Kim II Sung (1912-1994) – Brief Profile & History

As the leader of the Korean Communist Party, Kim II Sung established a post-World War II military government in North Korea. His legacy remains today one of the world’s few surviving Communist governments and one that poses the greatest threat to peace in Asia. Secrecy and propaganda shroud most facts about Kim’s life. Even his name is not that of his natural parents. Born on April 15, 1912, near Pyongyang as Kim Song Ju, Kim fled from Korea to Manchuria in 1925 to escape the oppression of the Japanese oc¬cupiers. There he joined the Korean Communist Party in 1931. During the later part of the decade he came to the attention of Soviet military authorities—because of his anti-Japanese guerrilla actions or his Communist fervor, depending on the account

Kim spent the majority of World War II in the Soviet Union, claiming to have fought in various capacities with the Red Army. It is likely, however, that he spent much of this time in political training rather than actual combat During this period he also adopted the name Kim II Sung, after a deceased Korean guerrilla who had earned the reputation of a great warrior and nationalist fighting the Japanese.

At the end of World War II, when the Soviet Union, and the United States, each occupying a sector, announced plans to reunite Korea as one independent country, Kim and other Moscow-trained Korean Communists returned home to organize the government in the North. Many Koreans, when told of Kim II Sung’s return, expected to greet the old guerrilla veteran of the same name. Most were surprised at the youth of the “new Kim,” and there is no evidence that he made any attempt to clarify that his alleged military accomplishments may not have been all his own.

By the end of die Soviet occupation in 1948, Kim possessed firm control of all aspects of the government in the North and became premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. When the Soviets and Americans failed to feach agreement on the reunification of the two Koreas in 1950, Kim, with advisory and arms support from the Soviet Union, invaded the South to forcefully reunify the country under Communist control. Although secrecy obscures the behind-the-scenes activities, it is apparent that Kim maintained absolute command of the North Korean military in the same way he controlled all other aspects of the country.

Kim’s invasion faced litde resistance even after the piecemeal arrival of American and UN troops. But despite his best efforts, Kim was not equal to the task of defeating DOUGLAS MACARTHUR when he landed his invasion force at Inchon. With the UN forces in pursuit, Kim’s survivors retreated in disarray into the North. It was only Chinese Communist “volunteer” divisions entering the conflict on orders from MAO ZEDONG [48] in late 1950 and pushing the UN forces back into South Korea that saved Kim. For the next two years, the war stagnated approximately along the prewar border of the 38th parallel.

The belligerents finally signed an armistice agreement on July 27, 1953. More than forty years later, North Korean soldiers occupy positions facing South Korean and American positions along the truce line. Occasional flare-ups still occur.

Kim’s close call during the conflict did not slow “his continued consolidation of control after the armistice. By 1956 he had eliminated all opposition outside and within the Korean Communist Party, assuming the tides “Marshal,” Twice Hero,” and “Hero of Labor.” In 1972 he “stepped down” and became president but still maintained absolute power over the government and military.

Over the years, Kim distanced himself from both the Chinese and the Soviets. Within Korea he promoted the cult of his own personality, erecting statues, monuments, and other honors to himself. While he made some advancements in industrializing the North, it has lagged far behind South Korea. At times, Kim even had difficulty providing enough food for his population.

In 1980, Kim elevated Kim Jong II, his son, to various positions of authority. Despite the younger Kim’s “playboy” inclinations, there was no doubt of the elder Kim’s intention to have’ his son succeed him as government and military leader.

On July 8, 1994, Kim II Sung, eighty-two, died, and Kim Jong II assumed power, as planned. Although the younger Kim has maintained a low profile since his father’s death, there is no hard evidence indicating erosion of power. Reports of widespread hunger and oppression continue to come out of North Korea, but the Communist state, as established by Kim II Sung, continues to exist and to provoke and act hostilely toward South Korea and its American allies.

Although overall Kim’s influence was marginal to nonexistent outside Korea, North Korea continues as the primary, threat to peace in the region. Within the country, every block and street corner has a memorial to Kim, who has assumed a godlike status to his fellow North Koreans. At the present, there seems to be no real challenge to his legacy. During celebrations on May Day in 1995 at Kim II Sung Square, beneath portraits of Lenin and Marx, thousands of North Korean soldiers and civilians chanted, “Comrade Kim II Sung is Comrade Kim Jong II; they are the same person.”

Although Kim never exhibited any personal military skills of note and performed mosdy as a puppet of the Soviet Union and China, his legacy remains. Kim’s Korea, now led by his son, shares a status equivalent with that of SADDAM HUSSEIN of Iraq in that both countries pose threats to regional and global peace and stability. Containing their potential ambitions influences the policies and actions of the major world powers. It is for this reason only that Kim ranks as an influential military leader.

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