|
Ko Yong-hui
Ko Yong-hui (; ; 26 June 1952 – 13 August 2004), also spelled Ko Young-hee, was the consort of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il and the mother of his successor, Kim Jong-un. Within North Korea, she is only referred to by titles, such as "The Respected Mother who is the Most Faithful and Loyal 'Subject' to the Dear Leader Comrade Supreme Commander", "The Mother of Pyongyang", and "The Mother of Great Songun Korea". Biography Born in Osaka, Japan, to Korean parents, Ko's birth date and Japanese name in Japanese official records are 26 June 1952 and Takada Hime (高田姫), respectively. Her father, Ko Gyon-tek, worked in an Osaka sewing factory run by Japan's ministry of war, a 16th generation descendant of the Joseon scholar official, Go Deuk-jong. She, along with her family, moved to North Korea in May 1961 or in 1962 as part of a repatriation program. In the early 1970s, she began working as a dancer for the Mansudae Art Troupe in Pyongyang. Her younger sister Ko ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim Il-sung, the first Supreme Leader, until his own death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-un. In the early 1980s, Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and assumed important posts in the party and army organs. Kim succeeded his father and DPRK founder Kim Il-sung, following the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), WPK Presidium, Chairman of the National Defence Commission (NDC) of North Korea and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the fourth-largest standing army in the world. Kim ruled North Korea as a repressive and totalitarian dictatorship. Kim assumed leadership duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen a.o.). , coordinates = , largest_city = Zürich , official_languages = , englishmotto = "One for all, all for one" , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , religion = , demonym = , german: Schweizer/Schweizerin, french: Suisse/Suissesse, it, svizzero/svizzera or , rm, Svizzer/Svizra , government_type = Federalism, Federal assembly-independent Directorial system, directorial republic with elements of a direct democracy , leader_title1 = Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = Walter Thurnherr , legislature = Fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daily NK
''Daily NK'' is an online newspaper based in Seoul, South Korea, where it reports on various aspects of North Korean society from information obtained from inside and outside of North Korea via a network of informants. North Korea is ranked 179 out of 180 in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, which is compiled by Reporters Without Borders. The organization's president and editor-in-chief are South Korean, while its journalists are a mix of South Koreans and North Korean defectors. ''Daily NK'' is a recipient of funding from multiple institutions and private donors, including the National Endowment for Democracy, an NGO funded by the U.S. Congress. ''Daily NK''s president is Lee Kwang-baek. The amount of ''Daily NK'''s funding from the National Endowment for Democracy since 2016 is available in the public sphere. The organization is part of a consortium with thUnification Media Group which is a South Korea-based non-profit organization that produces and delivers radio content ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Premier from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to 1994. He 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 in 1945, he authorized the invasion of South Korea in 1950, triggering an intervention in defense of South Korea by the United Nations led by the United States. Following the military stalemate in the Korean War, a ceasefire was signed on 27 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 socialist state with a centrally planned economy. It had c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Jong-suk
Kim Jong-suk (; 24 December 1917Suh Dae-sook. Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. – 22 September 1949) was a Korean anti-Japanese guerrilla, a Communist activist, North Korean leader Kim Il-sung's first wife, former leader Kim Jong-il's mother, and current leader Kim Jong-un's grandmother. Biography Kim Jong-suk was born on Christmas Eve 1917 in Hoeryong County, North Hamgyong Province, Japanese Korea. Lintner, Bertil. Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2005. 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 orp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kang Pan-sok
Kang Pan-sŏk ( ko, 강반석; 21 April 1892 – 31 July 1932) was the mother of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung. Biography She came from the village of Chilgol and raised Kim on a small farm in Mangyongdae, both near Pyongyang. She accepted, but rarely participated in her husband's pro-independence activism. After the family fled to Manchuria to avoid arrest, she did not return to Korea. 21 April is a day of memorial for her in North Korea, when a wreath-laying ceremony is held at Chilgol Revolutionary Site. Legacy In North Korea, Kang Pan-sŏk is referred to as the "Mother of Korea" or "Great Mother of Korea". Both titles are shared with Kim Jong-il's mother Kim Jong-suk. However, it was Kang Pan-sŏk who was the first family member of Kim Il-sung to have a cult of personality of her own to supplement that of her son, from the late 1960s onwards. In 1967, ''Rodong Sinmun'' praised her as the "mother of all". The same year, the Democratic Women's League initiated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan as supreme commander of the army and the Imperial Japanese Navy. Later an Inspectorate General of Aviation became the third agency with oversight of the army. During wartime or national emergencies, the nominal command functions of the emperor would be centralized in an Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ), an ad hoc body consisting of the chief and vice chief of the Army General Staff, the Minister of the Army, the chief and vice chief of the Naval General Staff, the Inspector General of Aviation, and the Inspector General of Military Training. History Origins (1868–1871) In the mid-19th century, Japan had no unified national army and the country was made up of feudal domains (''han'') with the Tokugawa shogunate (''bakufu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Songbun
''Songbun'' (), formally chulsin-songbun (, from Sino-Korean 出身, "origin" and 成分, "constituent"), is the system of ascribed status used in North Korea. Based on the political, social, and economic background of one's direct ancestors as well as the behavior of their relatives, ''songbun'' is used to classify North Korean citizens into three primary castes, core, wavering and hostile, in addition to approximately fifty sub-classifications, and determine whether an individual is trusted with responsibilities, is given opportunities within North Korea, or even receives adequate food. ''Songbun'' affects access to educational and employment opportunities and it particularly determines whether a person is eligible to join North Korea's ruling party, the Workers' Party of Korea. History The Korean Workers' Party Politburo passed a decree in 1957 entitled "On the Transformation of the Struggle with Counterrevolutionary Elements into an All-People All-Party Movement", which es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Young-sook
Kim Young-sook (; born 1947) was the second wife of Kim Jong-il. She was the daughter of a high-ranking military official, and was a switchboard operator in North Hamgyong Province before moving to Pyongyang. Kim Jong-il's father, Kim Il-sung, handpicked her to marry his son. The two had been estranged for some years before his death. Kim Young-sook had a daughter from this marriage, Kim Sol-song (born 1974). Song Hye-rang, the sister of Kim Jong-il's first mistress Song Hye-rim, mentioned that she is "insignificant to Kim Jong-il, apart from being a legitimate wife in front of Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of .... She did not even have an identity card in North Korea" as noted in her memoir ''Rattan house''. References Living people Peop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Sol-song
Kim Sol-song (; born 30 December 1974) is the daughter of North Korea's former leader Kim Jong-il and Kim Young-sook. She has been active within the propaganda department, been in charge of literary affairs, and previously led the security and schedule of her father as his secretary. "Sol-song" literally means "snow pine", and the name was given by her grandfather, Kim Il-sung. She was a favourite of her father. She attended the same school as her father, graduated from Kim Il-sung University's Economics Department and was assigned to the propaganda department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. She was in charge of literary affairs: all the signatures on works of literature coming into the department were signed by her. According to a North Korean defector, who used to be a high-ranking official in Pyongyang, Sol-song was in charge of the security and schedule for Kim Jong-Il since the late 1990s. In this capacity, she accompanied her father during trips ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Hye-rim
Song Hye-rim (; 24 January 1937 18 May 2002) was a North Korean actress, best known for being the one-time favored mistress of Kim Jong-il. Early life and education Song was born in Changnyeong when Korea was under Imperial Japanese rule. She entered Pyongyang Movie College in 1955, but left the following year to give birth to a daughter. She later re-enrolled and graduated, having her film debut in 1960. She became a popular actress in the 1960s, appearing in movies including ''Onjŏngryŏng'' () and ''Baek Il-hong'' (). Most accounts of Song are drawn from the memoirs of her sister, Song Hye-rang. Her former friend Kim Young-soon published her memoir ''I was Song Hye-rim's Friend'', and revealed that she and her family were sent to a concentration camp for ten years after she found out Hye-rim's secret, namely, that she was Kim Jong-il's mistress, a fact that was hidden at the time even from Kim Il-sung. This resulted in death of her parents and children, and her husband wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> Imperial Japanese Army")