Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung

Kim Il Sung died of a sudden heart attack on the early morning of 8 July 1994 at age 82. North Korea's government did not report the death for more than 34 hours after it occurred. An official mourning period was declared from 8–17 July, during which the national flag was flown at half mast throughout the country, and all forms of amusement and dancing were prohibited.[1]

Death and funeral of Kim Il Sung
A painting of Kim smiling
Official posthumous portrait of Kim Il Sung
Date8–17 July 1994
LocationPyongyang, North Korea
ParticipantsKim Jong Il and North Korean military, government and Korean Workers' Party elites
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Radio Pyongyang reported that Kim had died from a stroke.[2] In the years prior to his death, he had been receiving treatment for diabetes as well as the hardening of arteries in his heart. His son Kim Jong Il was announced as North Korea's next leader with the title of "The Great Successor (Korean: 위대한 계승자)" that same day marked the start of North Korea becoming the world's first communist dynasty. Seventeen years later, he died on 17 December 2011 of the same cause of death as his father and Jong Il's demise was announced two days later.

Background

On the late morning just before 12:00 noon of 7 July 1994, Kim Il Sung collapsed at his residence in Hyangsan from a sudden heart attack. After the heart attack, his son Kim Jong Il ordered the team of doctors who were constantly at his father's side to leave, and arranged for the country's best doctors to be flown in from Pyongyang. After several hours, the doctors from Pyongyang arrived, but despite their efforts to save him, Kim Il Sung died at around 2:00 am local time on 8 July 1994.[3] His death was declared 34 hours later, respecting the traditional Confucian mourning period.[4]

The announcement of the death of the supreme leader was made live over Korean Central Television at noon by the channel's news presenter Chon Hyong-kyu on 9 July 1994.[5]

Kim Il Sung's death resulted in nationwide mourning and a ten-day mourning period was declared by Kim Jong Il. His funeral in Pyongyang was attended by hundreds of thousands of people from all over North Korea. Kim Il Sung's body was placed in a public mausoleum at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where his preserved and embalmed body lies under a glass coffin for viewing purposes. His head rests on a Korean-style pillow and he is covered by the flag of the Workers' Party of Korea. Newsreel video of the funeral at Pyongyang was broadcast on several networks, and now can be found on various websites.[6] A further mourning period lasted until the third anniversary of his death in 1997.[7]

Reactions

Korean Peninsula
The original Statue of Kim Il Sung on Mansudae Hill (1972–2012)
  •  North Korea – On 9 July, Korean Central News Agency said that North Koreans "firmly resolve to remain loyal to the guidance of the Dear Leader Kim Jong Il". The agency described the so-called Dear Leader as "the reliable heir of Great Leader Kim Il Sung's revolutionary accomplishments".[8] In another broadcast, Kim was described as the "inheritor of North Korea's revolution and the chief of revolutionary forces".[9] On 11 July Japanese public television NHK said that North Korea's government completely blocked people and vehicles from passing through Tumen City, situated at the foot of the Tumen River, on the China–North Korea border, where border trade is actively taking place.[10]

International reactions

Funeral service
External video
video icon KCTV: Kim Il Sung funeral on 8 July 1994 – full video on YouTube

Kim Jong Il was chairman of the funeral committee. The committee also included Defense Minister O Jin-u, and Vice President Kim Yong-ju, who was Kim Il Sung's younger brother.[13]

The funeral committee released communique regarding the funeral:

The state Funeral Committee publishes the following decision for the whole party, all the people and the entire army to express the deepest condolences over the death of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung and mourn him with the feelings of deep reverence:

The coffin of the respected leader Comrade Kim Il Sung will be laid in state at the Kumsusan Assembly Hall.

The period from 8th July to 17th July 1994, is set as the mourning period for the respected leader Comrade Kim Il Sung. The mourners will visit the bier from 11th July to 16th July 1994.

The mourning service for the last parting with the respected leader Comrade Kim Il Sung will be held solemnly in Pyongyang, the capital of revolution, on 17th July 1994.

At the time of the mourning service in Pyongyang, artillery salute will be fired in Pyongyang and provincial seats and the entire people across the country will observe a three-minute silence and all locomotives and ships sound whistles all at once in memory of the respected leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.

During the mourning period, memorial services will be held at all the organs and enterprises throughout the country and memorial services be held in all provinces, cities and counties while the memorial service is held in Pyongyang.

During the mourning period, organs and enterprises will hang the flag at half-mast, and all songs and dances, games and amusement will be banned.

Foreign mourning delegations will not be received.
— Korean Central News Agency, 8 July 1994[14]

The state funeral was scheduled to be held on 17 July[15] but was delayed until 19 July.[16] It included the observance of three minutes of silence throughout the country. Attendance to the funeral was two million people.[17]

Funeral committee

The funeral committee was chaired by Kim Jong Il and had 273 members,[18] including:[19]

See also

References
  1. North Korea Quarterly. Institute of Asian Affairs. 1 January 1994. p. 56.
  2. "Kim Il Sung, N. Korea's Longtime Leader, Dies : Asia: Death of Communist dictator at 82 comes weeks before North-South meeting. Experts expect instability". Los Angeles Times. 9 July 1994. Archived from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  3. "KIM IL SUNG DEAD AT AGE 82; LED NORTH KOREA 5 DECADES; WAS NEAR TALKS WITH SOUTH". The New York Times. 9 July 1994.
  4. Demick, Barbara: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. p. 92
  5. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "North Korean TV Kim Il Sung death announcement July 8th, 1994". YouTube.
  6. Scenes of lamentation after Kim Il-sung's death
  7. "North Korea ends mourning for Kim Il Sung". CNN. 8 July 1997. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  8. The Independent, 11 July 1994, Monday, "The Korean Succession: Fears of power struggle in North Korea"
  9. "South Korea assumes "for now" that Kim Il-sung died of natural causes", South Korean news agency, Seoul, in English, 11 July 1994, Monday
  10. "Pyongyang prevents foreigners from entering until after 17th July", KBS Radio, Seoul, 11 July 1994
  11. Eugene Bazhanov and Natasha Bazhanov, "The Evolution of Russian-Korea Relations", Asian Survey, vol. 34, no. 9 (1994).
  12. "North Korean President Kim Il Sung Dies at 82". The Washington Post. 9 July 1994.
  13. The Washington Times, 10 July 1994, Sunday, Final Edition, "The son takes charge in Pyongyang"
  14. "State funeral committee issues communique: foreign delegations not allowed". Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang, in English. 9 July 1994.
  15. "Kim Il Sung dies of heart attack". The Straits Times. 10 July 1994.
  16. "North Korea postpones Kim's funeral". The Straits Times. 17 July 1994.
  17. Gall, Timothy L; Gall, Susan B (1999). Worldmark Chronology of the Nations: Asia. Vol. 3. Farmington Hills: Gale Group. p. 316. ISBN 0-7876-0521-2.
  18. "Kim Il Sung". Cold War Reference Library. The Gale Group Inc. 2004. Retrieved 7 February 2019 – via Encyclopedia.com.
  19. 금수산 의사당서 10일장/김일성 장례 어떻게 치르나. Seoul Shinmun (in Korean). 10 July 1994. p. 5. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Alt URL Archived 9 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading
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