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Kim Pyong Il (; born 10 August 1954) is a North Korean retired diplomat. He is the only surviving son of former leader and president of North Korea Kim Il Sung, the younger paternal half-brother of the late leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Il and the uncle of current North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He lived overseas between 1979 and 2019,

Family background and early life

Kim is the son of Kim Il Sung and Kim Song-ae, Kim Il Sung's former secretary. Kim had one younger brother, Yong-il, and one older half-sister, Kyong-hui, who would go on to marry senior official Chang Sung-taek. He was named after another son with the same name, who was born in Vyatskoye in 1944; that son, also known as Shura Kim, allegedly drowned in Pyongyang in 1947. He graduated from Kim Il Sung University with a major in economics, and later attended the Kim Il Sung Military University, following which he was appointed a battalion commander.

Kim Pyong Il married Kim Sun-kum, a woman with family connections to the Ministry of Public Security, in 1982. They have a son, Kim In-kang, and a daughter, Kim Ung-song.

Diplomatic career

In 1979, Kim began a series of diplomatic postings to several countries in Europe so that he could not influence politics in his home country. His first overseas assignment was in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In 1998, after North Korea closed its embassy in Finland to save money and prevent defections, Kim was posted to Poland. His ambassadorship was initially suggested to be in limbo, as nine months after his posting he had yet to formally present his credentials to the Polish president. However, he remained as ambassador in Poland, and his daughter Kim Eun-song and son Kim In-kang went on to attend university in Poland. In January 2020, Ju Won Chol, a former Director General of the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Second European Department,

In July 2011, Kim was reported by South Korean media to be back in Pyongyang for a visit. Some sources claimed he was under house arrest there since May, though others speculated he was just visiting his dying mother Kim Song-ae or preparing to observe the anniversary of his father's death.

In December 2011, South Korean officials said Kim Pyong Il was in Poland and would not attend Kim Jong Il's funeral. He attended the funeral of Kim Il Sung with his wife in 1994, but North Korean television broadcasts deleted their images.

In July 2015, Kim Pyong Il was reported to briefly return to North Korea. The purpose was to attend an ambassadors conference, where he met Kim Jong Un. Four years later, in June 2019, he visited North Korea again for reported medical reasons. In November 2019, Kim Pyong Il returned to North Korea after retiring from a long career as a foreign diplomat. As a result, his return to North Korea following his retirement as a foreign diplomat also marked his return to being a North Korean resident for the first time in 40 years.

Family tree

See also

  • Kim family (North Korea)
  • Politics of North Korea

Notes

References

Works cited

  • Korean Monarch Kim Jong Il: Technocrat Ruler of the Hermit Kingdom Facing the Challenge of Modernity, by Alexandre Y. Mansourov, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
  • The Kim Jong Il Succession Problem in the Context of the North Korean Political Structure, translated by Titus North, University of Pittsburgh