Kim family (North Korea)

Kim family
Mount Paektu bloodline
Three photos depicting each of the three members of the Kim family: Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un
From left to right: Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un
Parent familyJeonju Kim clan
CountryNorth Korea
Place of originMangyongdae, Pyongyang
Founded9 September 1948 (1948-09-09)
FounderKim Il Sung
Current headKim Jong Un
TitlesSupreme Leader of North Korea
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
Style(s)
  • Great Leader (Kim Il Sung)
  • Dear Leader (Kim Jong Il)
Members
Connected members
Kim Il Sung's wives:
Kim Il Sung's daughters:

Kim Jong Il's wives:
Kim Jong Il's sons:
Kim Jong Il's daughters:

Kim Jong Un's family:
TraditionsJuche
Estate(s)Residences of North Korean leaders
(Mount) Paektu bloodline
Chosŏn'gŭl
Hancha
Revised RomanizationBaekdu-hyeoltong
McCune–ReischauerPaektu-hyŏlt'ong

The Kim family, officially the Mount Paektu bloodline (Korean백두혈통), named for Paektu Mountain, in the ideological discourse of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), and often referred to as the Kim dynasty after the Cold War's end, is a three-generation lineage of North Korean leadership, descending from the country's founder and first leader, Kim Il Sung. Kim Il Sung came to rule the north in 1948, after the end of Japanese rule split the region in 1945. Following his death in 1994, Kim Il Sung's role as supreme leader was passed to his son, Kim Jong Il, and then in 2011 to his grandson, Kim Jong Un. The three served as leaders of the WPK, and as North Korea's supreme leaders since the state's establishment in 1948.

The North Korean government denies that there is a personality cult surrounding the Kim family, describing the people's devotion to the family as a personal manifestation of support for their nation's leadership.[1] The Kim family has been described as a de facto absolute monarchy[2][3][4] or hereditary dictatorship.[5]

  1. ^ Jason LaBouyer "When friends become enemies — Understanding left-wing hostility to the DPRK" Lodestar. May/June 2005: pp. 7–9. Korea-DPR.com. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
  2. ^ Young W. Kihl, Hong Nack Kim. North Korea: The Politics of Regime Survival. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 2006. p. 56.
  3. ^ Robert A. Scalapino, Chong-Sik Lee. The Society. University of California Press, 1972. p. 689.
  4. ^ Bong Youn Choy. A history of the Korean reunification movement: its issues and prospects. Research Committee on Korean Reunification, Institute of International Studies, Bradley University, 1984. Pp. 117.
  5. ^ Moghaddam, Fathali M. (2018). "The Shark and the Octopus: Two Revolutionary Styles". In Wagoner, Brady; Moghaddam, Fathali M.; Valsiner, Jaan (eds.). The Psychology of Radical Social Change: From Rage to Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-1-108-38200-7.

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