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Kim Yong-ju

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In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Hero of the Republic
Kim Yong-ju
김영주
Kim in 2014
Honorary Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly
In office
September 1998 – December 2021
PresidentKim Yong-nam
Choe Ryong-hae
Vice President of North Korea
In office
December 1993 – October 1997[citation needed]
PresidentKim Il Sung
Vice Premier of North Korea
In office
1974–1975
PremierKim Il
Head of the Organization and Guidance Department
In office
1959–1974
LeaderKim Il Sung
Preceded byPak Yong-bin
Succeeded byKim Jong Il
Personal details
Born1920 (1920)
Taedong County, Heian'nan-dō (South Pyongan Province), Korea, Empire of Japan
DiedDecember 14, 2021 (aged 101)
Pyongyang, North Korea
Political partyWorkers' Party of Korea
Children2 biological and 2 adopted[1]
Parent(s)Kim Hyong-jik
Kang Pan Sok
RelativesKim family
Alma materMoscow State University
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
김영주
Hancha
金英柱
Revised RomanizationGim Yeongju
McCune–ReischauerKim Yŏngchu

Kim Yong-ju (Korean: 김영주; 1920 – 14 December 2021) was a North Korean politician and the younger brother of Kim Il Sung, who ruled North Korea from 1948 to 1994. Under his brother's rule, Kim Yong-ju held key posts including Politburo member in the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) during the 1960s and early 1970s, but he fell out of favour in 1974 following a power struggle with Kim Jong Il. From 1998 until his death in 2021, he held the ceremonial position of Honorary Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), North Korea's parliament.

Biography

[edit]

Kim Yong-ju was born as the younger child of Kim Hyong-jik and Kang Pan Sok in Taedong County.[3][2] His elder brothers Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju) and Kim Chol-ju were born respectively in 1912 and 1916. When Kim was three years old, his family moved to southern Manchuria.[1]

After graduating from the economics department at Moscow State University in 1945,[4] where he also took a deep interest in philosophy,[5] Kim Yong-ju joined the Workers' Party of Korea. His rise through the party's echelons was rapid; from the 1950s to the 1960s he was chief cadre (1954), vice-director (1957) and finally director (1960) of the WPK Organization and Guidance Department. He was appointed member of the WPK Central Committee at the Party's 4th Congress in 1961. In 1966, he was promoted to Organizing Secretary of the WPK Central Committee.

In 1967, he proposed to his brother the "Ten Principles for the Establishment of the One-Ideology System" (whose first principle was: "We must give our all in the struggle to unify the entire society with the revolutionary ideology of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung"), which were published only in 1974.[6]

In 1972, he represented North Korea in secret negotiations with Park Chung Hee's government in South Korea. The discussions led to the signing of the July 4th North–South Korea Joint Statement by Kim and his South Korean counterpart Lee Hu-rak establishing agreed preconditions for potential Korean reunification.[7]

By 1970, when he was elected WPK Politburo member, Kim Yong-ju was widely believed to be Kim Il Sung's successor.[8] He was also elected to the top Central People's Committee and the SPA Presidium in 1972. However, at the same time Kim Il Sung started grooming his own son Kim Jong Il to be his designated successor, and a power struggle erupted.[5]

It was the period when the WPK was focusing ideologically on Kim Il Sung's Juche; while Kim Jong Il actively stood for this process, Kim Yong-ju, having studied in the Soviet Union, supported a more classical view of Marxism and was not fond of the extensive personality cult built around his brother.[5] This played to Kim Jong Il's advantage: Kim Yong-ju was increasingly marginalized, his key allies Kim To-man (director of propaganda) and Pak Yong-guk (director of international liaisons) were removed, and he himself was finally attacked by Kim Il Sung. After a Central Committee plenum in February 1974, Kim Jong Il was granted the position of heir apparent and Kim Yong-ju was demoted to Vice Premier.[5]

Kim Yong-ju disappeared from the limelight until 1993, when he was recalled to Pyongyang by Kim Il Sung to serve as one of North Korea's vice presidents, a ceremonial position with no real power.[9][10] Kim Yong-ju was appointed Honorary Vice-President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly in 1998. In 2012, he was awarded the Order of Kim Jong Il.[11] He was also a recipient of the Order of Kim Il Sung and the title Hero of the Republic.[12] His death in Pyongyang at age 101 was announced by state media on 15 December 2021.[13][14][15][16]

See also

[edit]
The Kim family tree (DPRK)
Na Hyeon-JikKim Song-Ryeong
Lady LeeKim Ŭngu
Yi Po-Ik (Lee Bo-Ik)Kim Pohyŏn
Kang Pan SokKim Hyong-jikKim Hyong-gwon
Kim Song-aeKim Il-SungKim Jong-sukKim Yong-Ju
Kim Pyong-ilKim Jong IlKim Kyong-huiKim Man-il

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kim Yong Ju". The New York Times. 5 July 1972. p. 16.
  2. ^ a b 김영주(남성). 북한정보포털 (in Korean). 통일부. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. ^ Hoare, James (2012). "Kim Yong Ju (1920– )". Historical Dictionary of Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Scarecrow Press. p. 226. ISBN 9780810861510.
  4. ^ "My First Trials Begin". Daily NK. 19 July 2010. Kim Young Ju was from the law department at Moscow University
  5. ^ a b c d Hwang Jang Yop's Memoirs (2006)
  6. ^ Ten Principles for the Establishment of the One-Ideology System, Columbia Law School website
  7. ^ Cha, Victor D. (2013). The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future. Internet Archive. New York: Ecco. pp. 396–398. ISBN 978-0-06-199850-8. LCCN 2012009517. OCLC 1244862785.
  8. ^ "The Losers in N.Korea's Ruling Family", Chosun Ilbo, 17 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Kim Il Sung's brother elected North Korean vice president". UPI.
  10. ^ Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. Jan–Apr 1994. Central Intelligence Agency. 11 February 2018 [1994]. hdl:2027/mdp.39015073049192. OCLC 44347462 – via HathiTrust.
  11. ^ 북, "장성택 등 130여명에 김정일 훈장 수여". Naver News (in Korean). Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Sends Wreath to Bier of Late Kim Yong Ju". KCNA. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021 – via KCNA Watch.
  13. ^ "Brother of North Korea's founder Kim dies: state media". Yonhap News Agency. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  14. ^ Martin, Timothy W. "Kim Yong Ju, Brother of North Korea's Founder, Dies Aged 101". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Kim Yong Ju: Younger brother of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung dies". Sky News. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  16. ^ Hyung-Jin, Kim. "Kim Yong Ju, younger brother of North Korea's founder, dies". ABC News. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
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