US President Jimmy Carter traveled to Pyongyang in an effort to persuade Kim to negotiate with

18906-417: Was the increased use of material incentives, such as paid vacations, special bonuses, honorific titles, and monetary rewards. In fact, the Ch'ŏngsan-ni Method appeared to accommodate almost any expedient to spur production. The method, subsequently, was undercut by heavy-handed efforts to increase farm production and amalgamate farms into ever-larger units. Actual improvement in the agricultural sector began with

19044-483: Was the political coordination and organization between the guerrillas and the Korean Fatherland Restoration Association, an anti-Japanese united front group based in Manchuria. These accomplishments would grant Kim some measure of fame among Chinese guerrillas, and North Korean biographies would later exploit it as a great victory for Korea. For their part, the Japanese regarded Kim as one of

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