Kim Yong-ju explained

Honorific-Prefix:Hero of the Republic
Kim Yong Ju
Office2:Honorary Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly
President2:Kim Yong-nam
Choe Ryong-hae
Term Start2:September 1998
Term End2:December 2021
Office3:Vice President of North Korea
President3:Kim Il Sung
Term Start3:December 1993
Term End3:October 1997
Alongside3:Pak Song-chol, Ri Jong-ok, and Kim Pyong-sik
Office4:Vice Premier of North Korea
Term Start4:1974
Premier4:Kim Il
Term End4:1975
Office5:Head of the Organization and Guidance Department
Term Start5:1959
Leader5:Kim Il Sung
Term End5:1974
Predecessor5:Pak Yong-bin
Successor5:Kim Jong Il
Birth Date: 1920
Birth Place:Taedong County, Heian'nan-dō (South Pyongan Province), Korea, Empire of Japan
Death Date:December 14, 2021 (aged 101)
Death Place:Pyongyang, North Korea
Party:Workers' Party of Korea
Parents:Kim Hyong-jik
Kang Pan-sok
Children:2 biological and 2 adopted
Relatives:Kim family
Alma Mater:Moscow State University
Module:
Child:yes
Hangul:김영주
Hanja:金英柱
Rr:Gim Yeongju
Mr:Kim Yŏngchu
Context:north
Native Name Lang:ko

Kim Yong Ju (; 1920 – 14 December 2021) was a North Korean politician and the younger brother of Kim Il Sung, who ruled North Korea from 1948 to 1994. Under his brother's rule, Kim Yong Ju held key posts including Politburo member in the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) during the 1960s and early 1970s, but he fell out of favour in 1974 following a power struggle with Kim Jong Il. From 1998 until his death in 2021, he held the ceremonial position of Honorary Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), North Korea's parliament.

Biography

Kim Yong Ju was born as the younger child of Kim Hyong Jik and Kang Pan Suk in Taedong County.[1] [2] His elder brothers Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju) and Kim Chol-ju were born respectively in 1912 and 1916. When Kim was three years old, his family moved to southern Manchuria.[3]

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]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hoare, James. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZI-6NARaLusC&dq=Kim+Yong-ju+1920&pg=PA226. Kim Yong Ju (1920–). Historical Dictionary of Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Scarecrow Press. 2012. 9780810861510. 226.
  2. Web site: ko:김영주(남성) . ko:북한정보포털 . 통일부 . 17 December 2021 . https://nkinfo.unikorea.go.kr/nkp/theme/viewPeople.do?nkpmno=943 . ko.
  3. News: Kim Yong Ju. The New York Times. 5 July 1972. 16.
  4. News: My First Trials Begin . . 19 July 2010 . Kim Young Ju was from the law department at Moscow University.
  5. Hwang Jang Yop's Memoirs (2006)
  6. Ten Principles for the Establishment of the One-Ideology System, Columbia Law School website
  7. Book: Cha, Victor D. . The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future . Ecco . Internet Archive . 2013 . 978-0-06-199850-8 . New York . 396–398 . en . 2012009517 . 1244862785.
  8. "The Losers in N.Korea's Ruling Family", Chosun Ilbo, 17 February 2011.
  9. Web site: Kim Il Sung's brother elected North Korean vice president. UPI.
  10. Book: Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. Jan–Apr 1994.. Central Intelligence Agency . 1994 . 44347462 . HathiTrust . 11 February 2018 . 2027/mdp.39015073049192 .
  11. Web site: ko:북, "장성택 등 130여명에 김정일 훈장 수여". https://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&oid=079&aid=0002330648&sid1=001. 19 February 2021. Naver News. ko.
  12. Web site: Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Sends Wreath to Bier of Late Kim Yong Ju . KCNA . KCNA Watch . 15 December 2021 . 17 December 2021 .
  13. Web site: Brother of North Korea's founder Kim dies: state media . . 15 December 2021 . en . 15 December 2021.
  14. Web site: Martin . Timothy W. . Kim Yong Ju, Brother of North Korea's Founder, Dies Aged 101 . . 16 December 2021.
  15. Web site: Kim Yong Ju: Younger brother of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung dies . . 16 December 2021.
  16. Web site: Hyung-Jin . Kim . Kim Yong Ju, younger brother of North Korea's founder, dies . . 16 December 2021.