Kim Jong Il

=== Foreign relations ===
[[File:Vladimir Putin 4 August 2001-1.jpg|thumb|left|Kim talking with Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] during their 2001 meeting in Moscow]]
Kim was known as a skilled and manipulative diplomat.{{sfn|Lankov|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FHpYCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 130]}} In 1998, South Korean President [[Kim Dae-jung]] implemented the "[[Sunshine Policy]]" to improve North-South relations and to allow South Korean companies to start projects in the North. Kim announced plans to import and develop new technologies to develop North Korea's fledgling software industry. As a result of the new policy, the [[Kaesong Industrial Park]] was constructed in 2003 just north of the [[Korean Demilitarized Zone|de-militarized zone]].<ref>[http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200404/kt2004042317263611880.htm "Asan, KOLAND Permitted to Develop Kaesong Complex"], ''The Korea Times'', 23 April 2004. {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic|fix-attempted=yes}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

[[File:SD William Cohen meets with Jo Myong Rok in the Pentagon.jpg|thumb|[[Kim Ok]], Kim's personal secretary, with U.S. Secretary of Defense [[William Cohen]], 2000]]
In 1994, North Korea and the United States signed an [[Agreed Framework]] which was designed to freeze and eventually dismantle the North's [[North Korean nuclear weapons program|nuclear weapons program]] in exchange for aid in producing two power-generating [[nuclear reactor]]s and the assurance that it would not be invaded again. In 2000, after a meeting with [[Madeleine Albright]], he agreed to a moratorium on missile construction.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Timeline and Quick Facts on the Korean War|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-korean-war-quick-guide-195745|access-date=2023-01-24|website=ThoughtCo|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rhodes|first1=Richard|last2=Shellenberger|first2=Michael|date=23 May 2017 |title=Atoms for Pyongyang: Let North Korea Have Peaceful Nuclear Power |journal=Foreign Affairs |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-korea/2017-05-23/atoms-pyongyang|access-date=5 June 2023|issn=0015-7120}}</ref> In 2002, Kim's government admitted to having produced nuclear weapons since the 1994 agreement. Kim's regime argued the secret production was necessary for security purposes{{spnd}}citing the presence of United States-owned nuclear weapons in South Korea and the new tensions with the United States under President [[George W. Bush]].<ref>{{Cite web|website=GLOCOM Platform |title=Weekly Review #70: Motivation Behind North Korea's Nuclear Confession |date=28 October 2002 |url=http://www.glocom.org/media_reviews/w_review/20021028_weekly_review70/index.html |first=John |last=de Boer |access-date=5 June 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061006230559/http://www.glocom.org/media_reviews/w_review/20021028_weekly_review70/index.html |archive-date=6 October 2006}}</ref> On 9 October 2006, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency announced that it had successfully conducted [[2006 North Korean nuclear test|an underground nuclear test]].<ref name="msnbc1">{{cite web | url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2006/200610/news10/10.htm#1 | title=DPRK Successfully Conducts Underground Nuclear Test|publisher=[[Korean Central News Agency]]|date=10 October 2006|access-date=10 October 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061026061534/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2006/200610/news10/10.htm| archive-date= 26 October 2006 }}</ref>