Kim Yong-ju
Who was Kim Yong-ju?
North Korean politician and Kim Il-sung's younger brother
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Kim Yong-ju (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Kim Yong-ju (1920 – December 2021) was a North Korean politician and the younger brother of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea. Born in Mangyŏngdae, a village near Pyongyang that is known as the Kim family's birthplace, he lived to be over 100 and saw all of North Korea's history as a state. His long life made him one of the last links to North Korea's original leadership.
After North Korea was founded, Kim Yong-ju rose through the ranks of the Workers' Party of Korea, becoming a Politburo member in the 1960s and staying until the early 1970s. He was also a secretary of the WPK Central Committee, which gave him significant power over party organization and affairs when the regime was developing its ideological base. Being Kim Il Sung's brother, he was close to power at a time when North Korea was promoting its unique socialist ideas, influenced by the Juche ideology.
Things changed for Kim Yong-ju in 1974 when his nephew, Kim Jong Il, was chosen as the next leader after Kim Il Sung. A power struggle between them led to Kim Yong-ju being removed from his top party roles and vanishing from public politics. During the late 1970s and 1980s, he lived away from the political scene, a common fate for those who clashed with Kim Jong Il while he was solidifying his power. This situation showed how personal loyalty and succession politics were crucial in North Korea's leadership.
In the 1990s, Kim Yong-ju underwent a partial comeback. He was reappointed to the Supreme People's Assembly and, from 1998 until his death, held the honorary title of Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. Although this role had no real power, his presence at state events symbolized the Kim family’s lasting legacy. He received the Order of Kim Jong Il in 2012 and had previously earned the Order of Kim Il Sung and Hero of the Republic, which showed the regime's acknowledgment of his family ties and service.
He studied law at Moscow State University, making him part of a group of North Korean officials educated in the Soviet Union during the early Cold War years. Kim Yong-ju died in Pyongyang in December 2021, outliving both his brother Kim Il Sung, who died in 1994, and his nephew Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011.
Before Fame
Kim Yong-ju was born in 1920 in Mangyŏngdae, near Pyongyang. This area later became well-known for its ties to the Kim family. He grew up under Japanese colonial rule over Korea, a time marked by harsh national suppression, forced assimilation, and resistance movements that deeply influenced his generation. His older brother, Kim Il Sung, became a key anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter in Manchuria, a history that would be central to North Korean state ideology.
After Korea was liberated in 1945 and the peninsula was divided, Kim Yong-ju went to the Soviet Union for advanced education, studying law at Moscow State University. This education connected him with the Soviet-supported political system that Kim Il Sung was establishing in the northern part of Korea. By the time the DPRK was officially established in 1948, Kim Yong-ju was part of the growing party structure, with his family connection to the supreme leader giving him both access and a duty of loyalty to the new state.
Key Achievements
- Served as a member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea during the 1960s and early 1970s
- Held the position of Secretary of the WPK Central Committee, overseeing key party organizational functions
- Received the Order of Kim Il Sung and was designated a Hero of the Republic for service to the North Korean state
- Received the Order of Kim Jong Il in 2012, marking his formal reintegration into the honored ranks of the regime's elite
- Served as Honorary Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1998 until his death in 2021
Did You Know?
- 01.Kim Yong-ju studied law at Moscow State University, making him part of a select group of early North Korean officials who received Soviet university educations during the Cold War.
- 02.He was sidelined politically for roughly two decades after losing a succession struggle with his nephew Kim Jong Il in 1974, only to be publicly rehabilitated in the 1990s.
- 03.He lived to be over 100 years old, meaning he outlived both his brother Kim Il Sung and his nephew Kim Jong Il, the two men who at different times determined his political fate.
- 04.Despite holding only a ceremonial title in his final decades, Kim Yong-ju continued to appear at significant state functions, functioning as a living symbol of the founding Kim family lineage.
- 05.He was awarded the Order of Kim Jong Il in 2012, meaning he received a decoration named after the very man whose rise to power had caused his political downfall nearly four decades earlier.
Family & Personal Life
Awards & Honors
| Award | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Kim Jong Il | 2012 | — |
| Order of Kim Il Sung | — | — |
| Hero of the Republic | — | — |