Kim Il-sung

North Korea, 1912-94

Kim Il-sung was the leader of communist North Korea from the country’s early days until his death in 1994. Kim was handpicked by the Soviet Union to lead a communist government friendly to Soviet policy. He became a member of a Marxist organisation at the age of 17 and returned to his country in 1945, at the end of World War II, after 26 years in exile. Kim launched the invasion of South Korea after receiving assurances of support from the Soviets. He ruled North Korea with an iron fist for nearly a half century, and was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-il.

North Korea is the only communist country in the world that is ruled generationally by a single family, and the Kim line is in its third generation.