You’ve seen the memes. The platform shoes, the oversized sunglasses, and that very specific bouffant hair. Honestly, it’s easy to treat Kim Jong Il—the man who was Kim Jong Un’s dad—as a caricature from a bygone era of Team America. But if you actually look at the history, the guy was a lot more than just a "Dear Leader" with a cognac habit.
He was the architect of the North Korea we see today.
Basically, while his father Kim Il Sung founded the country, it was Kim Jong Il who turned it into the nuclear-armed, hyper-isolated fortress that keeps world leaders up at night. He didn't just inherit a country; he reshaped it through one of the most brutal famines in modern history and a "military-first" policy that changed everything.
The Mystery of the "Shining Star"
If you read the official North Korean state media, Kim Jong Il was basically a god. They claim he was born in 1942 on Mount Paektu—a sacred spot in Korean mythology—under a double rainbow and a new star.
Real life was a bit less cinematic.
Most historians, and even Soviet records, point to him being born in 1941 in a Soviet military camp near Khabarovsk, Russia. At the time, his father was leading a small group of Korean exiles during World War II. Back then, he went by the Russian name "Yuri Irsenovich Kim." Sorta lacks that "revolutionary hero" vibe, doesn't it?
When the family finally moved back to Pyongyang after the war, life wasn't exactly smooth. His younger brother, Shura, drowned in a swimming pool when they were kids. His mother, Kim Jong Suk, died when he was only seven. These early tragedies definitely left a mark on the guy who would eventually hold the fate of millions in his hands.
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How He Actually Took Power
A lot of people think Kim Jong Il just woke up one day and was the leader. In reality, he spent decades "interning" for the top job. He started in the 1960s in the Propaganda and Agitation Department.
He was obsessed with movies. Like, truly obsessed.
He reportedly had a library of over 20,000 films and even kidnapped a famous South Korean director, Shin Sang-ok, and his actress wife to force them to make movies for him. He understood that controlling the narrative—the "art"—was the key to controlling the people.
By the late 1970s, he had pushed aside his uncles and half-brothers to become the heir apparent. When his father died in 1994, he didn't even take the title of "President." He left that to his dead father, naming him "Eternal President," and instead ruled as the Chairman of the National Defense Commission. It was a clever move. It kept the old guard happy while giving him absolute control over the army.
The "Military First" Strategy (Songun)
The 90s were a nightmare for North Korea. With the Soviet Union gone, their main source of aid vanished. Then came the floods and the droughts.
What followed was the "Arduous March"—a famine that killed somewhere between several hundred thousand and 3 million people. While people were eating bark to survive, Kim Jong Il leaned into Songun, or "Military-First" politics.
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Basically, the logic was: if the military is strong, the regime survives. Everything went to the soldiers first. This is why, even today, North Korea has the fourth-largest standing army in the world despite being an economic minnow.
- Nuclear Ambitions: He was the one who pulled the trigger on the nuclear program. In 2006, North Korea conducted its first underground nuclear test.
- The Sunshine Policy: Weirdly, he also met with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in 2000 for the first-ever Inter-Korean summit. He was a man of contradictions—threatening to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire" one day and clinking champagne glasses the next.
The Man Behind the Sunglasses
Kim Jong Il's personal life was... complicated. He had several wives and consorts, which led to a bit of a succession mess later on.
His oldest son, Kim Jong Nam, was the favorite until he got caught trying to sneak into Japan on a fake passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland in 2001. Talk about a public relations disaster for a "revolutionary" family. That basically ended his chances, and he was later assassinated in a Malaysian airport in 2017.
Then there was the middle son, Kim Jong Chul, who was reportedly seen as too "effeminate" or soft by his father. That left the youngest: Kim Jong Un.
The Handover Nobody Saw Coming
By 2008, Kim Jong Il's health was tanking. He’d had a stroke, and you could see it in the photos—he looked frail, his trademark suits hanging off a much thinner frame.
He knew he didn't have long.
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He fast-tracked Kim Jong Un’s education in power. The young "Great Successor" was made a four-star general despite having zero military experience. He was sat next to his father at parades. The cult of personality was fired up for a third generation.
When Kim Jong Il finally died of a heart attack on a train in December 2011, the world held its breath. People wondered if the country would collapse. It didn't. The system Kim Jong Il built was too rigid, too controlled, and too focused on the survival of the Kim line.
What This Means for You Today
If you’re trying to understand why Kim Jong Un behaves the way he does, you have to look at his dad.
The younger Kim didn't just inherit a country; he inherited a playbook. The reliance on nuclear weapons as a "survival insurance policy"? That’s a Kim Jong Il original. The use of high-profile diplomacy to get sanctions relief without actually giving up power? Also a dad move.
Actionable Insights for the Curious:
- Read the Memoirs: If you want the real dirt, look for books by Kenji Fujimoto. He was Kim Jong Il’s personal sushi chef for years and provides a bizarrely intimate look at the family’s private life.
- Watch "The Lovers and the Despot": It’s a documentary about the kidnapped film director. It’s the best way to understand how Kim Jong Il viewed the world as one big movie set.
- Monitor the "Paektu Bloodline": In North Korean politics, everything comes back to the family. Watch how Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, is being positioned—she’s following the same "propaganda-first" path her father did.
The "Dear Leader" might be embalmed in a glass coffin in Pyongyang now, but the world he built is very much alive. Understanding the father is the only way to predict what the son might do next.