Kim Yong Ju

Kim Yong Ju was born as the younger child of Kim Hyong Jik and Kang Pan-sok in Taedong County in 1920.[2][3] His elder brothers Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju) and Kim Ch'ol-chu 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 completely disappeared from the limelight until 1993, when he was called back 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]

• Orwellian Korea (1984)
• North Korean people (Citizens of the DPRK)
• The Hermit Kingdom
• Tourism in North Korea
• Kim Il Sung bibliography
• The Mother of Pyongyang
• The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea or the DPRK)
• Soviet Occupation of Northern Korea (1945-1948)

Select[lower-greek 1] family tree of North Korea's ruling Kim family[lower-greek 2][lower-greek 3][lower-greek 4]
Kim Song-ryeong 1810-1899 Kim Ung-u 1848–1878 Kim Bo-hyon 1871–1955 Kim Hyong-jik 1894–1926 Kang Pan-sok 1892–1932 Kim Jong-suk 1917–1949 Kim Il Sung 1912–1994 Kim Song-ae 1924–2014 Kim Yong-ju 1920–2021 Kim Young-sook 1947– Song Hye-rim 1937–2002 Kim Jong Il 1941?[lower-greek 5]–2011 Ko Yong-hui 1952–2004 Kim Ok 1964– Kim Kyong-hui 1946– Jang Song-thaek 1946–2013 Kim Pyong Il 1954– Kim Sol-song 1974– Kim Jong-nam 1971–2017 Kim Jong-chul 1981– Kim Jong Un 1983?[lower-greek 6]– Ri Sol-ju c. 1986– Kim Yo-jong 1987– Kim Han-sol 1995– Kim Ju-ae c. 2012[lower-greek 7]–
Notes: To keep the tree of manageable size, it omits five out of the eight known children of Kim Il Sung. Other children not shown in the tree include: Kim Man-il, Kim Kyong-jin, Kim Yong-il, Kim Hyŏn-nam, and Kim Yŏng-il Korean names often have a variety of transliterations into English, which can be confusing. For example, "Kim Jong-chul" may also be written "Gim Jeong-cheol" or "Kim Jŏng-ch'ŏl" among many other variations. See Korean romanization for more information. Huss, Kan; Frost, Clay. "North Korea's First Family: Mapping the personal and political drama of the Kim clan". msnbc.com. Retrieved 20 January 2013. (Confirms many, but not all, of the birth and death years. See individual articles for more references.) Yan, Holly (16 February 2017). "The world's most mysterious family tree: Kim Jong Un's secretive dynasty is full of drama, death". Design by Alberto Mier. CNN. Retrieved 16 February 2017. Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Il list his birth year as 1942. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1942 (Year of the Horse), in addition to being 30 years since Kim Il Sung's birth may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Un list his birth year as 1982. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1982 (Year of the Dog), in addition to being 70 years since Kim Il Sung's birth, may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. Birth year for Kim Ju-ae is not publicly known. She may have been born in either late 2012 or early 2013.