Kim Il-sung

He married Kim Sung-ae, his second wife, in 1952. Reports indicate that they had three children.

This controversial dictator is rumored to have had many mistresses, including Kim Hyon-nam, and an unknown number of children from these relationships.

Kim Song-ju was born on April 15, 1912 in Mangyondae, Heian-nando, Japanese Korea. His mother is recorded as being named Kang Pan-sŏk.

Due to widespread propaganda during his reign, many details about his childhood and family were obscured. He, however, claimed that he was raised by a Presbyterian family and that his maternal grandfather was a minister.

In 1920, his family fled to prevent persecution by the Japanese conquerors. They resettled their family in Manchuria, now part of China.

Much of Kim's earlier career is obscured in propaganda. However, it is believed that he was a fervent anti-Japanese activist from his early teens.

In October 1926, he founded the 'Down With Imperialism Union'. This group's stated aim was to fight Japanese imperialism. Three years later, he joined the ‘South Manchurian Communist Youth Association’.

In 1932, he joined the ‘Communist Party of China’. At this time, Manchuria, where Kim lived, was still under Japanese rule.

In 1935, he joined the ‘Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army’. This was a guerilla offshoot of the Communist Party. Also in the same year, he adopted a nom de guerre of Kim Jong-Il. This is the name he would later be known by the rest of the world and his people.

In 1940, Kim and his troops were forced to flee as the Japanese forces advanced. They crossed the border into the Soviet Union to escape. He was soon being trained by the Soviet army.

Kim Jong-Il has been the Eternal President of the Republic of North Korea since September 9, 1948, a position that he continues to hold posthumously. The autocratic leader was the architect of a political ideology ‘Juche’, which was inspired by the ideals of Stalin, the Russian dictator.