Little is known about Kim. Born on 10 July 1894,[2][unreliable source?] in the small village of Mangyongdae, situated atop a peak called Mangyungbong (만경봉(萬景峰),"All-Seeing Peak") just 12 kilometers downstream on the Taedong River from Pyongyang, Kim was the son of Kim Bo-hyon (金輔鉉, 1871–1955).[3][4] Kim attended Sungshil School (평양숭실학교), which was run by American missionaries, and became a teacher at the Sunhwa school (순화학교) in Mangyongdae in 1913 and the Christian Myongsin school (명신학교) in Ponghwa-ri, Kangdong County in 1916 and later worked as a herbal pharmacist. According to the North Korean official sources, he died as a result of numerous medical problems, including third-degree frostbite.
Kim and his wife attended Christian churches,[5] and Kim even served as a part-time Protestant missionary.[6] It was reported that his son, Kim Il Sung, attended church services during his teenage years before becoming an atheist later in life.[5]
Kim Il Sung often spoke of his father's idea of chiwŏn (지원(志遠), righteous aspirations).
Kim Jong Il's official government biography states that his grandfather was "the leader of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement and was a pioneer in shifting the direction from the nationalist movement to the communist movement in Korea".[7] Kim Hyong Jik is claimed by North Korea to have convened an important meeting of independence activists in November, 1921 memorialized at the Sansong Revolutionary Site.
^To keep the tree of manageable size, it omits five out of the eight known children of Kim Il Sung. Other children not shown in the tree are: Kim Man-il, Kim Kyong-jin, Kim Yong-il, Kim Hyŏn-nam, and Kim Yŏng-il
^Korean names often have a variety of transliterations into English, which can be confusing. For example, "Kim Jong-chul" may also be written "Gim Jeong-cheol" or "Kim Jŏng-ch'ŏl" among many other variations. See Korean romanization for more information.
^Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Il list his birth year as 1942. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1942 (Year of the Horse), in addition to being 30 years since Kim Il Sung's birth may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year.
^Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Un list his birth year as 1982. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1982 (Year of the Dog), in addition to being 70 years since Kim Il Sung's birth, may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year.
^Birth year for Kim Ju-ae is not publicly known. She may have been born in either late 2012 or early 2013.
^Baik Bong, Kim Il Sung, Volume I: From Birth to the Triumphant Return to the Homeland (Dar al-Talia Publishers: Beirut Lebanon, 1973) p. 19.
^Hyung-chan Kim (2003). "Kim Jong Il's North Korea and Its Survivability". Korea and World Affairs. 27. Korea: Pʻyŏnghwa Tʻongil Yŏnʼguso: 251. ISSN0251-3072. OCLC3860590. One also has to accept the existence of Kim Bo-hyeon (1871–1955), Kim Il-sung's grandfather, who participated in anti-Japanese activities.
The Party History Institute of the C. C. Of the Workers' Party of Korea (1973). Kim Hyong Jik: Indomitable Anti-Japanese Revolutionary Fighter. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. OCLC252037406.
Ponghwa Revolutionary Site. The Korean Preparatory Committee for the 13th WFTYS. 1988. KPEA 2JB070.
