Where is Kim Jong-il today? Death, Father, Brother, Net Worth



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Kim Jong-il was born on February 16, 1941, in Vyatskoye, Russia, the son of Kim Il-sung, who was to become North Korea’s first leader. Kim Jong-il’s mother, Kim Jong-suk, was a guerrilla fighter during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 1930s. Kim Jong-il had two brothers and a sister.

Kim Jong-il was educated at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School and Kim Il-sung University, both in Pyongyang. He began his career in the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) in 1964, holding various posts in the party organization. He was elected to the party Central Committee in 1973 and named secretary of the party’s Organization and Guidance Department in 1977.

Kim Jong-il’s career really took off after his father’s death in 1994. He was elected supreme leader of North Korea at a special session of the Supreme People’s Assembly in October of that year. In September 1998, he was named chairman of the National Defense Commission, the country’s highest military body.

As supreme leader, Kim Jong-il presided over a highly centralized government and economy. He maintained strict control over the media and information available to the North Korean people. Under his rule, North Korea developed nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

The country also experienced a severe famine in the 1990s, due to mismanagement of the economy and natural disasters. An estimated two million North Koreans died of starvation during this period.

Kim Jong-il’s health began to fail in the early 2000s, and he reportedly suffered from diabetes and heart disease. He underwent surgery in 2008 to remove a cyst from his brain.

In 2011, Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack at the age of 69. His son, Kim Jong-un, was named his successor and took over as supreme leader of North Korea.

Kim Jong-il’s net worth is estimated to have been $5 billion. He amassed this fortune through his control of North Korea’s economy and through illicit activities such as drug trafficking and counterfeiting.

Kim Jong-il was married twice and had five children. His first wife, Kim Yong-suk, died in 2004. His second wife, Ko Yong-hui, was a dancer whom he met in 1974. She died in August 2003, reportedly of breast cancer.

Kim Jong-il’s eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, was born to his first wife in 1971. He was educated in Switzerland and became estranged from his father after trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001. He was killed in Malaysia in 2017, reportedly by North Korean agents.

Kim Jong-il’s second son, Kim Jong-chul, was born in 1981. He studied in Switzerland but returned to North Korea after failing to gain admission to an American university. He is not thought to be interested in politics.

Kim Jong-il’s third and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was born in 1983 or 1984. He was educated in Switzerland and at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang. He is thought to have been his father’s favorite child and was groomed to take over as supreme leader after his death.

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia