The North Koreans celebrate the birthday anniversaries of their leaders, perhaps a reflection of Confucian cultural legacy. Kim Il-sung's birthday anniversary has been a national holiday since 1972. Since 1976, the period from February 16, Kim Jong Il's birthday, to April 15, his father's birthday, was designated the "Loyalty Festival Period." When Kim Jong Il's place as the political leader was officially proclaimed during the Sixth WPK Congress in 1980, he became the undisputed de facto leader.
Early Years of the Heir
Kim Jong Il was born on February 16, 1941, in the Soviet Union as the first son of Kim Il-sung and his wife, Kim Jong-suk (who later died). Jong Il's childhood name was Yura (a Russian name). His brother, two years his junior, drowned at the age of two. Kim Jong II attended the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, which was set up to educate the descendants of Kim Il-sung's comrades in arms during the anti-Japanese guerrilla years and to train future political leaders in North Korea. He briefly attended a primary school in Jilin, China, from 1950 to 1952 during the Korean War.
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