Kang Pan-sok

Kang Pan-sŏk (Korean: 강반석; 21 April 1892 – 31 July 1932) was the mother of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.[1] 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.

In this Korean name, the family name is Kang.
Kang Pan-sok
강반석
Born(1892-04-21)21 April 1892
Mangyongdae, Joseon
Died31 July 1932(1932-07-31) (aged 40)
Jilin, Republic of China
Spouse(s)Kim Hyong-jik
ChildrenKim Il-sung
Kim Chol-ju
Kim Yong-ju
Birth name
Chosŏn'gŭl
Hancha
Revised RomanizationGang Ban-seok
McCune–ReischauerKang Pan-sŏk

In North Korea, Kang Pan-sŏk is referred to as the "Mother of Korea" or "Great Mother of Korea". Both titles are shared with Kim Jong-il's mother Kim Jong-suk.[2][3][4] However, it was Kang Pan-sŏk 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-sŏk". 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
  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.
  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.
  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.
  7. Evans, Stephen (3 August 2015). "North Korea and Christianity - uneasy bedfellows". BBC. London. Retrieved 3 August 2015.

Further reading


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