| Kim Jong-suk 김정숙 金正淑 |
|
|---|---|
| Born | 24 December 1917 Osan-dong, Hoeryong, North Hamgyong, Japanese Korea |
| Died | 22 September 1949 (aged 31) North Korea |
| Spouse | Kim Il-sung |
| Children | Kim Jong-il Kim Man-il |
| Korean name | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 김정숙 |
| Hancha | 金正淑 |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Chŏng-suk |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Jeong-suk |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 김정숙 |
| Hancha | 金正淑 |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Jŏng-suk |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Jeong-suk |
Kim Jong-suk (December 24, 1917 – September 22, 1949) was a Korean independence activist and Communist politician. She was North Korean leader Kim Il-sung's first wife and Kim Jong-il's mother.
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Kim Jong-suk was born December 24, 1917 to Kim Chun San and Oh Ssi, who were poor farmers in Osan-dong, Hoeryong County, in the North Hamgyong Province of Japanese Korea. In 1922 her family abandoned Korea to live in China. 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 in the Soviet village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk.
On September 22, 1949, Kim Jong-suk died at the age of 31 while giving birth to a stillborn baby girl. Known in North Korea as "The Heroine of the Anti-Japanese Revolution", the North Korean government conferred the title of Hero of the DPRK on her on September 21, 1972; her image is used as part of the propaganda apparatus of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK), in which she is portrayed as a revolutionary woman. She is credited as the founder of the WPK's auxiliary organizations, the Korean Children's Union and the Korean Democratic Women's Union, among others.
Other unconfirmed reports suggest that she might have been shot and left to bleed to death.[1]
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