Kim family (North Korea)

The Kim family has ruled North Korea since 1948 Kim Jong Il altogether had over 50 titles. Kim Jong Il was appointed to the Workers Party's Politburo (and its Presidium), Secretariat and the Central Military Commission at the 6th Workers Party Congress in October 1980, which formalized his role as heir apparent. and married to Jang Song-thaek, who was the second most powerful person in North Korea before his December 2013 execution for corruption. Kim Jong Il had four partners, and at least five children with three of them. His third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, succeeded him. Scholar Virginie Grzelczyk wrote that the Kim family represented "one of the last bastions of totalitarianism as well as perhaps 'the first Communist Dynasty. == Ancestry ==

Kim Il Sung was born in Mangyongdae-guyok to Methodist parents. His father Kim Hyong Jik was 15 when he married Kang Pan Sok two years his elder. Kim Hyong Jik had attended a school founded by Protestant missionaries, which influenced his own family. Kim Hyong Jik became a father at the age of 17, and left school to work as a teacher in a nearby school he once attended. He later practiced Chinese herbal medicine as a doctor. Kim Hyong Jik protested against Japanese rule and was arrested several times for his activism. He was a founding member of the Korean National Association in 1917, participated in the 1919 March First Movement, and fled Korea for Manchuria with his wife and young Kim Il Sung in 1920. There is a teacher's college named after him in Pyongyang. Kim Hyong Jik's own parents, Kim Pohyŏn and Yi Poik, were described as "patriots" by the Editorial Committee of the Short Biography of Kim Il Sung. == Kim Il Sung ==

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung married twice and had six children. He met his first wife, Kim Jong Suk, in 1936, marrying her in 1940. She bore sons Kim Jong Il (born 1941 or 1942) and Kim Man Il (born 1944), and daughter Kim Kyong Hui (born 1946) before dying while bearing a stillborn daughter in 1949. Kim Jong Suk was born 24 December 1917 in Hoeryong in (North) Hamgyo'ng Province. Her family and she fled Korea to Yanji, Jilin (Kirin) Province around 1922. In October 1947, Kim Jong Suk presided over the establishment of a school for war orphans in South Pyongan Province, which became the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. When the school opened in west Pyongyang one year after its foundation, Kim Jong Suk also unveiled the country's first statue to Kim Il Sung. In 1949, Kim Jong Suk was once again pregnant. She continued public activities, but her health diminished. She died on 19 September 1949 due to complications from pregnancy. Kim Il Sung had three children with his second wife, Kim Song Ae: Kim Kyong Il (born 1951), Kim Pyong Il (born 1953), and Kim Yong Il (born 1955). In 1953, Kim Song-ae gave birth to her first child with Kim Il Sung, a daughter named Kim Kyong Jin (Kim Kyong Chin). She went on to have at least two other children with him, sons Kim Pyong Il (b. 1954) and Kim Yong Ill (b. 1955). == Kim Jong Il ==

of the Workers' Party of Korea Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il had four partners, He later fathered Kim Jong-nam (born 1971) with his first consort, film star Song Hye-rim. Due to Song being a divorcée, Kim concealed the relationship and son from his father. In 1974, Kim Jong Il married his second wife, Kim Young-suk. They had two daughters, Kim Sol-song (born 1974) and Kim Chun-song (born 1976). He had a reputation as a troublemaker within the family, Two women, one Indonesian and one Vietnamese, smeared the agent on Kim Jong-nam's face; both women were released after it was determined that they had been tricked by North Korean operatives, who had told them that the act was a prank for a Japanese comedy program and that the substance was lotion. Four North Koreans fled Malaysia on the day of the murder. It was later revealed in 2019 that Jong-nam was a CIA informant prior to his assassination. The middle son, Kim Jong-chul, was reportedly not considered in succession considerations due to his unmasculine characteristics. He is also known to be reserved. == Kim Jong Un ==

of North Korea and General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un became North Korea's Supreme Leader on 29 December 2011. He continued to appear in public rarely over the following months, possibly because of health problems or the risk of COVID-19. In August, it was reported that Kim had ceded a degree of authority to his sister, Kim Yo Jong, giving her responsibility for relations with South Korea and the United States and making her his de facto second-in-command. == Possible successors ==

Kim Ju Ae Kim Ju Ae is the daughter of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol-ju. Kim Ju Ae appeared in public for the first time at a missile launch in November 2022. Some analysts believe that her new public profile is an attempt to present the Kim family in the fashion of a traditional monarchy It has also led to speculation that she has been chosen as her father's successor, which could make her the first woman to serve as Supreme Leader. In February 2026, the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) stated that Kim Ju Ae had completed successor training and had become the official designated successor of her father. They cited her attendance at military events, her increased involvement in policy decisions, and a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which is a symbol of the bloodline. She was then reported to be appointed within the Korean People's Army's Missile Administration on 22 February 2026 by her father. Kim Yo Jong greets Kim Yo Jong Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of Kim Jong Un, is considered a "rising star" within North Korean politics. He is thought of as having an advantage over Kim Yo Jong due to his gender, but simultaneously carrying a disadvantage due to his lack of connections. Kim Il Sung's deceased brother, Kim Yong-ju, had two biological and two adopted children, whose identity and current positions within the North Korean government are obscure. == Family tree ==