Kim Jong-Il

Guide Note

Kim Jong-Il is the current leader of North Korea, where he is officially referred to as "Dear Leader."

On May 28, 2008 it was reported by South Korean media that Kim Jong-Il had been assassinated outside Pyongyang on May 26.

The report was based on information provided by unidentified informants from China and South Korea.

The government and state controlled media of North Korea denied the report from the beginning.

On May 29, 2008 the government of South Korea issued an official statement denying the report and calling it 'false.'

Fast Facts

1. Born on February 16, 1942
2. Assumed office in 1994
3. Referred to as "Dear Leader"
4. Movie fan, owning a collection of more than 20,000 video tapes
5. Wrote the book On the Art of the Cinema
6. Ordered the kidnapping of South Korean director Shin Sang-Ok and wife Choi Eun-Hee to start a North Korean film industry
7. Center of an expansive "cult of personality"

The exact details of his biography are a matter of intense debate between the official record, as presented by North Korea, and research conducted by various historians around the world.

When his father, Kim Il-Sung died in 1994, he was granted the title of "Eternal President," and the office of president in North Korea was effectively abolished.

Kim Jung-Il was promoted to Chairman of the National Defense Commission, which was declared to be the highest active position of the state.

With the loss of the Soviet Union and China as major trade partners and nation-wide natural disasters, North Korea's economy nearly collapsed in the 1990s.

In response, Kim Jong-Il has implemented a "military first" policy and introduced some mild economic reforms.

He has also attempted to improve foreign relations, particularly those with South Korea, though these efforts have largely been overshadowed by continued nuclear technology development and missile tests.