Kim Il Sung Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Family background === [[File:Kim Il-sung's birthplace.jpg|thumb|The house in which Kim was born]] Kim was born Kim Song Ju to father [[Kim Hyong-jik|Kim Hyong Jik]] and mother [[Kang Pan-sok|Kang Pan Suk]]. Kim had two younger brothers, {{Ill|Kim Chul Ju|ko|김철주 (군인)}} and [[Kim Yong-ju|Kim Yong Ju]].<ref name=Suh1988>{{cite book | last = Suh | first = Dae-sook | title = Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader | location = New York | publisher = Columbia University Press | year = 1988 | isbn = 0231065736 | url = https://archive.org/details/00book729884 }}</ref>{{rp|3}} Kim Chul Ju died while fighting the [[Japanese occupation of Korea|Japanese]] and Kim Yong Ju was involved in the North Korean government and considered an heir to his brother before falling out of favor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=80th Anniversary Of The Birth Of Kim Chol Ju Minisheet 1996 |url=https://www.propagandaworld.org/product-page/80th-anniversary-of-the-birth-of-kim-chol-ju-minisheet-1996 |access-date=2023-09-19 |website=Propagandaworld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoare |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZI-6NARaLusC&dq=Kim+Yong-ju+1920&pg=PA226 |title=Historical Dictionary of Democratic People's Republic of Korea |date=2012-07-13 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6151-0 |language=en}}</ref> Kim's family, part of the [[Jeonju Kim clan]], is said to have originated from [[Jeonju]], [[North Jeolla Province]]. In 1860, his great-grandfather, Kim Ung-u, settled in the [[Mangyongdae]] neighborhood of Pyongyang. Kim was reportedly born in the small village of [[Mangyongdae-guyok|Mangyungbong]] (then called Namni) near Pyongyang on 15 April 1912.<ref name="dailynk.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=11335&cataId=nk03600 |title=Soviet Officer Reveals Secrets of Mangyongdae |work=[[Daily NK]] |access-date=15 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140211183034/http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=11335&cataId=nk03600 |archive-date=11 February 2014 |date=2 January 2014 }}</ref><ref name="BaikBong1">{{Cite book | author=Baik Bong | title=Kim il Sung: Volume I: From Birth to Triumphant Return to Homeland | publisher=Dar Al-talia | location=Beirut, Lebanon | year=1973| author-link=Baik Bong }}</ref>{{rp|12}} According to a 1964 semi-official biography of Kim, he was born in his mother's home in Chingjong, and later grew up in Mangyungbong.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Andrei Lankov]] |title=The DPRK yesterday and today. Informal history of North Korea |url=https://www.litmir.me/br/?b=243895&p=1 |page=[https://www.litmir.me/br/?b=243895&p=73 73] |date=2004 |publisher=Восток-Запад (English: East-West) |location=Moscow |id=243895 |access-date=13 May 2020 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802205207/https://www.litmir.me/br/?b=243895&p=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|73}} [[File:Kim Il-sung in 1927.jpg|thumb|upright|left|1927 portrait of Kim, published in his autobiography ''[[With the Century]]'']] According to Kim, his family was always a step away from poverty. Kim said that he was raised in a very active [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] Christian family. His maternal grandfather was a Protestant [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]], and his father had gone to a missionary school and was an elder in the Presbyterian Church.<ref>[http://www.kimjongiliathemovie.com/learnmore.html Kimjongilia – The Movie – Learn More] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918043045/http://www.kimjongiliathemovie.com/learnmore.html |date=18 September 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-rage-against-god-by-peter-hitchens-1965109.html |location=London |work=The Independent |title=The Rage Against God, By Peter Hitchens |first=Sholto |last=Byrnes |date=7 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100512025421/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-rage-against-god-by-peter-hitchens-1965109.html |archive-date=12 May 2010 }}</ref> According to an official North Korean government account, Kim's family participated in anti-Japanese activities and fled to [[Manchuria]] in 1920. Like most Korean families, they resented the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula (which had begun on 29 August 1910).<ref name="BaikBong1"/>{{rp|12}} Japanese repression of Korean opposition was harsh, resulting in the arrest and detention of more than 52,000 Korean citizens in 1912 alone.<ref name="BaikBong1" />{{rp|13}} This repression had forced many Korean families to flee the Korean peninsula, and settle in Manchuria.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sohn |first=Won Tai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Hz119vPQYwC&pg=PA43 |title=Kim Il Sung and Korea's Struggle: An Unconventional Firsthand History |publisher=McFarland |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7864-1589-2 |location=Jefferson |pages=42–43 |access-date=7 November 2021 |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107110508/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Hz119vPQYwC&pg=PA43 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nevertheless, Kim's parents, especially his mother, played a role in the anti-Japanese struggle that was sweeping the peninsula.<ref name="BaikBong1" />{{rp|16}} Their exact involvement{{snd}}whether their cause was missionary, nationalist, or both{{snd}}is unclear.<ref name="Lankov">{{cite book |last=Lankov |first=Andrei |title=From Stalin to Kim Il Sung: The Formation of North Korea 1945–1960 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0813531175 }}</ref>{{rp|53}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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