Kim Jong II

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Kim Jong II

North Korea was ruled from 1948 by Kim Il-sung until his death on July

8, 1994. After the death of Kim Il Sung, his son Kim Jong-il was named

General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party on October 8, 1997. In

1998, the legislature reconfirmed him as Chairman of the National

Defense Commission and declared that position as the "highest office

of state."

After his high school graduation, Kim became involved in government

and with the ruling Worker's Party. He attended Kim Il Sung University

in 1960, taking courses in the political and economic department, and

graduated in 1964. Afterward, his rise in politics was predictably

rapid. He was named as a member of the party politburo and party

secretary and by 1969 had been appointed deputy director of the

Propaganda and Agitation Department and the party's headquarters. In

1973, he was made Party secretary in charge of organization and

propaganda.

For decades, Kim Il Sung, who was known as "Great Leader," groomed his

son for the presidency, and remarked to others that the young Kim

would carry out his father's political programs exactly as he wished.

Kim Jong Il is said to have impressed his father by proposing that

North Korea carry out a cultural revolution modeled on that of China.

Kim was officially designated heir to Kim Il Sung in 1974 and put in

charge of party operations against South Korea. By 1980, he had become

a member of the Central Committee, and his portrait hung beside his

father's in the country's schools, homes and hospitals. In 1991, he

was named leader of the party and supreme commander of North Korea's

armed forces.

The Communist Party, also called the Korean Workers' Party, to which

all government officials belong, is the ruling party of North Korea.

Less than 15 percent of the people belong to the party. Even so, the

party makes the country's laws, chooses all candidates for elections,

and approves all people appointed to public office. Officially, North

Korea has a number of other political parties.

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