born April 15, 1912, Man'gyŏndae, Korea
died July 8, 1994, P'yŏngyang
Communist leader of North Korea from 1948 until his death.
When Korea was effectively divided between a Soviet-occupied northern half and a U.S.-supported southern half at the end of World War II, Kim Il-sung helped establish a communist provisional government and became its first premier. He invaded South Korea in an attempt to reunify the country, but the subsequent Korean War ended without reunification. After the war, Kim introduced a philosophy of self-reliance ( juche ) under which North Korea tried to develop its economy with little help from foreign countries. His omnipresent personality cult enabled him to rule unchallenged for 46 years in one of the world's most isolated and repressive societies.