Kang Pan Sok (Korean강반석; MRKang Pansŏk; 21 April 1892 – 31 July 1932) was the mother of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, the paternal grandmother of Kim Jong Il, and a great grandmother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.[1]

Kang Pan Sok
강반석
Born(1892-04-21)21 April 1892
Died31 July 1932(1932-07-31) (aged 40)
SpouseKim Hyong Jik
Children
Parent(s)Kang Ton-uk [ko] (father, founder of Changdok school)
Birth name
Chosŏn'gŭl
강반석
Hancha
康盤石
Revised RomanizationGang Banseok
McCune–ReischauerKang Pansŏk

Biography

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She came from the village of Chilgol and raised Kim on a small farm in Mangyongdae, both near Pyongyang. She accepted, but rarely participated in her husband's pro-independence activism. After the family fled to Manchuria to avoid arrest, she did not return to Korea. 21 April is a day of memorial for her in North Korea, when a wreath-laying ceremony is held at Chilgol Revolutionary Site.

Legacy

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In North Korea, Kang Pan Suk is referred to as the "Mother of Korea" or "Great Mother of Korea". Both titles are shared with Kim Jong Il's mother and Kim Jong Un's grandmother Kim Jong Suk.[2][3][4] However, it was Kang Pan Suk who was the first family member of Kim Il Sung to have a cult of personality of her own to supplement that of her son, from the late 1960s onwards. In 1967, Rodong Sinmun praised her as the "mother of all". The same year, the Democratic Women's League initiated a campaign called "Learning from Madame Kang Pan Suk". There is a song by the name of "Mother of Korea" in her honor,[5] as well as a hagiographic biography, also called The Mother of Korea (1968).[6]

The Protestant Chilgol Church in Pyongyang is dedicated to the memory of Kang Pan Sok, who was a Presbyterian. Her name meant "rock", having been named for Saint Peter.[7]



References

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  1. ^ "NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 468". Yonhap News Agency. 4 October 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  2. ^ Armstrong, Charles K. (December 2005). "Familism, Socialism and Political Religion in North Korea". Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions. 6 (3): 390. doi:10.1080/14690760500317743. S2CID 145497407.
  3. ^ David-West, Alzo (2011). "Archetypal Themes in North Korean Literature". Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche. 5 (1): 73. doi:10.1525/jung.2011.5.1.65. S2CID 141771402.
  4. ^ Ken E. Gause (31 August 2011). North Korea Under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change. ABC-CLIO. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-313-38175-1.
  5. ^ Jae-Cheon Lim (24 March 2015). Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North Korea: The Leader State. Routledge. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-1-317-56741-7.
  6. ^ Kim, Suk-Yong (2011). "Dressed to Kill: Women's Fashion and Body Politics in North Korean Visual Media (1960s – 1970s)". Positions. 19 (1): 173. doi:10.1215/10679847-2010-028. S2CID 145149501.
  7. ^ Evans, Stephen (3 August 2015). "North Korea and Christianity - uneasy bedfellows". BBC. London. Retrieved 3 August 2015.

Further reading

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