Kim Jong-il - Kim Jong-il Kim Jong Il (left) walking with the late Kim Il Sung (right) Kim Jong-il, 김정일 金正日 (born February 15, 1942) is the current leader of North Korea. Background Kim's father, the late Kim Il Sung, fled to the Soviet Union when the Japanese put a price on his head for guerrilla activities in occupied Korea. The family returned to the northern part of the peninsula after Japan's surrender during World War II, and communist Soviet leader Joseph Stalin anointed Kim Il Sung as the leader of the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea. According to official North Korean accounts, Kim Jong was born in a log cabin at his father's guerilla base on North Korea's highest mountain, Mount Paektu, in February 1942. The peak,.
Kimjongilia - Prize-winning kimjongilia exhibited. President Kim Il Sung admires an exhibit of kimjongilia, the flower named after his son in this 1988 photo. Kimjongilia, national flower of North Korea, named after Leader Kim Jong Il. To commemorate Kim Jong Il's 46th birthday in 1988, Japanese botanist Motoderu Kamo cultivated a new perennial begonia named "kimjongilia", representing the Juche revolutionary cause of the Dear Leader, admiration, and loyalty. According to North Korean sources, the flower symbolizes wisdom and good human feelings such as future loving, justice and peace and possesses strong great man bearing. The North Korean government claims that kimjongilia, now the national flower, have widely spread throughout North Korea from the Korean Central Botanical Garden and since to over 60 nations, including the United States and Russia. See also: kimilsungia.
Kim Il-sung - Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (김일성 ; 金日成) (April 15, 1912 - July 8, 1994) was the autocratic Communist ruler of North Korea from 1948 until his death. To this day, even after his death the North Korean government continues to recognize him as the nation's "eternal" president. He was born Kim Song-ju (김성주; 金成柱) in Pyongi (변경 ; 邊京?) or Mangyongdae (만경대 ; 萬景台) near Pyongyang, Korea. After following his father to Jilin, China in 1925, he studied at Fusong Number One Elementary School (撫松第一小學) for a year, then spent four years in Yuwen Middle School (毓文中學). It is during this period that he organized an anti-imperalist society. He was a founding member of the Young Communist League of Korea in 1927. In 1930, he founded.
Kim Dae-jung - Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (김대중 ; 金大中, born December 3, 1925) is a South Korean politician. Long an opposition leader, he became president (after Kim Young-sam) in 1997. He first entered politics in 1954, opposing the policies of Syngman Rhee, but did not win a seat in government until 1961. After several arrests in the 1970s, Kim was sentenced to death on charges of sedition and conspiracy; that sentence was commuted to 20 years in prison. In 1985, after a brief exile in the U.S., he resumed his role as one of the principal leaders of the political opposition. When the first democratic presidential election was held in 1987 after ex-general Chun Doo-hwan's retirement, Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam ran against each other, splitting the opposition.
Kim (Korean name) - Kim (Korean name) Kim (김 金) is the most common family name in Korea. In South Korea in 1985, out of a population of between roughly 40 and 45 million, there were approximately 8.8 million Kims--roughly 20% of the population. The name is also common in North Korea. The name is very occasionally also transliterated as Gim. Famous Kims in Korean history have included the politican Kim Ku, the North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il, the South Korean presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, and the fashion designer Andre Kim..
Political families of the world - Family (father-son) Jomo Kenyatta (president, 1964-1978) Uhuru Kenyatta (presidential candidate, 2002) Kiribati The Tong Family (brothers) Anote Tong (president, 2003- ) Harry Tong (presidential candidate, 2003) Democratic People's Republic of Korea The Kim Family (father-son-grandson) Kim Il Sung (general secretary, 1948-1994) Kim Jong Il (general secretary, 1997 - ) Kim Jong Nam (possible successor to Kim Jong Il) Latvia The Ulmanis Family (great-uncle and great-nephew) Karlis Ulmanis (pre-Soviet president) Guntis Ulmanis (post-Soviet president) Marshall Islands The Kabua Family (cousins) Amata Kabua (founding president) Imata Kabua (former president) Mauritius The Jugnauth Family (father-son) Anerood Jugnauth (prime minister, 1982-1995 and 2000-2003; president, 2003 - ) Pravind Jugnauth (deputy prime minister, 2003 - ) The Ramgoolam Family (father-son) Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (father of the nation) Navin Ramgoolam (former prime minister) Nicaragua The Somoza Family (father-son-son).
Korean Workers' Party - Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It is led by Kim Jong Il. In theory, the national party congress is the supreme party organ. The party congress approves reports of the party organs, adopts basic party policies and tactics, and elects members to the KWP Central Committee and the Central Auditing Committee. The election, however, is perfunctory because the members of these bodies are actually chosen by Kim Jong-Il and his few trusted lieutenants. When the party congress is not in session, the Central Committee acts as the official agent of the party, according to Article 14 of the party rules. As of September 1992, the KWP had 160 Central Committee members and 143 Central Committee alternate (candidate) members. The Central Committee meets at least once every six months. Article 24 of.
Korean-Japanese disputes - during World War II, occupying Japanese forces applied policies of enforced assimilation among Koreans, further causing some of the anti-Japanese ideology in Korea. Anti-Koreanism is not strong in Japan, though some degree of nationalism against resident alians, many of which are Koreans, may be present. Anti-NORTH Koreanism get boiled recently (in 2003) in Japan. North Korean nuclear weapons claims Japan opposes the claimed North Korean development of nuclear weapons, stating it is a direct threat to Japan's national security. North Korea's stated position is that this is a matter for discussion solely between North Korea and the USA. North Korean kidnapping of Japanese citizens In 2002, Kim Jong Il of North Korea stated that North Korean agents had kidnapped Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, apparently as a method of.
Juche tower - North Korea. Completed in 1982 it is sited on the bank of the River Taedong on the edge of Kim Il Sung Square. It was made to commemorate to 70th birthday of Kim Il Sung. It is claimed that it was designed by Kim Jong Il. The 170 metre structure is a four sided tapering 150 metre granite spire containing 25,550 blocks (one for each day of Kim Il Sung's life), dressed in white stone with seventy dividers and capped with a 20 metre high, 45 ton, illuminated metal torch. It is possible to ascend the tower. It is reported that the tower was built in 35 days and was dressed in 76 days. Associated with the tower is a 30 metres high statue consisting of three figures - one with.
Head of State - referendum (example: the Republic of Ireland, if the President is petitioned to do so by one third of the lower house and a majority of the upper house.) The Head of State and the Government Emperor Napoleon III President of the Second French Republic (1848-1852) ''made himself Emperor of France (1852-70) In Presidential systems or in absolute monarchies, a head of state is normally not merely head of state but the active'' chief executive officer of the government. The principal example of this is the United States. In parliamentary systems, though the head of state may be the nominal chief executive officer of the state, in reality powers are usually exercised by a cabinet, presided over by a Prime Minister who is answerable to parliament. However, exceptions exist even to this;.
History of North Korea - sovereign, unified "Korean People's Republic" which had popular support but was never recognized by the United States or the Soviet Union. The people's committees were outlawed in the south. With the backing of the Soviet Union, Kim Il-Sung started on a series of popular social and economic reforms which included land redistribution and nationalizing Japanese assets. The Korean War, which soon followed the formation of the country, resulted from political differences that couldn't be reconciled between the Communist north and the American-controlled south. The north's army was better-trained and better-experienced, and it initially appeared that they would win. Then American troops entered the war and it seemed the south would win. Then troops from Maoist China entered the war, and a general stalemate resulted, along the original line of devision that.
February 15 - father of the Scientific method and "modern" Science (+ 1642) 1710 - King Louis XV of France (+ 1774) 1759 - Friedrich August Wolf, philologist and archaeologist (+ 1824) 1803 - John Sutter, California pioneer (+ 1880) 1812 - Charles Louis Tiffany, jeweler (+ 1902) 1815 - Constantin von Tischendorf, Biblical scholar 1820 - Susan B. Anthony, feminist and suffragist 1883 - Sax Rohmer, author (+ 1959) 1882 - John Barrymore, actor 1892 - James Forrestal, first United States Secretary of Defense (+ 1949) 1899 - Georges Auric, composer, member of Les Six (+ 1983) 1899 - Gale Sondergaard, actress (+ 1985) 1907 - Cesar Romero, actor (+ 1994) 1908 - HAP Grieshaber, painter and graphic artist (+ 1981) 1909 - Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish football player 1909 - Miep Gies,.
Economy of North Korea - China, helped the regime achieve a high growth rate in the immediate postwar period. Efforts at Modernization During the early 1970s, North Korea attempted a largescale modernization program through the importation of Western technology, principally in the heavy industrial sectors of the economy. Unable to finance its debt through exports that shrank steadily after the worldwide recession stemming from the oil crisis of the 1970s, the D.P.R.K. became the first communist country to default on its loans from free market countries. In 1979, North Korea was able to renegotiate much of its international debt, but in 1980 it defaulted on all of its loans except those from Japan. By the end of 1986, hard-currency debt had reached more than $4 billion. It also owed nearly $2 billion to communist creditors, principally.
Dictator - otherwise unstable countries; in such circumstances it is quite easy for an organized military cadre to seize control. This almost stereotypical scenario is popularly known as a military dictatorship. Not all dictators are installed through such illegal means, however; Salazar and Dollfuss were economics professors who were lawfully appointed Portuguese prime minister and Austrian chancellor, respectively. One of the most famous dictators of all, Hitler, was lawfully appointed chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg, by whom Hitler had been democratically defeated in the presidential elections. One of the greatest weaknesses of dictatorships like those of Salazar, Dollfuss, and Franco is that they rely considerably on the personal leadership of the dictator rather than on ideology or a clear set of constitutional rules. In addition, the dictator may be unwilling to name.
1942 - able to retain control of Guadalcanal. November 19 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Union forces under General Georgi Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor. November 21 - The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (the "highway" was not usable by general vehicles until 1943, however). November 22 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - The situation for the German attackers of Stalingrad seems desperate during the Soviet counter-attack Operation Uranus and General Friedrich von Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army is surrounded. November 28 - In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove night club kills 491 people. December 2.
Anti-Revisionist - Mao Zedong and Albania under Enver Hoxha proclaimed themselves as taking an anti-revisionist line and denounced Khrushchev. In the United States, those who supported China or Albania during the Sino-Soviet split were expelled from the United States Communist Party under orders from Moscow, and in 1962 they formed the Progressive Labor Party. Several other small Stalinist or Maoist political parties in the United States, such as the Revolutionary Communist Party, are also see themselves as anti-revisionist. Today, the government of Kim Jong-Il in North Korea is often referred to as adhering to an anti-revisionist variety of Marxism-Leninism..
Chairman of the National Defence Committee of North Korea - been regarded as the head of state, whereas the position of president remains empty after the passing of Kim Il Sung. List of Chairmen: Kim Jong Il.
Concentration camp - to industrial engines to coal dug from mines. However, these products make up an insignificant amount of mainland China's export output, and it has been argued that the use of prison labor for manufacturing is not itself a violation of human rights and that most prisoners in Chinese prisons are there for what are generally regarded as crimes in the West. The use of prison labor is an interesting case study of the interaction between capitalism and prison labor. On the one hand, the downfall of socialism has reduced revenue to local governments increasing pressure for local governments to attempt to supplement their income using prison labor. On the other hand, prisoners do not make a good workforce, and the products produced by prison labor in China are of extremely low.
Cult of personality - forms the image of North Korea's "Eternal Great Leader" Kim Il Sung The term cult of personality generally refers in derogatory terms to the worship of a single living leader. The term does not generally refer to showing respect for the dead, nor does it refer to honoring symbolic leaders who have no real power. The latter often occurs with monarchies, such as that of Thailand, in which subjects treat their monarchs with extreme respect, but convention or law forbid them from converting this respect into real political power. Personality cults usually characterise totalitarian states or countries which have recently experienced revolutions. The reputation of a single leader, often characterized as the "liberator" or "savior" of the people, elevates that leader to an almost divine level. The leader's picture appears everywhere,.
Culture of North Korea - Literature, Music, and Film 3 Architecture and City Planning 4 External Links 5 Reference Contemporary Cultural Expression The role of literature and art in North Korea is primarily didactic; cultural expression serves as an instrument for inculcating Juche ideology and the need to continue the struggle for revolution and reunification of the Korean Peninsula. There is little subtlety in most contemporary cultural expression. Foreign imperialists, especially the Japanese and the Americans, are depicted as heartless monsters; revolutionary heroes and heroines are seen as saintly figures who act from the purest of motives. The three most consistent themes are martyrdom during the revolutionary struggle (depicted in literature such as The Sea of Blood), the happiness of the present society, and the genius of the "great leader" or "dear leader." Kim Il Sung.
