Kimjongilia is a flower named after the late

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n leader

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 ...

. It is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

of tuberous begonia, registered as ''Begonia'' × ''tuberhybrida'' 'Kimjongilhwa'. When Kim Jong-il died in December 2011, the flower was used to adorn his body for public display. Despite its name, the Kimjongilia is not the official

national flower In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to ...

of North Korea, which is the ''

Magnolia sieboldii ''Magnolia sieboldii'', or Siebold's magnolia, also known as Korean mountain magnolia and Oyama magnolia, is a species of ''Magnolia'' native to east Asia in China, Japan, and Korea. It is named after the Germany, German doctor Philipp Franz von ...

''. Another flower,

Kimilsungia Kimilsungia is a hybrid orchid of the genus ''Dendrobium''. It is a clone of a plant that was created in Indonesia by orchid breeder Carl Ludwig C. L. Bundt, who in 1964 registered the grex name ''Dendrobium'' Clara Bundt for all orchids of ...

, is an orchid cultivar named after Kim Jong-il's father and predecessor,

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 ...

History

To commemorate Kim Jong-il's 46th birthday in 1988,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Kamo Mototeru is a Japanese horticulturist, creator of the variety of begonia Kimjongilia dedicated to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. He is known for creating and maintaining a number of bird and flower theme parks in Japan, including the following. * Fuj ...

cultivated a new perennial begonia named "kimjongilia" (literally, "flower of Kim Jong-il"), representing the ''

Juche ''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and ...

'' revolutionary cause of the Dear Leader. It was presented as a "token of friendship between Korea and Japan". The flower symbolizes wisdom, love, justice and peace. It is designed to bloom every year on Kim Jong-il's birthday, February 16.

Bloom

The flower has been cultivated to bloom around the

Day of the Shining Star The Day of the Shining Star () is a public holiday in North Korea falling on 16 February, the anniversary of the birth of the country's second leader, Kim Jong-il. Along with the Day of the Sun, the birthday of his father Kim Il-sung, it is the ...

, Kim Jong-il's birthday, 16 February. According to the

Korean Central News Agency The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946 and now features onlin ...

, a preservation agent had been developed that would allow the flower to keep in bloom for longer periods of time.

Song

A song composed by several North Korean composers, also called "Kimjongilia", was written about the flower:Lanʹkov, 2007, p. 22.

References

External links

* * {{Kim Jong-il Begonia Kim Jong-il National symbols of North Korea Ornamental plant cultivars Propaganda in North Korea

History

Bloom

Song

See also

References

Further reading

External links