Cold Open

It’s just after midnight on July 8th, 1994, in the skies near Mount Myohyang, North Korea.

A pilot fights the controls of a military helicopter as it’s battered by a violent storm. Rain lashes the cockpit glass, and dark clouds obscure the horizon, leaving only instruments for guidance. The pilot is a veteran in the North Korean Air Force, but even he has rarely flown in conditions like this. Still tonight, turning back is not an option.

A few hours ago, news came through that Kim Il-Sung, North Korea’s “Great Leader,” had collapsed at his villa in the mountains. Medical help was summoned from the capital, Pyongyang. And now, a dozen doctors are being flown in through the storm. Because with the Great Leader’s life hanging in the balance, no one is willing to wait for the bad weather to pass.

The pilot looks up, and through the darkness, faint lights appear. He eases back on the throttle…but then a violent updraft slams into the helicopter.

Alarms blare over the sound of the storm. The pilot tightens his grip on the controls, fighting to keep the aircraft stable. But in such awful conditions, he can barely tell which way is up.

Harsh vibrations run through the airframe as the engines stall and the rotors slow.

The helicopter begins to drop…and plunges into the water of a reservoir below.

Within seconds, the helicopter disappears beneath the surface. There are no survivors. Another medical team will soon be sent from Pyongyang —but the delay will prove deadly. With the first set of doctors and their equipment now at the bottom of a reservoir, 82-year-old Kim Il-Sung, the totalitarian ruler of North Korea, will die at 2 A.M. on July 8th, 1994.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is July 8th, 1994: The Death of Kim Il-Sung.

Act One: The Puppet Cuts His Strings

It’s late August 1945, at a Soviet army camp close to the Korean border, nearly five decades before Kim Il-Sung’s death.

Lieutenant Colonel Grigoriy Mekler follows behind a Soviet battalion as it conducts a training session. The soldiers move through a mock urban battlefield, clearing buildings with practiced precision. Colonel Mekler is impressed by his troops’ discipline. But he’s even more impressed with their young commander, Captain Kim Il-Sung. And that’s important, because Kim is the reason why Mekler is here.

A few weeks ago, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, prompting Japan to surrender. And now that World War II is effectively over, the victorious Allies need to decide what comes next—but in Korea, that is already looking complicated. The peninsula was previously occupied by Japan. And now, it's been temporarily divided along the 38th parallel, with the northern half occupied by the Soviet Union and the southern half by the United States. This arrangement is meant to be temporary, but Soviet leaders are already looking ahead. They want the entire peninsula to be governed by someone whose loyalty to Moscow is beyond question. And Captain Kim appears to be the ideal candidate, so Colonel Mekler has come to this army base to meet him in person.

Although Kim is an officer in the Soviet Army, he’s Korean by birth. After initially fighting the Japanese occupation of his homeland, he fled over the border and joined Chinese communists also battling Japan. With the Japanese advancing, though, Kim was forced to flee again, this time to the Soviet Union. And there, he enlisted in the Red Army and joined a special brigade of other international fighters. He is a committed communist, fiercely loyal to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. And combined with the leadership skills he has demonstrated in the military, Colonel Mekler is convinced that Kim should play a leading role in Soviet-occupied Korea.

So two months later, at an elaborate ceremony in Pyongyang, Kim Il-Sung is introduced as the Soviet-backed leader of the communist movement in northern Korea. Wearing a Red Army uniform adorned with medals and decorations, Kim stands before an audience of dignitaries. But instead of enthusiastic applause, there are only puzzled murmurs. Many had expected someone older and more experienced, not a relatively junior officer like Kim.

Unfazed, Kim reaches his pocket and pulls out a speech written for him by his Soviet handlers. In it, he calls for Korean unity and the ultimate reunification of North and South. But his voice is soft, his accent is thick, and his delivery is awkward. He hardly seems like a national leader.

But despite this unpromising debut, Kim quickly steps out from the shadow of his Moscow handlers. Power has been handed to him—and he intends to keep it. He imposes his own authority in northern Korea, setting into motion sweeping reforms inspired by communist ideology. More than half of all arable land is redistributed to peasants. Heavy industry is nationalized. An eight-hour workday is announced. And free health care is made available to all citizens.

At the same time, Kim begins laying the foundations of a personality cult. An official biography is published that exaggerates his revolutionary achievements and rewrites parts of his life story. Rather than retreating from China under pressure from Japanese forces, the account portrays him as a heroic resistance leader. Witnesses who know otherwise are warned to stay silent or face reprisals.

But as Kim’s grip on power strengthens, the division between North and South Korea becomes increasingly permanent. International efforts to reunify the country are overtaken by the brewing Cold War. And by the time Soviet and American occupation forces withdraw in 1948, negotiations have stalled, and the border on the 38th parallel remains in place.

Two years later, Kim orders the newly formed Korean People’s Army to move into the South, portraying the invasion as a liberation. The resulting war lasts three years and draws in forces from America, China, and the USSR. Millions of people are killed. But when the fighting ends, little has changed. The border remains roughly where it was before, with the two countries now separated by heavy fortifications on either side of a demilitarized zone.

Yet despite its inconclusive outcome, Kim emerges from the conflict more secure than ever. He is now known in North Korea as the “Great Leader.” And no one dares oppose him. Accusations of treason and counterrevolutionary activity become routine tools of repression. Political rivals are systematically neutralized, either demoted, imprisoned, exiled, or executed.

And by the mid-1950s, North Korea has evolved into a totalitarian communist state centered on Kim’s personal authority. Less than a decade after being elevated with Soviet backing, Kim Il-Sung has largely freed himself from Moscow’s control. And for nearly forty more years, he will rule North Korea as its undisputed leader.

Act Two: Great Leader

It’s October 10th, 1980, in the House of Culture, Pyongyang, 35 years after Kim Il-Sung emerged as ruler of North Korea.

Now 68 years old, Kim stands behind a lectern under an enormous portrait of himself. Thousands of delegates sit in neat rows before him. They have traveled from every corner of North Korea and are joined by representatives from communist parties around the world. But the vast hall is silent as Kim begins the opening address of the Sixth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

Throughout his speech, the obedient crowd applauds his remarks. But unusually, the audience’s attention isn’t focused solely on Kim. Seated in the front row is Kim’s eldest son, Kim Jong-Il—and most of the speech is about him.

It’s been ten years since the last party congress. Officially, the gathering is meant to review the nation’s achievements and set goals for the future. In reality, Kim has convened it for one overriding purpose—to formally present Kim Jong-Il as his successor.

This decision breaks with communist tradition. Lenin and Stalin did not designate an heir. And in China, Mao Zedong’s attempts to shape the succession sparked bitter political infighting. Even so, Kim sees no alternative. When previous communist leaders died, political rivals moved quickly to dismantle their legacies. Kim has spent decades building a political system centered entirely on himself, and he has no intention of allowing it to be undone after his death. So, to preserve his family’s power and status, he’s concluded that only one person can be trusted to take his place—his son.

Kim has prepared the transition carefully. In the early 1970s, he appointed his son to numerous positions in the government and the Korean Communist Party. Kim ordered propaganda officials to begin promoting Kim Jong-Il as the “Dear Leader,” a title that deliberately echoed his own title of “Great Leader.” Senior officials who might challenge the succession were sidelined or purged, and even members of Kim’s extended family found themselves pushed out.

Meanwhile, state media worked to normalize the concept of hereditary succession. Dictionaries and political texts were quietly revised, removing any negative references to leaders handing down power from father to son. But only now, after all that work has been done, is Kim openly declaring his intentions.

When his speech ends, delegates rise to their feet in a prolonged standing ovation. Kim watches approvingly as the congress elects Kim Jong-Il to a series of new powerful positions. He becomes Secretary of the Workers’ Party, a member of the influential Politburo, and a member of the Central Military Commission. By the time the congress ends, there is no doubt who is next in line—Kim Jong-Il is clearly the second-most powerful man in North Korea.

But Kim himself has no intention of surrendering power just yet. Over the next decade, father and son rule North Korea together. Kim Jong-Il takes increasing responsibility for propaganda, culture, and party affairs. He expands his influence over the military and security services. But every advancement comes with a reminder that ultimate power still belongs to his father. When Kim Jong-Il is elevated to commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Kim Il-Sung grants himself the even grander title of generalissimo. The son may be rising, but the father remains supreme.

But Kim’s position is weakening. By the late 1980s, the communist world that helped to create Kim’s North Korea is falling apart. Communist governments across Eastern Europe are overthrown. And then, in 1991, the Soviet Union itself collapses.

Kim’s grip on North Korea is so strong that the country avoids the revolutionary upheaval seen elsewhere in the world. But it cannot avoid the economic shock. The loss of Soviet aid and favorable trade hits hard. Shortages become common. Living standards fall behind those of neighboring countries.

But despite these mounting problems, Kim’s regime remains firmly in control. Enormous monuments celebrating Kim’s leadership dominate the Pyongyang skyline. Schoolchildren memorize stories of his revolutionary exploits. His portraits hang in homes, offices, factories, and classrooms across the country. And even though he is in his 80s, Kim appears to the public as energetic and active as ever.

So, it comes as a shock when Kim suffers a heart attack at his villa near Mount Myohyang. Staff there quickly summon help, but the helicopter carrying doctors crashes in stormy weather. And without rapid medical treatment, there’s no way to save Kim. He dies in the early hours of July 8th, 1994.

Still, Kim Il-Sung has spent years planning for his death. He has selected an heir, eliminated rivals, and carefully orchestrated the transfer of power. Every institution in North Korea has been conditioned to accept Kim Jong-Il as the Great Leader’s heir. But in a country that has been dominated by one man for nearly half a century, no one will be entirely certain what will come next.

Act Three: Succession

It’s noon on July 9th, 1994, in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, the day after the death of Kim Il-Sung.

Chon Hyong-gyu sips from a glass of water, trying to steady his emotions. He flips through a stack of cue cards, scarcely able to believe what he’s about to tell the nation. Chon is one of North Korea’s best-known news anchors, and he’s accustomed to reading official announcements. But today’s statement is unlike any he has delivered before.

A cameraman signals that recording has begun. And fighting back tears, Chon begins to read. His voice trembles as he announces that the Great Leader, Comrade Kim Il-Sung, has died suddenly at the age of 82. But the statement continues, assuring North Koreans that they are in safe hands. Kim’s son, Kim Jong-Il, has pledged to carry forward his father’s accomplishments.

Within hours, the new leader, Kim Jong-Il declares a period of national mourning. North Korea effectively comes to a standstill. Citizens across the country gather at monuments and public squares to pay their respects, many weeping openly. Television tributes are broadcast around the clock, and newspapers are filled with memorial articles praising Kim Il-Sung’s achievements.

Then, eleven days after Kim’s death, one of the largest funerals in modern history takes place in Pyongyang. Despite heavy rain, hundreds of thousands of people line the streets. Senior military officers, party officials, and foreign dignitaries join the procession as Kim Il-Sung’s coffin passes through the capital. Afterward, his body is embalmed and placed on permanent display at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace.

But Kim's legacy is far from buried. Kim Jong-Il takes power in the middle of an economic crisis, but he remains committed to the system his father built. Rather than introducing reforms to dismantle the country’s economic and political model, he tightens state control even further.

Kim Il-Sung is officially designated North Korea’s “Eternal President.” But a new personality cult develops around Kim Jong-Il too, with his portrait appearing alongside his dead father’s on the walls of public buildings and private homes across the nation. The transition of power has succeeded, just as Kim Il-Sung hoped it would.

Initially chosen as a Soviet puppet. Kim Il-Sung ruled North Korea for far longer than expected, outliving even the Soviet Union itself to establish the only communist regime led by generations of the same family. Today, it is his grandson who rules North Korea, dominating the country with the same iron grip that Kim Il-Sung did until his death on July 8th, 1994.

Outro

Next on History Daily. July 9th, 1864. An elderly banker is robbed and killed on a London commuter service in the world’s first railway murder.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Samuel Hume.

Edited by Scott Reeves.

Managing producer is Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.