Kim Jong-suk
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| Kim Jong-suk | |
|---|---|
| Chosŏn'gŭl: | 김정숙 |
| Hanja: | 金正淑, born 金貞淑 |
| McCune-Reischauer: | Kim Chŏng-suk |
| Revised Romanization: | Gim Jeong-suk |
Kim Jong-suk (December 24, 1917 – September 22, 1949) was Kim Il-sung's first wife and Kim Jong-il's mother.
Kim Jong-suk was born December 24, 1917 to Kim Chun San and Oh Ssi in Osan-dong, Hoeryong County, in the North Hamgyong Province of Japanese-occupied Korea to a family of poor farmers. Later, her family would abandon Korea to live in China in 1922. Kim Jong-suk joined the Young Communist League of Korea, led by Kim Il-sung, on July 10, 1932. Later, on April 25, 1936, she was assigned to the KPRA main unit directly under the command of Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-suk was formally admitted into the Communist Party on January 25, 1937. Kim Jong-suk gave birth to Kim Jong-il on February 16, 1941 who would follow in the footsteps of his father.
At dawn, on September 22, 1949, Kim Jong-suk died at the age of 31 while giving birth to a stillborn baby girl. Known as "The Heroine of the Anti-Japanese Revolution" and as a revolutionary fighter decided to her country and people, the North Korean government conferred the title of DPRK Hero on her on September 21, 1972; her image is used, in death as in life, as that of the revolutionary woman, part of the propaganda apparatus of the Communist Party of North Korea.
[edit] References
- Suh, Dae-Sook, Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York: Columbia University Press (1988)
- Japser Becker, "Rogue Regime: Kim John Il and the Looming Threat of North Corea",
