Kim Man-il (Korean: 김만일; Hanja: 金萬一; 1944–1947/1948) was the second son of the North Korean founding leader Kim Il Sung and his first wife Kim Jong-suk. He was the younger brother of Kim Jong Il, the second leader of North Korea.
Official North Korean biographies state that he and his older brother Kim Jong Il got along very well and played together.[1]
Death
There are conflicting accounts of Kim Man-il's death. North Korean sources claim that in the summer of 1947 or 1948, he accidentally drowned while playing with his brother in a pond in Pyongyang.[2] However, Russian sources indicate that he fell in a well in Vyatskoye and drowned, prior to the family moving back to Korea.[3] Chinese sources indicate that the two brothers were playing in the pond near the edge in chest-high water. Kim Jong Il raised his face above the water faster than Shura, and pushed his younger brother's head back into the water and held it underwater while laughing, yelling and swearing at him, eventually drowning him in the process.
Official North Korean records state that, after Kim Man-il's death, Kim Jong Il was devastated and never got over the trauma. A grave allegedly belonging to Kim Man-il is located in Vyatskoye.[4] A year after his death, in 1949, his mother Kim Jong-suk died while giving birth to a stillborn girl.
^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.
Notes and references
^Both Jerrold Post in Post, Jerrold M. (2008). "Kim Jong-Il of North Korea: In the shadow of his father". International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. 5 (3): 191–210. doi:10.1002/aps.167. and Robert Davison who publishes The Inquisitor cite North Korean defector Yi Ki-bong (이기봉, 李基奉) for statements that shed some doubt on this. Davison quotes from Yi's book, What Kind of Man is Kim Jong II [sic: Kim, Chŏng-il] (most likely Yi's chapter in 민족사 입장 에서 본 김 일성 정권): “Kim was very mischievous when a child. When he saw an insect, he trampled on it. After Korea’s liberation from Japanese occupation, the Kim II-sung family lived in a house in Mansu-tong, Central District, P’yongyang. In the early summer of 1948, his younger brother, Shura (then three years old) drowned. Kim Jong II was there at the time. I learned later how the accident occurred. The two brothers were playing in the pond right by the edge. Kim Jong II raised his face faster than his brother, and pushed his brother’s face back into water. He did that over and over.” Davison, Robert (26 August 2009). "Despot of the Week #5 – Kim Jong II". Archived from the original on 30 August 2009.
^None of the sources appear to be entirely authoritative, and many show a bias towards or opposed to the Kim regime. "Kim Family". North Korea Leadership Watch. 25 September 2009. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. gives a date of July 1947. Sources such as Behnke, Alison (2008). Kim Jong Il's North Korea (first ed.). Minneapolis, Minnesota: Twenty-First Century Books. p. 45. ISBN978-0-8225-7282-4. give a generic 1947. While sources like North Korea: General Secretary Kim Jong-il Handbook. Washington, D.C.: International Business Publications. 2002. p. 38. ISBN978-0-7397-6344-5. give a generic 1948.
