Chairman Kim Jong Il

He was born the son of President Kim Il Sung and anti-Japanese heroine Kim Jong Suk at the Paektusan Secret Camp on February 16, 1942 (Juche 31). He received a general education from September 1950 to August 1960. He studied at Kim Il Sung University from September 1960 to March 1964. He joined the Workers’ Party of Korea on July 22, 1961. Appointed a member of the WPK Central Committee in June 1964, he served successively as section chief, deputy division director, and department director of the WPK Central Committee until September 1973.

He was elected a member of the WPK Central Committee at the Fifth Plenary Meeting of the 5th WPK Central Committee in October 1972, and secretary of the WPK Central Committee at the Seventh Plenary Meeting of the 5th WPK Central Committee in September 1973.

He was elected to the Political Committee of the WPK Central Committee and endorsed as successor to President Kim Il Sung at the Eighth Plenary Meeting of the Fifth WPK Central Committee in February 1974.

He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, secretary of the WPK Central Committee, and a member of the WPK Central Military Commission at the Sixth WPK Congress in October 1980.

He was elected to the 7th through 12th Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK between February 1982 and March 2009. He was elected First Vice Chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission at the First Session of the 9th SPA in May 1990. Appointed Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army in December 1991. Awarded the title of Marshal of the DPRK in April 1992.

He was elected Chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission at the Fifth Session of the 9th SPA in April 1993. He was elected General Secretary of the WPK in October 1997 and re-elected General Secretary of the WPK at the Third Conference of the WPK in September 2010.

He was re-elected Chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission at the First Session of the 10th SPA in September 1998, at the First Session of the 11th SPA in September 2003, and at the First Session of the 12th SPA in April 2009. He passed away from a sudden illness caused by mental and physical overwork during an intensive field guidance tour for the building of a thriving nation and improvement of people’s living standards on December 17, 2011.

The army and people of the DPRK held Kim Jong Il in high esteem as Eternal General Secretary of the WPK and Eternal Chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission, respectively, at the Fourth Conference of the WPK in April 2012 and at the Fifth Session of the 12th SPA in April 2012. He published many works, including those compiled in the 15-volume “Selected Works of Kim Jong Il” and in the 10-volume “Juche Idea Accomplishment in Revolutionary Activities”, through energetic and brilliant ideological and theoretical activities.

He was awarded the title of Hero of the DPRK four times, in 1975, 1982, 1992 and 2011 respectively, the Kim Il Sung Order four times, in 1978, 1982, 1992 and 2012, the Kim Il Sung Prize in February 1973 and March 2012, and many other orders and medals. He was honored with numerous orders and medals, honorary titles, and titles of honorary professor and doctor honoris causa from many countries.