Kim Song-ae
| Kim Sung-ae | |
|---|---|
| Vice-Chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Korean Women's Association | |
|
In office 1965–1971 |
|
| Leader | Kim Il-sung |
| Succeeded by | Herself (as Chairwoman) |
| Chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Korean Women's Association | |
|
In office 1971–1976 |
|
| Leader | Kim Il-sung |
|
In office 1993–1998 |
|
| Leader | Kim Jong-Il |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1928 Korea |
| Political party | Workers' party of Korea |
| Spouse(s) | Kim Il-sung (m. 1952–1994; his death) |
| Relations |
Kim Jong-Il (stepson, deceased) Kim Kyong-hui (stepdaughter) |
| Children | Kim Kyong-jin (daughter) Kim Pyong-il (son) Kim Yong-il (son) |
| Korean name | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 김성애 |
| Hancha | 金聖愛 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Seong-ae |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Sŏng-ae |
Kim Sŏng-ae (born 1928) was a North Korean politician, and the second wife of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.
Kim Song-ae originally worked as a secretary. She married Kim Il-sung in 1952, following the death of Kim Il-sung's first wife in 1949, although due to the Korean War no formal ceremony was held. One source indicates Kim Il-sung had had an affair with her even before his first wife died. She gave birth to a daughter (Kim Kyong-jin, 1953) and two sons (Kim Pyong-il, 1955; Kim Yong-il, 1957).
She later rose in political power. From the mid 1960s until the mid 1970s, Kim Song-ae allegedly held a significant amount of political influence in North Korea. As her tenure of political significance occurred in about the same period as that of Jiang Qing in China during the culture revolution, Jang Jin-sung referred to Kim Song-ae as the "North Korean mirror image of Jiang Qing".
In 1965, she became vice-chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Korean Democratic Women's League (KDWL), and in 1971, she rose to be chairwoman. In December 1972, she became a representative of the People’s Supreme Assembly.
According to Jang Jin-sung, Kim Song-ae had the ambition to place her son, Kim Pyong-il in the position of successor to her spouse Kim Il-sung, rather than his son from his first marriage, Kim Jong-il. In this, she was supposedly supported by a fraction of the North Korean political elite, among them her brother Kim Kwang-hop, and Kim Il-sungs brother Kim Yong-ju, and opposed by the fraction of her stepson Kim Jong-il. In the 1970s, her influence was reportedly seen as excessive by the party, who started to curb it. In parallel, her stepson Kim Jong-il became the designated heir of Kim Il-sung, and his fraction worked to remove her from influence. In 1976, Kim Sung-ae lost her position as chair of the KDWL, which removed her communication channel to the public and effectively curbed her power base. Reportedly, Kim Sung-ae, as well as her brother-in-law Kim Yong-ju, who had supported her plans to place her son in the position of heir instead of Kim Jong-il, was placed in house arrest in 1981 upon the wish of the designated heir Kim Jong-il.
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