Kim Jong-suk

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Kim Jong-suk bigraphy, stories - Mother of Kim Jong-il.

Kim Jong-suk : biography

December 24, 1919 – September 22, 1949

{} Kim Jong-suk, also Romanized as Kim Chŏng-suk, Gim Jeong-suk, Kim Jong Suk, Kim Jong-sook (김정숙, 金正淑), (December 14, 1919,Suh Dae-sook. Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. though the official biography states December 24, 1917Kim Jong Suk: Biography. Pyongyang: Foreign Language Publishing House, 2002. – September 22, 1949) was a Korean anti-Japanese guerrilla, a Communist activist, North Korean leader Kim Il-sung’s first wife, former leader Kim Jong-il’s mother, and current leader Kim Jong-un’s grandmother.

Legacy

After Kim Jong-il succeeded Kim Il-sung, he began to make his mother, Kim Jong-suk, into "a revolutionary immortal."French, Paul. North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula – A Modern History. London: Zed Books, 2007. This campaign created "a holy trinity known as the ‘Three Generals.’" Instead of touting Kim Jong-suk as the quiet woman that she was, she became the heroine of the revolution. The website of the National Democratic Front of South Korea (NDFSK) says she was "a peerless heroine. . . .an anti-Japanese heroine . . . a faithful retainer who faithfully carried out General Kim Il Sung’s [Kim Il-sung] will but also a lifeguard who safeguarded the General of every dangerous movement.""The great Mangyongdae family." http://ndfsk.dyndns.org/kuguk8/pym/nr3/Magdae.htm

Kim Jong-suk was recorded to have "conducted on-the-spot guidance sessions" and was a "great strategist." In her home town of Hoeryong, "a museum, a library, a statue, a square and the house in which she was born devoted to the ‘Mother of Korea.’" She arranged parachute training and won several shooting competitions. One story says that she would wash Kim Il-sung’s socks and dry them in her bosom, or cut her hair and spread it in Kim Il-sung’s shoes.

Michael Harrold, in his memoir Comrades and Strangers, relates several stories he heard about Kim Jong-suk while in North Korea. According to him, there is a memorial near Mount Kumgang that marks where Kim Jong-suk stopped "when she realized she had forgotten to bring the great leader’s lunch, and had turned back to prepare something to eat for when he returned from the mountains." Kim Jong-suk is also credited with inspiring Kim Jong-il to build the Ryugyong Hotel. Harrold relates that Kim Jong-suk told a young Kim Jong-il that he "must build tall buildings for the people, of 30 or even 40 storeys," and the son replied that he would build housing 100 stories high. This led to the construction of a 105-story Ryugyong Hotel, which is still not opened and is nicknamed ‘hotel of doom’

In North Korean News

In North Korean News The KCNA regularly reports on Kim Jong-suk, either honoring her memory or describing her revolutionary activities. The following are headlines from articles relating to Kim Jong-suk from 2012:

National Meeting on International Women’s Day Held: "Kim Jong Suk, an anti-Japanese war hero, upheld the original idea and policy of Kim Il Sung and performed distinguished feats in the development of the movement for the women’s emancipation in Korea." (March 8, 2012)"National Meeting on International Women’s Day Held." KCNA. 8 March 2012. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201203/news08/20120308-09ee.html

Wax Replica of Kim Jong Suk Displayed: "A hall housing a wax replica of the anti-Japanese war hero, Kim Jong Suk, was opened at the International Friendship Exhibition House in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Tuesday." (April 26, 2012)"Wax Replica of Kim Jong Suk Displayed." KCNA. 26 April 2012. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201204/news26/20120426-27ee.html

Wax sculpture dedicated to great woman: "She carried out secret political tasks assigned by Kim Il Sung" and "She brought up Kim Jong Il aas the Shinging Star of Mt. Paektu to maintain the lifeline of the Korean revolution." Governemnt officials Kim Ki Nam, Secertary of WPK Choe Thea Bok, Yang Hyong Sop, and KPA General Pak Jae Gyong made statements at the dedication. Zhang Molei, Director of the Great Man Wax Museum of China also made a speech. (May 5, 2012)