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Sorbs
Serby, Serbja, Sorben

Sorbian flag (in Pan-Slavic colors, introduced 1842)
National costume of Lusatian Sorbs as traditionally worn in the northern part of Lusatia
Total population
60,000[1]-70,000[2] (est.) • 40,000 Upper Sorbs • 20,000 Lower Sorbs
Regions with significant populations
Germany 60,000
Languages
Sorbian (Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian), German
Religion
Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism

Sorbs (Upper Sorbian: Serbja; Lower Sorbian: Serby also known as Wends, Lusatian Sorbs or Lusatian Serbs) are a Western Slavic people of Central Europe living predominantly in Lusatia, a region on the territory of Germany and Poland. In Germany they live in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony. They speak the Sorbian languages (Wendish, Lusatian) - closely related^[3] to Polish and Czech - officially recognized and protected as a minority language of Germany. They are predominantly Roman Catholics and Lutheran Protestants.

Sorbs are divided into two geographical groups:

• Upper Sorbs, who speak Upper Sorbian (about 40,000 people).^[4]
• Lower Sorbs, who speak Lower Sorbian (about 20,000 people).^{[citation needed]}

The dialects spoken vary in intelligibility in different areas.

Tribal division[link]

Lusatian tribes are noted in the work of the Bavarian Geographer. The document contains a list of the tribes in Central-Eastern Europe east of the Elbe and north of the Danube to the Volga rivers to the Black and Caspian Sea most of them of Slavic origin.^[5][6] Having settled by the Elbe, Spree and Neisse in the 6th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they had settled. Sorbs living on the swampy broads of the Lower Spree have taken their name from the word marsh. The Milceni (ancestors of Upper Sorbs) settled on fertile soil around Upper Spree, the name derives from the word měl’ (loess soil). Both groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range. The rest of the tribes settled themselves between the Elbe and Saale. Among many Slavic tribes Bavarian Geographer noted also few lusatian tribes:

• Glomacze - Dolomici
• Milceni
• Chutyz
• Sitice

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Geographus Bavarus

History[link]

The reconstructed Lusatian gord (fortification) of Raduš (Raddusch), near Vetschau in Lower Lusatia

Small region where the Sorbs still live in Germany, the area that used to be much larger in the past

The close-up map of area inhabited by Sorbians

Sorbs arrived in the area extending between the Bober, Kwisa, and Oder rivers to the East and the Saale and Elbe rivers to the West during the sixth century A.D. In the North, the area of their settlement reached Berlin. The earliest surviving mention of the tribe was in 631 A.D., when Fredegar’s Chronicle described them as "Surbi" and as under the rule of a Dervan, an ally of Samo. The Annales Regni Francorum state that in 806 A.D. Sorbian Duke Miliduch fought against the Franks and was killed. In 840, Sorbian Duke Czimislav was killed. In 932, Henry I conquered Lusatia and Milsko. Gero II, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark, reconquered Lusatia the following year and, in 939, treacherously murdered thirty Sorbian princes during a feast. As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against German rule. A reconstructed castle, at Raddusch in Lower Lusatia, is the sole physical remnant from this early period.

During the reign of Boleslaw I of Poland in 1002-1018, three Polish-German wars were waged which caused Lusatia to come under the domination of new rulers. In 1018, on the strength of peace in Bautzen, Lusatia became a part of Poland; however, it returned to German rule before 1031. From the 11th to the 15th century, agriculture in Lusatia developed and colonization by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers intensified. In 1327 the first prohibitions on using Sorbian in Altenburg, Zwickau and Leipzig appeared. Between 1376 and 1635 Lusatia was again part of an Empire, under the rule of the Bohemian Luxembourgs, part of Saint Waclav's Crown. From the beginning of the 16th century the whole Sorbian area, with the exception of Lusatia, underwent Germanization. From 1635 Lusatia became a fiefdom of Saxon electors.

The Thirty Years War and the Black Death caused terrible devastation in Lusatia. This led to further German colonization and Germanization. In 1667 the Prince of Brandenburg, Frederick Wilhelm, ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time the Evangelical Church supported printing Sorbian religious literature as a means of fighting the Counterreformation. In 1706 the Sorbian Seminary, the main centre for the education of Sorbian Catholic priests, was founded in Prague. Evangelical students of theology formed the Sorbian College of Ministers.

The Congress of Vienna, in 1815, gave part of Upper Lusatia to Saxony, but most of Lusatia to Prussia. More and more bans on the use of Sorbian languages appeared from then until 1835 in Saxony and Prussia; emigration of the Sorbs, mainly to the town of Serbin in Texas and to Australia, increased. In 1848, 5000 Sorbs signed a petition to the Saxon Government, in which they demanded equality for the Sorbian language with the German one in churches, courts, schools and Government departments. From 1871 the whole of Lusatia became a part of united Germany and was divided between two parts; Prussia (Silesia and Brandenburg), and Saxony.

From 1871 the industrialization of the region and German immigration began; official Germanization intensified. Although the Weimar Republic guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it did not practice them.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout the Third Reich, Sorbians were described as a German tribe who spoke a Slavic language and their national poet Handrij Zejler as German as well. Sorbian costume, culture, customs and even the language was said to be no indication of a non-German origin. The Reich declared that there were truly no "Sorbs" or "Lusatians", only Wendish-Speaking Germans. As such, the cultivation of "Wendish" customs and traditions was to be encouraged in a controlled manner and the Slavic language would decline due to natural causes. Young Sorbs enlisted in the Wehrmacht and were sent to the front. Entangled lives of the Sorbs during World War II are exemplified by life stories of Mina Witkojc, Měrčin Nowak-Njechorński and Jan Skala.

The first Lusatian cities were captured in April 1945, when the Red Army and the Polish Second Army crossed the river Queis (pol:Kwisa). The defeat of Nazi Germany changed the Sorbs’ situation considerably: those to the east of Neisse and Oder were expelled or assimilated by Poland^{[citation needed]}. The regions in East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) faced a large influx of expelled Germans and heavy industrialisation, which both forced Germanization. The East German authorities tried to counteract this development by creating a broad range of Sorbian institutions. The Sorbs were officially recognized as an ethnic minority, more than 100 Sorbian schools and several academic institutions were founded, the Domowina and its associated societies were re-established and a Sorbian theatre was created. Owing to the oppression of the church and forced collectivization, however, these efforts were severely affected and consequently over time the number of people speaking Sorbian languages decreased by half.

Sorbian Slovians caused the communist government of the GDR (the German Democratic Republic) plenty of trouble, mainly because of the high levels of religious observance and resistance to the nationalisation of agriculture. During the compulsory collectivization campaign, a great many unprecedented incidents were reported. Thus, throughout the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany, violent clashes with the police were reported in Lusatia. An open uprising took place in three upper communes of Błot.

"House of the Sorbs" (Serbski dom) in Bautzen

Bautzen: German-Sorbian folk theatre

After the unification of Germany on 3 October 1990, Lusatians made efforts to create an autonomous administrative unit; however Helmut Kohl’s government did not agree to it. After 1989 the Sorbian movement revived; however, it still encounters many obstacles. Although Germany supports national minorities, Sorbs claim that their aspirations are not sufficiently fulfilled^{[citation needed]}. The desire to unite Lusatia in one of the federal states has not been taken into consideration. Upper Lusatia still belongs to Saxony and Lower Lusatia to Brandenburg. Liquidations of Sorbian schools, even in areas mostly populated by Sorbs, still happen, under the pretext of financial difficulties or demolition of whole villages to create lignite quarries.

Faced with growing threat of cultural extinction the Domowina issued a memorandum in March 2008 ^[7] and called for "help and protection against the growing threat of their cultural extinction, since an ongoing conflict between the German government, Saxony and Brandenburg about the financial distribution of help blocks the financing of almost all Sorbian institutions". The memorandum also demands a reorganisation of competence by ceding responsibility from the Länder to the federal government and an expanded legal status. The call has been issued to all governments and heads of state of the European Union.^[8]

On 28 May 2008, the Sorbian politician Stanislaw Tillich, member of the governing Christian Democrats, was elected as Minister President of the State of Saxony.

Language and culture[link]

The oldest known relic of Sorbian literature originated in about 1530 - Bautzen townsmen’ oath. In 1548 Mikołaj Jakubica – Lower Sorbian vicar, from the village called Lubanice, wrote the first unprinted translation of the New Testament into Lower Sorbian.

In 1574 the first Sorbian book was printed: Albin Mollers’ songbook. In 1688 Jurij Hawštyn Swětlik translated the Bible for Catholic Sorbs. In 1706-1709 the New Testament was printed in the Upper Sorbian translation was done by Michał Frencel and in Lower Sorbian by Jan Bogumił Fabricius (1681–1741). Jan Bjedrich Fryco (a.k.a.Johann Friedrich Fritze) (1747–1819), translated the Old Testament for the first time into Lower Sorbian, published in 1790.

Other Sorbian Bible translators include Jakub Buk (1825–1895), Michał Hórnik (Michael Hornig) (1833–1894), Jurij Łušćanski (a.k.a. Georg Wuschanski) (1839–1905).

In 1809 for the short period of time, there was the first printed Sorbian newspaper. In 1767 Jurij Mjeń publishes the first secular Sorbian book. Between 1841 and 1843, Jan Arnošt Smoler and Leopold Haupt published two-volume collection of Wendish folk-songs in Upper and Lower Lusatia.

From 1842, the first Sorbian publishing companies started to appear: the poet Handrij Zejler set up a weekly magazine, the precursor of today’s Serbian News. In 1845 in Bautzen the first festival of Sorbian songs took place.

Stamps from the GDR period

In 1875, Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, the poet and classicist of Upper Sorbian literature, and Karol Arnošt Muka created a movement of young Sorbians influencing Lusatian art, science and literature for the following 50 years.

Similar movement in Lower Lusatia was organized around the most prominent Lower Lusatian poets Mato Kósyk (Mato Kosyk) and Bogumił Šwjela.

In 1904, mainly thanks to the Sorbs’ contribution, the most important Sorbian cultural centre (the Sorbian House) was built in Bautzen. In 1912, the social and cultural organization of Lusatian Sorbs was created, the Domowina Institution - the union of Sorbian organizations. In 1919 it had 180,000 members. In 1920 Jan Skala set up a Sorbian party and in 1925 in Berlin, Skala started Kulturwille- the newspaper for the protection of national minorities in Germany. In 1920 the Sokol Movement was founded (youth movement and gymnastic organization). From 1933 the Nazi party started to repress the Sorbs. At that time the Nazi also dissolved the Sokol Movement and began to combat every sign of Sorbian culture. In 1937 activities of the Domowina Institution and other organizations were banned as anti-national. Sorbian clergymen and teachers were forcedly deported from Lusatia; Nazi German authorities confiscated the Sorbian House, other buildings and crops.

On May 10, 1945, in Crostwitz, after The Red Army’s invasion, the Domowina Institution renewed its activity. In 1948 Landtag of Saxony passed an Act guaranteeing protection to Sorbian Lusatians; in 1949 Brandenburg resolved a similar law. In the times of the GDR, Sorbian organizations were financially supported by the country, but at the same time the authorities encouraged Germanization of Sorbian youth as a means of incorporating them into the system of "building Socialism". Sorbian language and culture could only be publicly presented as long as they promoted Socialistic ideology.

For over 1000 years the Sorbs were able to maintain and even develop their national culture, despite escalating Germanization and Polonization, mainly due to the high level of religious observance, cultivation of their tradition and strong families (Sorbian families still often have 5 children).

In the middle of the 20th century, the revival of the Central European nations included some Sorbs, who became strong enough to attempt twice to regain their independence. After World War II, the Lusatian National Committee in Prague claimed the right to self-government and separation from Germany and the creation of a Lusatian Free State or attachment to Czechoslovakia. The majority of the Sorbs were organized in the Domowina, though, and did not wish to split from Germany.^{[citation needed]} Claims asserted by the Lusatian National movement were postulates of joining Lusatia to Poland or Czechoslovakia. Between 1945–1947 they postulated about ten memorials^[9] to the UN, USA, USSR, Great Britain, France, Poland and Czechoslovakia, however, it did not bring any results. On April 30, 1946, the Lusatian National Committee also postulated a petition to the Polish Government, signed by Paweł Cyż – the minister and an official Sorbian delegate in Poland. There was also a project of proclaiming a Lusatian Free State, whose Prime Minister was supposed to be a Polish archaeologist of Lusatian origin- Wojciech Kóčka. The most radical postulates in this area (" Na swobodu so ńečeka, swobodu so beŕe!") ^[10] were expressed by the Lusatian youth organization- Narodny Partyzan Łužica.

Bilingual names of streets in Cottbus

Similarly, in Czechoslovakia, where before the Potsdam Conference in Prague, 300,000 people demonstrated for the independence of Lusatia. The endeavours to separate Lusatia from Germany did not succeed because of various individual and geopolitical interests.

The following statistics indicates the progression of cultural change among Sorbs: by the end of the 19th century, about 150,000 people spoke Sorbian languages. In 1920 almost all Sorbs mastered Sorbian and German to the same degree. The last Sorb who spoke little or no German died in Műschen village in 1954. Nowadays, in 2004, the number of people using Sorbian languages has been estimated to be no more than 50,000.

Traditions[link]

Zapust is the most popular tradition of the Sorbs, deeply linked to the working life of the community. Traditionally, festivities would last one week ahead of the spring sowing of the fields and would feature traditional dress, parade and dancing.^[11]

The Pisanici are a Slavic Easter tradition maintained by Sorbs since the 17th century.^[12]

Folklore[link]

Regions of Lusatia[link]

There are 3 main regions of Lusatia that differ in language, religion and customs.

Region of Catholic Lusatia[link]

The flag of Upper Lusatia

Catholic Lusatia encompasses 85 towns in the districts of Bautzen, Kamenz, and Hoyerswerda, where Upper Sorbian language, customs, and tradition are still thriving. In some of these places (e.g., Radibor or Radwor in Sorbian, Crostwitz or Chrósćicy, and Rosenthal or Róžant), Sorbs constitute the majority of the population, and children grow up speaking Sorbian.

On Sundays, during holidays, and at weddings, people wear regional costumes, rich in decoration and embroidery, encrusted with pearls.

Some of the customs and traditions observed include Bird Wedding (25 January), Easter Cavalcade of Riders, Witch Burning (30 April), Maik, singing on St. Martin's Day (Nicolay), and the celebrations of Saint Barbara’s Day and Saint Nicholas’s Day.

Region of Hoyerswerda (Wojerecy) and Schleife (Slepo)[link]

In the area from Hoyerswerda to Schleife, a dialect of Sorbian which combines characteristic features of both Upper and Lower Sorbian is spoken. The region is predominantly Protestant, highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry, sparsely populated, and to a great extent germanicized. Most speakers of Sorbian are over 60 years old.

The region distinguishes itself through many examples of Slavic wooden architecture monuments including churches and regular houses, a diversity of regional costumes (mainly worn by elderly women) that feature white-knitting with black, cross-like embroidery, and a tradition of playing bagpipes. In several villages, residents uphold traditional festivities such as expelling of winter, Maik, Easter and Great Friday singing, and the celebration of dźěćetko (disguised child or young girl giving Christmas presents).

Region of Lower Lusatia[link]

The Flag of Lower Lusatia

There are 60 towns from the area of Cottbus belonging to this region, where most of the older people over 60 but few young people and children can speak the Lower Sorbian language; the local variant often incorporates many words taken from the German, and in conversations with the younger generation, German is generally preferred. Some primary schools in the region teach bilingually, and in Cottbus there is an important Gymnasium whose main medium of instruction is Lower Sorbian. The region is predominantly Protestant, again highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry. The biggest tourist attraction of the region and in the whole Lusatia are the marshlands, with many Spreewald/Błóta canals, picturesque broads of the Spree.

Worn mainly by older but on holidays by young women, regional costumes are colourful, including a large headscarf called "lapa", rich in golden embroidering and differing from village to village.

In some villages, following traditions are observed: Shrovetide, Maik, Easter bonfires, Roosters catching/hunting. In Jänschwalde (Sorbian: Janšojcach) so called Janšojki bog (disguised young girl) gives Christmas presents.

Lusatian anthem[link]

in Lower Sorbian[link]

Rědna Łužyca

Rědna Łužyca,

spšawna, pśijazna,

mojich serbskich woścow kraj,

mojich glucnych myslow raj,

swěte su mě twoje strony.

Cas ty pśichodny,

zakwiś radostny!

Och, gab muže stanuli,

za swoj narod źěłali,

godne nimjer wobspomnjeśa!

in Upper Sorbian[link]

New Upper Sorbian- Saxon flag since 2006

Rjana Łužica

Rjana Łužica,

sprawna přećelna,

mojich serbskich wótcow kraj,

mojich zbóžnych sonow raj,

swjate su mi twoje hona!

Časo přichodny,

zakćěj radostny!

Ow, zo bychu z twojeho

klina wušli mužojo,

hódni wěčnoh wopomnjeća!

The Sorbs and Poland[link]

One of the pioneers of the cooperation between the two nations was Polish historian Wilhelm Bogusławski who lived in the 19th century and wrote the first book on Polish-Sorbian history Rys dziejów serbołużyckich (Polish title), it was published in Saint Petersburg in 1861. The book was expanded and published again in cooperation with Michał Hórnik in 1884 in Bautzen, under a new title Historije serbskeho naroda. Alfons Parczewski was another friend of Sorbs, who from 1875 was involved in Sorbs' rights protection, participating in Sorbian meetings in Bautzen. It was thanks to him, among others, that Józef Ignacy Kraszewski founded a scholarship for Sorbian students. An association of friends of Sorbian Nation was established at the University of Warsaw in 1936 (Polish full name: Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Narodu Serbo-Łużyckiego). It gathered people not only from the university. Its president was Professor Stanisław Słoński, and the deputy president was Julia Wieleżyńska. The association was a legal entity. There were 3 individual organizations devoted to Sorbian matters. Prołuż founded in Krotoszyn, expanded to all Poland (3000 members). It was biggest noncommunist organization that dealt with foreign affairs. This youth organization was created during the soviet occupation and its motto was "Polish guard over Lusatia" (pl. Nad Łużycami polska straż). Its highest activity was in Greater Poland (Polish: Wielkopolska, a district of western Poland). After the creation of East Germany, Prołuż was dissolved, and its president historian from Poznań Alojzy Stanisław Matyniak was arrested.^[13]

Genetics[link]

According to a study published in May 2011, Sorbs show the greatest genetic similarity to Poles and Czechs, consistent with their West Slavic language.^[14] They show subtle evidence of genetic isolation but less than Sardinians and French Basques.^[14]

Diaspora[link]

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Bibliography[link]

• Filip Gańczak Mniejszość w czasach popkultury, Newsweek, nr 22/2007, 03.06.2007.
• W kręgu Krabata. Szkice o Juriju Brězanie, literaturze, kulturze i językach łużyckich, pod red. J.Zarka, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, Katowice, 2002.
• Mirosław Cygański, Rafał Leszczyński Zarys dziejów narodowościowych Łużyczan PIN, Instytut Śląski, Opole 1997.
• Die Sorben in Deutschland, pod red. M.Schiemann, Stiftung für das sorbische Volk, Görlitz 1997.
• Mały informator o Serbołużyczanach w Niemczech, pod red. J.Pětrowej, Załožba za serbski lud, 1997.
• Dolnoserbske nałogi/Obyczaje Dolnych Łużyc, pod red. M.Stock, Załožba za serbski lud, 1997.
• "Rys dziejów serbołużyckich" Wilhelm Bogusławski Piotrogród 1861
• "Prołuż Akademicki Związek Przyjaciół Łużyc" Jakub Brodacki. Polska Grupa Marketingowa 2006 ISBN 83-60151-00-8.
• "Polska wobec Łużyc w drugiej połowie XX wieku. Wybrane problemy", Mieczkowska Małgorzata, Szczecin 2006 ISBN 83-7241-487-4.
• "A Rock Against Alien Waves: A History of the Wends". Charles Wukasch. Austin: Concordia University Press, 2004.
• "Sorbs," David Zersen, in Germans and the Americas: Culture, Politics and History, 3 vols., edited by Thomas Adam. ABC-CLIO, 2005.

See also[link]

• List of Sorbs
• Lusatia
• Sorbian languages
• Polabian Slavs
• Wends
• Milceni
• Pavle Jurišić Šturm
• Wendish People's Party
• List of Medieval Slavic tribes

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Sorbs.

• The Domowina Institution
• SERBSKE NOWINY - Sorbian Newspaper
• SERBSKI INSTITUT - Sorbian history and culture
• - independent Sorbian internet magazine
• Wikipedia in Upper Sorbian (hsb)
• Sorbian emigration into Australia
• Project Rastko - Lusatia, Electronic Library of Sorbian-Serbian Ties
• Texas Wendish Heritage Society
• Wendish Heritage Society of Australia

v t e Slavic ethnic groups East Slavs Belarusians • Russians • Ukrainians (Rusyns) West Slavs Czechs (Moravians) • Silesians • Poles (Kashubians) • Sorbs • Slovaks South Slavs Bosniaks • Bulgarians (Pomaks) • Croats (Bunjevci • Burgenland Croats • Janjevci • Krašovani • Molise Croats • Šokci) • Macedonians • Montenegrins • Serbs • Slovenes

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Lower (green) and Upper Lusatia (yellow), Johann Homann, early 18th century

Upper Lusatia (German: Oberlausitz, Upper Sorbian: Hornja Łužica, Lower Sorbian: Górna Łužyca, Czech: Horní Lužice, Polish: Górne Łużyce^[1] or Milsko) is a region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the north, it makes up the historical region of Lusatia, named after the Slavic tribe of the Lusici. Both Lusatias are home to the West Slavic people the Sorbs, as well as Germans and Silesians.

The majority of Upper Lusatia is in Saxony (roughly the districts of Bautzen (Budyšin) and Görlitz), the northern part is in Brandenburg (southern Oberspreewald-Lausitz district), and a small eastern part is in Poland (part of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and Lubusz Voivodeship). The west of Upper Lusatia is a subregion, Western Lusatia.

The historical capital of Upper Lusatia is Bautzen. The largest city in the region is Görlitz/Zgorzelec, halved between Germany and Poland since 1945. The name Upper Lusatia was first recorded in the late 15th century. Originally the region was only called Lusatia, or later Land Budissin. The region was also referred to as Milsko in pre-15th century chronicles and modern Polish historiography.

Geography and nature[link]

Hilly landscape near Steinigtwolmsdorf, Upper Lusatia

Geomorphological Upper Lusatia is shaped by the uniform Lusatian granite massif, only the north and northeast, the plain Oberlausitzer Heide- und Teichlandschaft (Upper Lusatian Heath and Lakelands^[2]) is Pleistocene formed. The UNESCO has declared this area a Biosphere Reserve in 1996, in particular for the protection of otters. The middle part is hilly, while the south of the is characterized by the Lusatian Mountains, the westernmost range of the Sudetes.

Historic map of Upper Lusatia

The highest elevations of the German part of Upper Lusatia are in the Zittau Mountains, part of the Lusatian Mountains, which, however, are mostly in the neighbouring Bohemian region of the Czech Republic. The most important mountains of Upper Lusatia are: Lausche (793 m) Hochwald (749 m), Landeskrone (420 m), Löbauer Berg (448 m), Kottmar (583 m), Czorneboh (561 m), Bieleboh (499 m) and Valtenberg (587 m). The highest point of historic Upper Lusatia, 1123m, is about 500 meters to the east of the summit on the slopes of Smrk (German: Tafelfichte), the border triangle of Upper Lusatia, Silesia and Bohemia.

All major rivers in the Upper Lusatia flow from south to north. In the west, the Pulsnitz river at Königsbrück formerly formed the border with Saxony. The Spree river takes its source in the far south of the country and flows through Bautzen. The Lusatian Neisse (Polish: Nysa Luzycka) today forms the German-Polish border. The river arises from the Czech Jizera Mountains, enters Upper Lusatia near Zittau, flows through Görlitz/Zgorzelec and leaves the country in Bad Muskau to Lower Lusatia. Most of the smaller rivers are called Wasser (water), often in combination with a flown through village.

The eastern border of historical Upper Lusatia was marked by the Kwisa river, who flows past Lubań and continues north towards Silesia into the Bobr river. Especially the middle hills between Kamenz and Löbau, were well suited for agriculture and are still very profitable. Since 1945, the Polish part of Upper Lusatia between the rivers Kwisa in the east and Lusatian Neisse in the west is part of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. A small part around Łęknica, together with the Polish part of Lower Lusatia, is in Lubusz Voivodeship.

In the 19th century in the northern part of Upper Lusatia, in the east on both sides of the Neisse river and around Hoyerswerda large quantities of brown coal were found. Especially the digging in open pits has destroyed large parts of the old cultural landscape. Currently the Nochten pit south of Weißwasser (Běła Woda) and Turów^{[disambiguation needed ]} in the Polish part are still active. Many of the old coal mines have been restored since the 1970s, especially after 1990, when particular attention was paid to revitalize the landscape. The newly formed lakes are already named and advertised as the "Lusatian Lakeland".

Natural regions[link]

Today, Upper Lusatia is grouped into eight natural regions or landscapes:

• The Zittau Mountains (southeastern tip of Upper Lusatia)
• The East Lusatian Hill Country and River Neisse region (on the Neisse from Görlitz to Zittau, north of the Zittau Mountains)
• The Lusatian Highlands (southern Upper Lusatia to Czechia)
• The Northwest Lusatian Highlands (northwest from Bischofswerda to Kamenz)
• The Lausitzer Gefilde region (around Bautzen and Löbau north of the Highlands)
• The Upper Lusatian Heath and Lakelands (east of Kamenz to Niesky)
• The Ruhland-Königsbrück Heath in the northwest (northwest of Kamenz, west of Hoyerswerda)
• The Muskau Heath in the northeast (around Bad Muskau and Weisswasser, Poland, in the east)

^[2]

Inhabitants[link]

Bilingual sign in Bautzen

Today approximately 780,000 people live in Upper Lusatia, nearly 157,000 of them in the Polish part to the east of the Neisse river. A part of the country belongs to the settlement area of the Sorbs. Between Kamenz, Bautzen and Hoyerswerda, about 20,000 people speak Sorbian. But also the German population is not culturally homogeneous, the cultural borders can be quite well identified by the different dialect groups. While in the region around Bautzen a pretty good High German is spoken, in the south the Upper Lusatian dialect (Oberlausitzisch), an old Franconian dialect, is common. In the east Silesian is still partially spoken. The greatest density of population can be found in the German-Polish twin city of Görlitz-Zgorzelec. Currently 91,000 inhabitants, 33,000 in the Polish part, live here.

In the German part of Upper Lusatia, the population declines since almost 20 years. Young people leave the region because the unemployment in Eastern Saxony is particularly high. This and the low birth rate lead to severe aging of the population. In the absence of available jobs only little influx of foreigners is noticeable. The Polish part of Upper lusatia is, apart from Zgorzelec, Lubań and Bogatynia, only sparsely populated. The area belongs to the structurally weak regions of Poland. Only the coal-fired power plant Turów offers a larger scale of industrial jobs.

History[link]

The hunters of the Middle Stone Age (until about 8000 BC) only crossed through the area. Even the oldest agricultural cultures (4500 BC to 3300 BC) left behind only little evidence of settlement. In the early Bronze Age (11th century BC to 9th century BC) people of the Lusatian culture entered the previously uninhabited region from Bohemia and the Neisse (Łužiska Nysa). Archeological evidence documents a path between the settlement areas around Bautzen (Budyšin) and Zittau (Žitawa). A fortified hill from the 10th century BC, the Schafsberg near Löbau (Lubij), played a special role. Another significant settlement was on the cliff above the Spree river, where in the course of history Bautzens Ortenburg was built, dominant and administrative center of what would become Upper Lusatia.

Slavs settled in the region since 7th century. In the area between today's cities of Kamenz (Kamjenc) and Löbau the tribe of the Milceni was located. Their center was a fortified town at the site of today's Ortenburg in Bautzen. Another early Slavic settlement was situated in the valley of the Neisse river. The rural Sorbian population erected numerous hill forts, which were tribal centers as well as the residences of Slavic nobility.

Middle ages[link]

coat of arms of Upper Lusatia and Bautzen

The independent development of the Slavic tribes was interrupted in the 10th century by the expansion of the German state. With the raids of 921/922 and 928/929 Henry I initiated a period of military subjugation of the Sorbs. In 932 the Milceni were forced to pay tribute. After Henry's death in 936 the Milceni became independent, but were subdued again in 939 by king Otto I. As a result, the area of the Milceni, despite persistent militant struggles, became part of the Ostmark under Margrave Gero and after 965 of the Margraviate of Meissen. All the major wall ring castles in the border areas were strengthened and prepared as starting points for further conquests. In place of the Milceni castles German Burgwards appeared (first mentioned 1006), such as the Ortenburg in Bautzen, or the castles in Göda and Doberschau. In the year 1002 the city of Bautzen was first mentioned by Thietmar of Merseburg. Until the second half of the 10th century the fights continued, and in 990 the Milceni were finally subdued by Margrave Ekkehard I of Meissen (Mišno). The church of Upper Lusatia was assigned to the diocese of Meissen in 968. In 1007, the diocese received the first donation in Milceni land, the castles Ostrusna (probably Ostritz) and Godobi (Göda). In 1091, a further donation to the church was made. Emperor Henry IV transferred to the church five other villages in the Milsca area (Milzenerland), four of them south of Göda.

Soon the German feudal rule was threatened by the ascending Polish kingdom and its western expansion. In 1002 Bolesław I Chrobry conquered both Upper and Lower Lusatia and forced German king Henry II to enfeoff him with the Gau Milsca. After several volatile and bitter feuds both parties signed the peace of Bautzen on 30 January 1018, which assigned Milsca land (Upper Lusatia) and Lusatia land (Mark Lausitz, today Lower Lusatia) to Poland. After Konrad II's victory over Polish King Mieszko II in 1031 Upper Lusatia again came under the rule of the Meissen Margraves.

In 1076 Henry IV gave Budissin land to duke Vratislav II of Bohemia as a imperial fief. The son-in-law of Vratislav, count Wiprecht I of Groitzsch, ruled it independently from 1084 to 1108 from the Ortenburg. For 1144 it is documented that the province Zagost, the area southeast of Görlitz around Seidenberg, was a part of Budissin land. Also in this region diocese of Meissen was equipped with possession. Upper Lusatia reached the Queis, the border to Silesia, and its largest expansion to the east already in the 12th Century.

In 1156 German emperor Frederick I Barbarossa signed an alliance with Bohemian duke Vladislav II. He not only promised him the royal crown bur also the investiture with castle and country Budissin, which both became reality two years later. Therewith the first Bohemian period in the history of Upper Lusatia, with far-reaching consequences for the development of the country, began.

In the first century of Bohemian rule all major towns of Upper Lusatia, and all major religious institutions of the country - apart from the older Bautzen - were established. Bishop Bruno II from 1213 to 1218 established the monastery St. Petri in Bautzen, which was richly endowed by king Přemysl Otakar I and his successors; Queen Kunigunda in 1234 donated the Cistercian monastery of St. Marienthal, which was subjected to the diocese of Prague in 1244, and Bernhard Kamenz in 1248 founded the second Cistercian monastery of St. Marienstern in Kamenz.

The forest clearance since about 1100, mainly by Sorbian peasants, expanded the cultivated land. New places in the area around Hoyerswerda arose. The country's expansion intensified in the middle of the 12th century under the Czech kings, which was almost carried out as a competition with the bishops of Meißen. German farmers, who cleared the large forest areas and created many new villages, were brought into the country. Often Sorbian hamlets where also extended by German settlers. The new German farmers were legally better off than the old-established population. The majority of the Sorbians peasants were serfs and had to perform drudgery. The new (mostly German) villages could manage their affairs also relatively autonomous. When Sorbian peasants were involved in the Landesausbau (development of the country), they enjoyed the same rights as the German colonists.

Due to immigration from the west of the Elbe river over time a separate Upper Lusatian nobility emerged. This nobility controlled the land on behalf of the king or the markgraves and in return received the country as a fief. The country itself belonged to the King.

In 1241 the boundary between the possessions of the bishopric of Meissen and the possessions of the crown of Bohemia in Upper Lusatia were agreed by contract.

Between 1253 (death of king Wenceslas I.) and 1262 the Ascaniar possessed the country of Budissin. Neither the exact date of the acquisition nor the legal form of ownership - feud, marriage or pledge rule - can be established with certainty. With the establishment of land vogts as deputy of the ruler the Ascanias created the most important office in Upper Lusatia. In principle, the powers of the burggraves and judges from Bohemians time were united in one hand and even expanded. The land vogt was the deputy of the ruler and the country's highest official, he decided in feudal matters, stood before the Supreme Court and was military commander in chief. The land vogts remained in power until after the Thirty Years' War, although the administrative practice changed frequently.

During the reign of the house of Ascania the division of Upper Lusatia into the countries of Bautzen (Budissin) and Görlitz by margrave Otto IV of Brandenburg in 1268 was the most important event. Although the autonomy of the duchy of Görlitz ended in 1329, (later shortly revived between 1377 to 1396), it permanently divided the noble country and the municipal administration. The land of Görlitz henceforth own meetings nobility took place, which also remained the case after the reunification of the two countries. Goerlitz the center of the eastern part of the country rapidly gained importance and became economically the strongest city of Upper Lusatia.

After the extinction of the Askanias of Brandenburg in 1319 the princes of the neighboring territories, including the Bohemian King John from the house of Luxembourg, claimed Upper Lusatia for themselves. The king of Bohemia received the land of Bautzen in 1319 from German emperor Louis IV, the country's eastern, the country of Görlitz, as a dowry fell to Silesian duke Henry I of Jauer (with the exception of the area around Lauban). In 1329 he ceded it to the Bohemian king. In the same year Johann incorporated "terra et civitas goerlic" in the Bohemian crown, which tied Upper Lusatia closely and permanently with the Kingdom of Bohemia, without affecting Upper Lusatias internal order.

Lusatian League[link]

a typical Upper Lusatian house in the region

In 1346 the five royal cities of Upper Lusatia (Bautzen, Görlitz, Löbau, Kamenz and Lauban) and the still Bohemian town of Zittau founded the Lusatian League (Sechstädtebund). The united forces of the cities should secure the public peace and override the noble robber barons. This was also in the sense of the sovereign, why emperor Charles IV supported the cities with numerous privileges. The six municipalities in the subsequent period were able to prevail successfully against the nobility. With their increased economic prosperity they gained political influence. They were able to purchase numerous villages in the following 200 years and a significant proportion of the country fell under the direct rule of the city councils. In addition, within the framework of the so-called Weichbild they enforced their jurisdiction over large parts of chivalry and their possessions.

As the Hussite revolution erupted in the beginning of the 15th century in Bohemia, Upper Lusatia took up an adverse stance over the Czech Reformation. In alliance with emperor Sigismund and Lower Lusatia the Lusatian League waged war against the armies of the Hussites. Kamenz, Reichenbach, Löbau, Zittau and Lauban were conquered by the Hussites and devastated. Only the two largest cities, Bautzen and Görlitz, could stand up to the sieges. The war eased the links of Upper Lusatia to the Bohemian crown, and because of the weakness of the kingdom the internal affairs of the margraviate were regulated largely without royal interference. During this time the Upper Lusatian Landtag (diet) developed into the main instrument of the estates freedom.

In 1469 the Upper Lusatian estates seceded from Bohemian King George of Poděbrady because of his utraquist confession, which the pope condemned as heretical. Upper Lusatia rendered homage to his antiking, Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, who ruled over Moravia, Silesia and both Lusatias, but could never conquer Bohemia itself. Until the Peace of Olmütz (1479) the Lusatian league took part in the war for the Bohemian crown. Matthias tried to manage his country more efficient. In Silesia, he therefore installed an Oberlandeshauptmann (Upper Governor), to whom both Lusatias were subjected. This was considered a threat to the autonomy of Upper Lusatia.

With the death of Matthias Corvinus Upper Lusatia in 1490 became again part of the Bohemian kingdom. The hated land vogt Georg von Stein was immediately expelled from Bautzens Ortenburg after the death of his lord.

At the of the 15th century the political system of the margraviate was largely stabilized. Deputy of the absent sovereign was the land vogt, who traditionally descended from the nobility of Bohemia. Before 1620, only one Upper Lusatian noble was land vogt. In Bautzen and Görlitz moreover two Amtshauptmänner existed. These three officers, with several secretaries, formed the entire royal administration.

Center of the country was the Landtag. Ever since the 15th century prelates, nobles and cities could, without the consent of the king's, assembe and take decisions. Thus, the Landtag was, next to the king, the legislative body of Upper Lusatia. The power of the cities had the effect that there were only two voting estates:

1. the estates of the country, consisting of the gents, the four monasteries of St. Marienstern, St. Marienthal, the Magdalene convent in Lauban, the cathedral foundation in Bautzen, and chivalry
2. the six cities of the Lusatian League

The cities had extensive judicial powers over the subjects of many knights and over the nobles themselves. The supreme court was the court of the land and the cities, which was formed together by both estates. A decision was final and couldn't be changed at the royal courts in Prague.

Protestant Reformation[link]

St. Petri church in Bautzen

Only a few years after Luther wrote the ninety-five theses his reformative ideas spread all over Upper Lusatia. In Görlitz, Bautzen and Zittau, the first Protestant sermons were preached in 1520 and 1521, although the nobility, the city counils and the king tried to prevent its spread. In Görlitz and Bautzen the municipal authorities however soon conceded the pressure of the population and officially adopted the Protestant reformation in 1523 and 1524, but only in small cautious steps. In particular, St. Petri in Bautzen resisted successfully and remained Catholic. Overall, it took decades until the Lutheran doctrine of was finally enforced in most parishes. This was because in Upper Lusatia not the sovereign introduced the Reformation but the councils of the cities and the noble lords.

Habsburg rule (1526–1635)[link]

When King Louis II of Bohemia was killed at the 1526 Battle of Mohács, his crown lands were inherited by his Habsburg brother-in-law Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria, husband of the late king's sister Anne of Bohemia and Hungary. He received the homage by the Upper Lusatian estates, but entrusted the rule to Bohemian Landvogt officials at Bautzen, who were not able to reach a settlement between the City League and the local nobility.

Ferdinand was dependent on support in the ongoing Ottoman camapigns into the Kingdom of Hungary and neither could afford to estrange the nobles nor to force back spreading Protestantism. In turn the estates, unlike the Bohemian utraquists, remained neutral in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546/47 and even arranged troops in support of Ferdinand's brother Emperor Charles V —against the fierce protest of reformer Johannes Bugenhagen. In contrast, the hesitant City League was not able to send forces to the decisive Battle of Mühlberg. Furious Ferdinand ordered their representatives to his court at Prague, where he revoked all the League's privileges, a measure that later could be rescinded in a long and arduous process of negotiations.

Ferdinand's successor Maximilian II officially implemented the Lutheran Confessio Augustana in 1564. Nevertheless the Upper Lusatian lands did not remain untouched by the rising conflicts in the course of the Counter-Reformation in the neighbouring lands of Bohemia and Moravia.

This section requires expansion.

1635–1815[link]

The Margraviate of Upper Lusatia was transferred by the Peace of Prague (1635) to the Electorate of Saxony until 1806, when the electorate was elevated to the Kingdom of Saxony.

Inner-Lusatian border at Königswartha

1815–1945[link]

This section requires expansion.

According to the Final Act of the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia passed from the Kingdom of Saxony to the Kingdom of Prussia. The new demarcation line ran from Ruhland in the northwest to the Bohemian border at Seidenberg (Zawidów) in the southeast. The Upper Lusatian territory north of it, i.e. the districts of Hoyerswerda, Rothenburg, Görlitz and Lauban (Lubań), was attached to the Prussian Silesia Province.

Though this area had never been affiliated with historic Silesia before, it is still referred to as "Silesian Upper Lusatia" (Schlesische Oberlausitz), e.g. by the local body of the Evangelical Church.

After World War II[link]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

References[link]

Literature[link]

• Kito Lorenc: "Die wendische Schiffahrt (The Wendish Voyage)", Domowina-Verlag 2004, ISBN 3-7420-1988-0

Sources[link]

• Joachim Bahlcke (ed.): Geschichte der Oberlausitz. Herrschaft, Gesellschaft und Kultur vom Mittelalter bis zum Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts. 2. durchgesehene Auflage, Leipziger Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 2004, ISBN 978-3-935693-46-2.
• Karlheinz Blaschke: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Oberlausitz. Oettel, Görlitz 2000, ISBN 3-932693-59-0.
• Frank Nürnberger (ed.): Oberlausitz. Schöne Heimat. Oberlausitzer Verlag, Spitzkunnersdorf 2004, ISBN 3-933827-42-6.
• Tino Fröde: Privilegien und Statuten der Oberlausitzer Sechsstädte – Ein Streifzug durch die Organisation des städtischen Lebens in Zittau, Bautzen, Görlitz, Löbau, Kamenz und Lauban in der frühen Neuzeit. Spitzkunnersdorf : Oberlausitzer Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-933827-88-3

Coordinates: 51°10′01″N 14°19′59″E / 51.167°N 14.333°E / 51.167; 14.333

Kim Jong-il 김정일
File:Portrait of Kim Jong Il released by state media.jpg
Official portrait
Supreme Leader of North Korea
In office 8 July 1994 – 17 December 2011[1]
Premier	Hong Song-nam Pak Pong-ju Kim Yong-il Choe Yong-rim
Preceded by	Kim Il-sung (as President)
Succeeded by	Kim Jong-un
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
In office 8 July 1994 – 17 December 2011 (Eternal General Secretary since 11 April 2012)
Deputy	Kim Yong-nam Choe Yong-rim Jo Myong-rok Ri Yong-ho
Preceded by	Kim Il-sung
Succeeded by	Kim Jong-un (as First Secretary) (Position abolished as Kim Jong-il was declared as the Eternal General Secretary on 11 April 2012.)
Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea
In office 9 April 1993 – 17 December 2011 (Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission since 13 April 2012)
Deputy	Jo Myong-rok
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Kim Jong-un (as First Chairman) (Position abolished as Kim Jong-il was declared as the Eternal Chairman on 13 April 2012)
Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army
In office 24 December 1991 – 17 December 2011
Preceded by	Kim Il-sung
Succeeded by	Kim Jong-un[2]
Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party
In office 8 October 1997 – 17 December 2011
Deputy	Kim Jong-un Ri Yong-ho
Preceded by	Kim Il-sung
Succeeded by	Kim Jong-un
Personal details
Born	Yuri Irsenovich Kim (1941-02-16)16 February 1941 Vyatskoye, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (Soviet records) (1942-02-16)16 February 1942 Baekdu Mountain, Japanese Korea (North Korean biography) Disputed, see section Birth.
Died	17 December 2011(2011-12-17) (aged 70) (suspected heart attack) Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Resting place	Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Political party	Workers' Party of Korea
Spouse(s)	Kim Young-sook (1974–2011)
Domestic partner	Song Hye-rim (1968–2002) Ko Young-hee (1977–2004) Kim Ok (2004–2011)
Children	Kim Sul-song Kim Jong-nam Kim Jong-chul Kim Jong-un
Alma mater	Kim Il-sung University
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	North Korea
Service/branch	Korean People's Army
Years of service	1991–2011
Rank	Wonsu (Marshal)
Commands	Supreme Commander

This article contains Korean text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hangul or Hanja.

Kim Jong-il (born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;^[3] 16 February 1941; official biography claims 1942^[4] – 17 December 2011^[5]) was the supreme leader of North Korea (DPRK) from 1994 to 2011. He succeeded his father and founder of the DPRK Kim Il-sung following the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim Jong-il was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, and the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world.

In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended to refer to him as the "supreme leader".^[6] He was also referred to as the "Dear Leader", "our Father", and "the General", among others.^[7] His son Kim Jong-un was promoted to a senior position in the ruling Workers' Party and is his successor.^[8] In 2010, he was ranked 31st in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People.^[9] The North Korean government announced his death on 19 December 2011.^[5]

Following his demise, he was succeeded by his third son Kim Jong-un. He was proclaimed the Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission in 2012. His birthday is a public holiday in the country.

Childhood[link]

Birth[link]

Soviet records show that Kim was born in the village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk, in 1941,^[10] where his father, Kim Il-sung, commanded the 1st Battalion of the Soviet 88th Brigade, made up of Chinese and Korean exiles. Kim Jong-il's mother, Kim Jong-suk, was Kim Il-sung's first wife.

However, Kim Jong-il's official biography^[11] states he was born in a secret military camp on Baekdu Mountain (Korean: 백두산밀영고향집) in Japanese-occupied Korea on 16 February 1942.^[12] Official biographers claim that his birth at Baekdu Mountain was foretold by a swallow, and heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow across the sky over the mountain and a new star in the heavens.^[13]

In 1945, Kim was four years old when World War II ended and Korea regained independence from Japan. His father returned to Pyongyang that September, and in late November Kim returned to Korea via a Soviet ship, landing at Sonbong (선봉군, also Unggi). The family moved into a former Japanese officer's mansion in Pyongyang, with a garden and pool. Kim Jong-il's brother, "Shura" Kim (the first Kim Pyong-il, but known by his Russian nickname), drowned there in 1948. Unconfirmed reports suggest that five-year-old Kim Jong-il might have caused the accident.^[14]

In 1949, his mother died in childbirth.^[15] Unconfirmed reports suggest that his mother might have been shot and left to bleed to death.^[14]

Education[link]

According to his official biography, Kim completed the course of general education between September 1950 and August 1960. He attended Primary School No. 4 and Middle School No. 1 (Namsan Higher Middle School) in Pyongyang.^{[citation needed]} This is contested by foreign academics, who believe he is more likely to have received his early education in the People's Republic of China as a precaution to ensure his safety during the Korean War.^[16]

Throughout his schooling, Kim was involved in politics. He was active in the Children's Union^[17] and the Democratic Youth League (DYL), taking part in study groups of Marxist political theory and other literature. In September 1957 he became vice-chairman of his middle school's DYL branch. He pursued a programme of anti-factionalism and attempted to encourage greater ideological education among his classmates.

Kim is also said to have received English language education at the University of Malta in the early 1970s,^[18] on his infrequent holidays in Malta as guest of Prime Minister Dom Mintoff.^[19]

The elder Kim had meanwhile remarried and had another son, Kim Pyong-il (named after Kim Jong-il's drowned brother). Since 1988, Kim Pyong-il has served in a series of North Korean embassies in Europe and is the North Korean ambassador to Poland. Foreign commentators suspect that Kim Pyong-il was sent to these distant posts by his father in order to avoid a power struggle between his two sons.^[20]

Presidium member and party secretary (1980–1994)[link]

By the time of the Sixth Party Congress in October 1980, Kim Jong-il's control of the Party operation was complete. He was given senior posts in the Politburo, the Military Commission and the party Secretariat. When he was made a member of the Seventh Supreme People's Assembly in February 1982, international observers deemed him the heir apparent of North Korea.

At this time Kim assumed the title "Dear Leader" (친애하는 지도자, ch'inaehanŭn jidoja)^[21] the government began building a personality cult around him patterned after that of his father, the "Great Leader". Kim Jong-il was regularly hailed by the media as the "fearless leader" and "the great successor to the revolutionary cause". He emerged as the most powerful figure behind his father in North Korea.

On 24 December 1991, Kim was also named supreme commander of the North Korean armed forces. Since the Army is the real foundation of power in North Korea, this was a vital step. Defence Minister Oh Jin-wu, one of Kim Il-sung's most loyal subordinates, engineered Kim Jong-il's acceptance by the Army as the next leader of North Korea, despite his lack of military service. The only other possible leadership candidate, Prime Minister Kim Il (no relation), was removed from his posts in 1976. In 1992, Kim Il-sung publicly stated that his son was in charge of all internal affairs in the Democratic People's Republic.

In 1992, radio broadcasts started referring to him as the "Dear Father", instead of the "Dear Leader", suggesting a promotion. His 50th birthday in February was the occasion for massive celebrations, exceeded only by those for the 80th birthday of Kim Il Sung himself on 15 April that same year.

According to defector Hwang Jang-yop, the North Korean government system became even more centralized and autocratic during the 1980s and 1990s under Kim Jong-il than it had been under his father. In one example explained by Hwang, although Kim Il-sung required his ministers to be loyal to him, he nonetheless and frequently sought their advice during decision-making. In contrast, Kim Jong-il demanded absolute obedience and agreement from his ministers and party officials with no advice or compromise, and he viewed any slight deviation from his thinking as a sign of disloyalty. According to Hwang, Kim Jong-il personally directed even minor details of state affairs, such as the size of houses for party secretaries and the delivery of gifts to his subordinates.^[22]

By the 1980s, North Korea began to experience severe economic stagnation. Kim Il-sung's policy of juche (self-reliance) cut the country off from almost all external trade, even with its traditional partners, the Soviet Union and China.

South Korea accused Kim of ordering the 1983 bombing in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), which killed 17 visiting South Korean officials, including four cabinet members, and another in 1987 which killed all 115 on board Korean Air Flight 858.^[23] A North Korean agent, Kim Hyon Hui, confessed to planting a bomb in the case of the second, saying the operation was ordered by Kim Jong-il personally.^[24]

In 1992, Kim Jong-il's voice was broadcast within North Korea for the first time during a military parade for the KPA's 60th year anniversary in Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square, in which Kim Il-sung attended with Kim Jong-il by his side. After Kim Il-sung's speech, and the parade inspection his son approached the microphone at the grandstand in response to the report of the parade inspector and simply said: "Glory to the heroic soldiers of the Korean People's Army!" Everyone in the audience applauded and the parade participants at the square grounds (which included veteran soldiers and officers of the KPA) shouted "ten thousand years" three times after that.

Ruler of North Korea[link]

Kim Jong-il on August 24, 2011

On 8 July 1994, Kim Jong-il's father, Kim Il-sung, died at the age of 82 from a heart attack. However, it took three years for Kim Jong-il to consolidate his power. On 1 January 1995, Kim Jong Il inspected a unit of the Korean People’s Army, which was his first official action as the supreme leader of the DPRK in the first year after the President died. It was also an official act done amid various conjectures on the future of the DPRK and his political direction.^[25] On 10 Oct Kim reviewed a massive military parade and a procession of 1 million people in Pyongyang, marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the country's ruling Workers' Party of Korea in what was his first major public appearance after his father's death.

He officially took the titles of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea on 8 October 1997 and Chairman of the National Defence Commission on 9 April 1993. In 1998, his Defence Commission chairmanship was declared to be "the highest post of the state", so Kim may be regarded as North Korea's head of state from that date. Also in 1998, the Supreme People's Assembly wrote the president's post out of the constitution in memory of Kim Il-Sung, who was designated the country's "Eternal President". It can be argued, though, that he became the country's leader when he became leader of the Workers' Party; in most Communist countries the party leader is the most powerful person in the country.

Officially, Kim was part of a triumvirate heading the executive branch of the North Korean government along with Premier Choe Yong-rim and parliament chairman Kim Yong-nam (no relations). Each nominally held powers equivalent to a third of a president's powers in most other presidential systems. Kim Jong-il was commander of the armed forces, Choe Yong-rim headed the government and Kim Yong-nam handled foreign relations. In practice, however, Kim Jong-il exercised absolute control over the government and the country. Although not required to stand for popular election to his key offices, he was unanimously elected to the Supreme People's Assembly every five years, representing a military constituency, due to his concurrent capacities as KPA Supreme Commander and Chairman of the DPRK NDC.^{[citation needed]}

Economic policies[link]

The state-controlled economy of North Korea struggled throughout the 1990s, primarily due to mismanagement. In addition, North Korea experienced severe floods in the mid-1990s, exacerbated by poor land management.^[26][27][28] This, compounded with only 18% arable land^[29] and an inability to import the goods necessary to sustain industry,^[30] led to an immense famine and left North Korea in economic shambles. Faced with a country in decay, Kim adopted a "Military-First" policy (선군정치, Sŏn'gun chŏngch'i) to strengthen the country and reinforce the regime.^[31] On the national scale, a North Korean spokesman has claimed that this has resulted in a positive growth rate for the country since 1996, with the implementation of "landmark socialist-type market economic practices" in 2002 keeping the North afloat despite a continued dependency on foreign aid for food.^[32]

In the wake of the devastation of the 1990s, the government began formally approving some activity of small-scale bartering and trade. As observed by Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at the Stanford University Asia-Pacific Research Center, this flirtation with capitalism was "fairly limited, but — especially compared to the past — there are now remarkable markets that create the semblance of a free market system."^[33]

In 2002, Kim Jong-il declared that "money should be capable of measuring the worth of all commodities."^[34] These gestures toward economic reform mirror similar actions taken by China's Deng Xiaoping in the late 1980s and early 90s. During a rare visit in 2006, Kim expressed admiration for China's rapid economic progress.^[35]

Foreign relations[link]

Kim Jong-il with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2001

In 1998, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung implemented the "Sunshine Policy" to improve North-South relations and to allow South Korean companies to start projects in the North. Kim Jong-il announced plans to import and develop new technologies to develop North Korea's fledgling software industry. As a result of the new policy, the Kaesong Industrial Park was constructed in 2003 just north of the de-militarized zone, with the planned participation of 250 South Korean companies, employing 100,000 North Koreans, by 2007.^[36] However, by March 2007, the Park contained only 21 companies — employing 12,000 North Korean workers.^[37] As of May 2010 the park employs over 40,000 North Korean workers.^[38]

In 1994, North Korea and the United States signed an Agreed Framework which was designed to freeze and eventually dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid in producing two power-generating nuclear reactors.^[39] In 2002, Kim Jong-il's government admitted to having produced nuclear weapons since the 1994 agreement. Kim's regime argued the secret production was necessary for security purposes — citing the presence of United States-owned nuclear weapons in South Korea and the new tensions with the United States under President George W. Bush.^[40] On 9 October 2006, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency announced that it had successfully conducted an underground nuclear test.

Cult of personality[link]

A North Korean voting booth containing portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il under the national flag. Below the portraits is the ballot box.

Kim Jong-il was the centre of an elaborate personality cult inherited from his father and founder of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung. Defectors have been quoted as saying that North Korean schools deify both father and son.^{[41][page needed]} He was often the centre of attention throughout ordinary life in the DPRK. On his 60th birthday (based on his official date of birth), mass celebrations occurred throughout the country on the occasion of his Hwangab.^[42] Many North Koreans believed that he had the "magical" ability to "control the weather" based on his mood.^[41] In 2010, the North Korean media reported that Kim's distinctive clothing had set worldwide fashion trends.^[43]

One point of view is that Kim Jong Il's cult of personality was solely out of respect for Kim Il-sung or out of fear of punishment for failure to pay homage.^[44] Media and government sources from outside of North Korea generally support this view,^{[45][46][47][48][49]} while North Korean government sources aver it was a genuine hero worship.^[50] The song "No Motherland Without You", sung by the KPA State Merited Choir, was created especially for Kim in 1992 and is frequently broadcast on the radio and from loudspeakers on the streets of Pyongyang.^[51]

Human rights record[link]

According to a 2004 Human Rights Watch report, the North Korean government under Kim was "among the world's most repressive governments", having up to 200,000 political prisoners according to U.S. and South Korean officials,^[52] and no freedom of the press or religion, political opposition or equal education:^[53] "Virtually every aspect of political, social, and economic life is controlled by the government."

2008 health and waning power rumors[link]

In an August 2008 issue of the Japanese newsweekly Shūkan Gendai, Waseda University professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, an authority on the Korean Peninsula,^[54] claimed that Kim Jong-il died of diabetes in late 2003 and had been replaced in public appearances by one or more stand-ins previously employed to protect him from assassination attempts.^[55] In a subsequent best-selling book, The True Character of Kim Jong-il, Shigemura cited apparently unnamed people close to Kim's family along with Japanese and South Korean intelligence sources, claiming they confirmed Kim's diabetes took a turn for the worse early in 2000 and from then until his supposed death three and a half years later he was using a wheelchair. Shigemura moreover claimed a voiceprint analysis of Kim speaking in 2004 did not match a known earlier recording. It was also noted that Kim Jong-il did not appear in public for the Olympic torch relay in Pyongyang on 28 April 2008. The question had reportedly "baffled foreign intelligence agencies for years."^[56]

On 9 September 2008, various sources reported that after he did not show up that day for a military parade celebrating North Korea's 60th anniversary, United States intelligence agencies believed Kim might be "gravely ill" after having suffered a stroke. He had last been seen in public a month earlier.^[57]

Kim Jong-il as of 2011

A former CIA official said earlier reports of a health crisis were likely accurate. North Korean media remained silent on the issue. An Associated Press report said analysts believed Kim had been supporting moderates in the foreign ministry, while North Korea's powerful military was against so-called "Six-Party" negotiations with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States aimed towards ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons. Some United States officials noted that soon after rumours about Kim's health were publicized a month before, North Korea had taken a "tougher line in nuclear negotiations." In late August North Korea's official news agency reported the government would "consider soon a step to restore the nuclear facilities in Nyongbyon to their original state as strongly requested by its relevant institutions." Analysts said this meant "the military may have taken the upper hand and that Kim might no longer be wielding absolute authority." By 10 September, there were conflicting reports. Unidentified South Korean government officials said Kim had undergone surgery after suffering a minor stroke and had apparently "intended to attend 9 September event in the afternoon but decided not to because of the aftermath of the surgery." High ranking North Korean official Kim Yong-nam said, "While we wanted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country with General Secretary Kim Jong-Il, we celebrated on our own." Song Il-Ho, North Korea's ambassador said, "We see such reports as not only worthless, but rather as a conspiracy plot." Seoul's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that "the South Korean embassy in Beijing had received an intelligence report that Kim collapsed on 22 August."^[58] The New York Times reported Kim was "very ill and most likely suffered a stroke a few weeks ago,^[when?] but United States intelligence authorities do not think his death is imminent."^[59] The BBC noted that the North Korean government denied these reports, stating that Kim's health problems were "not serious enough to threaten his life",^[60][61] although they did confirm that he had suffered a stroke on 15 August.^[62]

Japan's Kyodo News agency reported on 14 September, that "Kim collapsed on 14 August due to stroke or a cerebral hemorrhage, and that Beijing dispatched five military doctors at the request of Pyongyang. Kim will require a long period of rest and rehabilitation before he fully recovers and has complete command of his limbs again, as with typical stroke victims." Japan's Mainichi Shimbun claimed Kim had occasionally lost consciousness since April.^[63] Japan's Tokyo Shimbun on 15 September, added that Kim was staying at the Bongwha State Guest House. He was apparently conscious "but he needs some time to recuperate from the recent stroke, with some parts of his hands and feet paralyzed". It cited Chinese sources which claimed that one cause for the stroke could have been stress brought about by the United States delay to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.^[64]

On 19 October, North Korea reportedly ordered its diplomats to stay near their embassies to await "an important message", according to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun,^[65] setting off renewed speculation about the health of the ailing leader.

By 29 October 2008, reports stated Kim suffered a serious setback and had been taken back to hospital.^[66] The New York Times reported that Taro Aso, on 28 October 2008, stated in a parliamentary session that Kim had been hospitalized: "His condition is not so good. However, I don't think he is totally incapable of making decisions." Aso further said a French neurosurgeon was aboard a plane for Beijing, en route to North Korea. Further, Kim Sung-ho, director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a closed parliamentary session in Seoul that "Kim appeared to be recovering quickly enough to start performing his daily duties."^[67] The Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported "a serious problem" with Kim's health. Japan's Fuji Television network reported that Kim's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, traveled to Paris to hire a neurosurgeon for his father, and showed footage where the surgeon boarded flight CA121 bound for Pyongyang from Beijing on 24 October. The French weekly Le Point identified him as Francois-Xavier Roux, neurosurgery director of Paris' Sainte-Anne Hospital, but Roux himself stated he was in Beijing for several days and not North Korea.^[68] On 19 December 2011 Roux confirmed that Kim suffered a debilitating stroke in 2008 and was treated by himself and other French doctors at Pyongyang's Red Cross Hospital. Roux said Kim suffered few lasting effects.^[69]

On 5 November 2008, the North's Korean Central News Agency published 2 photos showing Kim posing with dozens of Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers on a visit to military Unit 2200 and sub-unit of Unit 534. Shown with his usual bouffant hairstyle, with his trademark sunglasses and a white winter parka, Kim stood in front of trees with autumn foliage and a red-and-white banner.^{[70][71][72][73][74]} The Times questioned the authenticity of at least one of these photos.^[75]

In November 2008, Japan's TBS TV network reported that Kim had suffered a second stroke in October, which "affected the movement of his left arm and leg and also his ability to speak."^[76][77] However, South Korea's intelligence agency rejected this report.^[77]

In response to the rumors regarding Kim's health and supposed loss of power, in April 2009, North Korea released a video showing Kim visiting factories and other places around the country between November and December 2008.^[78] In 2010, documents released by WikiLeaks purportedly attested that Kim suffered from epilepsy.^[79]

According to The Daily Telegraph, Kim was a chain-smoker.^[80]

Successor[link]

Kim's three sons and his brother-in-law, along with O Kuk-ryol, an army general, had been noted as possible successors, but the North Korean government had for a time been wholly silent on this matter.^[81]

Kim Yong Hyun, a political expert at the Institute for North Korean Studies at Seoul's Dongguk University, has said, "Even the North Korean establishment would not advocate a continuation of the family dynasty at this point."^[82] Kim's eldest son Kim Jong-nam was earlier believed to be the designated heir but he appears to have fallen out of favor after being arrested at Narita International Airport near Tokyo in 2001 while traveling on a forged passport.^[83]

On 2 June 2009, it was reported that Kim Jong-il's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was to be North Korea's next leader.^[84] Like his father and grandfather, he has also been given an official sobriquet, The Brilliant Comrade.^[85] Prior to his death, it had been reported that Kim Jong Il was expected to officially designate the son as his successor in 2012. However, there are reports that if leadership passes to one of the sons, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law, Jang Sung-taek, could attempt to seize power.^{[citation needed]}

Re-election as DPRK leader[link]

On 9 April 2009, Kim was re-elected as chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission,^[86] and made an appearance at the Supreme People's Assembly. This was the first time Kim was seen in public since August 2008. He was unanimously re-elected and given a standing ovation.^[87]

On 28 September 2010, Kim was re-elected as General secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

2010 and 2011 foreign visits[link]

Kim with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Sosnovy-Bor Military garrison, Zaigrayevsky District Buriatya on 24 August 2011.

Kim reportedly visited the People's Republic of China in May 2010. He entered the country via his personal train on 3 May, and stayed in a hotel in Dalian.^[88] In May 2010, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell told South Korean officials that Kim had only three years to live.^[89] Kim travelled to China again in August 2010, this time with his son, fueling speculation that he is ready to hand over power to his son, Kim Jong-un.^[90]

He returned to China again in May 2011, marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between China and the DPRK.^[91] In late August 2011, he traveled by train to the Russian Far East to meet with President Dmitry Medvedev for unspecified talks.^[92]

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

There is no official information available about Kim Jong-il's marital history, but he is believed to have been officially married once and to have had three mistresses.^[93] He has four known children:

• Kim Jong-nam (son)
• Kim Sul-song (daughter)
• Kim Jong-chul (son)
• Kim Jong-un (son)^[94]

Kim's first mistress, Song Hye-rim, was a star of North Korean films. She was already married to another man and with a child when they met;^[95] Kim is reported to have forced her husband to divorce her. This relationship, started in 1970, was not officially recognized. They had one son, Kim Jong-nam (born 1971) who is Kim Jong-il's eldest son. Kim kept both the relationship and the child a secret (even from his father Kim Il Sung) until Kim ascended to power in 1994.^[95][96] However, after years of estrangement, Song is believed to have died in Moscow in the Central Clinical Hospital in 2002.^[97]

Kim's official wife, Kim Young-sook, was the daughter of a high-ranking military official. His father Kim Il-Sung handpicked her to marry his son.^[93] The two have been estranged for some years. Kim has a daughter from this marriage, Kim Sul-song (born 1974).^[94]

His second mistress, Ko Young-hee, was a Japanese-born ethnic Korean and a dancer. She had taken over the role of First Lady until her death — reportedly of cancer — in 2004. They had two sons, Kim Jong-chul, in 1981, and Kim Jong-un (also "Jong Woon" or "Jong Woong"), in 1983.^[96][98]

After Ko's death, Kim lived with Kim Ok, his third mistress, who had served as his personal secretary since the 1980s. She "virtually acts as North Korea's first lady" and frequently accompanied Kim on his visits to military bases and in meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries. She traveled with Kim Jong Il on a secretive trip to China in January 2006, where she was received by Chinese officials as Kim's wife.^[99]

He reportedly had a younger sister, Kim Kyong-hui (김경희).^[100]

Personality[link]

Like his father, Kim had a pteromerhanophobia (fear of flying),^[101] and always traveled by private armored train for state visits to Russia and China. The BBC reported that Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian emissary who traveled with Kim across Russia by train, told reporters that Kim had live lobsters air-lifted to the train every day.^[102]

Kim Jong-Il in 2001

Kim was said to be a huge film fan, owning a collection of more than 20,000 video tapes and DVDs.^[103] His reported favorite movie franchises included Friday the 13th, Rambo, Godzilla, and Hong Kong action cinema,^[104] and any movie starring Elizabeth Taylor.^[105] He authored On the Art of the Cinema. In 1978, on Kim's orders, South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee were kidnapped in order to build a North Korean film industry.^[106] In 2006 he was involved in the production of the Juche-based movie, Diary of a Girl Student, which depicted the life of a young girl whose parents are scientists, with a KCNA news report stating that Kim "improved its script and guided its production".^[107]

In a 2011 news story, The Sun reported, "Kim Jong-il was obsessed with Elvis Presley. His mansion was crammed with his idol's records and his collection of 20,000 Hollywood movies included Presley's titles — along with Rambo and Godzilla. He even copied the King's Vegas-era look of giant shades, jumpsuits and bouffant hairstyle. It was reported in 2003 that Kim Jong-il had a huge porn film collection."^[108]

Although Kim enjoyed many foreign forms of entertainment, according to former bodyguard Lee Young Kuk, he refused to consume any food or drink not produced in North Korea, with the exception of wine from France.^[109] His former chef Kenji Fujimoto, however, has stated that Kim sometimes sent him around the world to purchase a variety of foreign delicacies.^[110]

Kim reportedly enjoyed basketball. Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended her summit with Kim by presenting him with a basketball signed by NBA legend Michael Jordan.^[111] Also an apparent golfer, North Korean state media reports that Kim routinely shot three or four holes-in-one per round.^[112] His official biography also claims that Kim composed six operas and enjoys staging elaborate musicals.^[113] Kim referred to himself as an Internet expert.^[114]

United States Special Envoy for the Korean Peace Talks, Charles Kartman, who was involved in the 2000 Madeleine Albright summit with Kim, characterised Kim as a reasonable man in negotiations, to the point, but with a sense of humor and personally attentive to the people he was hosting.^[115] However, psychological evaluations conclude that Kim Jong-il's antisocial features, such as his fearlessness in the face of sanctions and punishment, served to make negotiations extraordinarily difficult.^[116]

The field of psychology has long been fascinated with the personality assessment of dictators, a notion that resulted in an extensive personality evaluation of Kim Jong-il. The report, compiled by Frederick L. Coolidge and Daniel L. Segal (with the assistance of a South Korean psychiatrist considered an expert on Kim Jong-il's behavior), concluded that the "big six" group of personality disorders shared by dictators Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein (sadistic, paranoid, antisocial, narcissistic, schizoid and schizotypal) were also shared by Kim Jong-il — coinciding primarily with the profile of Saddam Hussein.^[116]

The evaluation found Kim Jong-il appeared to pride himself on North Korea's independence, despite the extreme hardships it appears to place on the North Korean people — an attribute appearing to emanate from his antisocial personality pattern.^[116] This notion also encourages other cognitive issues, such as self-deception, as subsidiary components to Kim Jong-il's personality.

Defectors claimed that Kim had 17 different palaces and residences all over North Korea, including a private resort near Baekdu Mountain, a seaside lodge in the city of Wonsan, and a palace complex northeast of Pyongyang surrounded with multiple fence lines, bunkers and anti-aircraft batteries.^[117]

Finances[link]

According to the Sunday Telegraph, Kim had US$4 billion on deposit in European banks in case he ever needed to flee North Korea. The Sunday Telegraph reported that most of the money was in banks in Luxembourg.^[118]

Death[link]

Kim Jong-il died of a suspected heart attack on 17 December 2011 at 08:30 while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang.^[5][119] He was succeeded by his youngest son Kim Jong-un, who was hailed by the Korean Central News Agency as the "Great Successor".^{[120][121][122][123]} The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report that during his death, a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky glowed red above the sacred Mount Paektu. The ice on a famous lake also cracked so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth.^[124]

Kim Jong-il's funeral took place on 28 December in Pyongyang, with a mourning period lasting until the following day. South Korea's military was immediately put on alert after the announcement and its National Security Council convened for an emergency meeting, out of concern that political jockeying in North Korea could destabilise the region. Asian stock markets fell soon after the announcement, due to similar concerns.^[5]

On 12 January 2012 North Korea called Kim Jong-il the "eternal leader" and announced that his body will be preserved and displayed at Pyongyang's Kumsusan Memorial Palace. Officials will also install statues, portraits, and "towers to his immortality" across the country.^[125][126] His birthday of 16 February has been declared "the greatest auspicious holiday of the nation", and has been named the Day of the Shining Star.^[127]

Official titles[link]

• Party Center of the WPK and Member, Central Committee of the WPK (1970s)
• Dear Leader (Chinaehaneun Jidoja) (late 1970s–1994)
• Member, Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK
• Secretary, Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (1974–1997)
• Presidium Member of the Politburo, WPK Central Committee (1980–2011)
• Supreme Commander, Korean People's Army (25 December 1991 – 17 December 2011)
• Marshal of the DPRK (1993–2011)
• Chairman, National Defence Commission of North Korea (1993–2011)
• Great Leader (Widehan Ryongdoja) (July 1994 – December 2011)
• General Secretary, Workers' Party of Korea (October 1997 – December 2011)
• Chairman, Central Military Commission (DPRK) (October 1997 – December 2011)
• Eternal Leader (posthumous) (January 2012  – present)
• Grand Marshal of the DPRK (posthumous) (January 2012  – present)
• Eternal General Secretary, Worker's Party of Korea (posthumous) (11 April 2012  – present)
• Eternal Chairman of the National Defence of Commission (posthumous) (13 April 2012  - present)

See also[link]

	Korea portal
	Politics portal

• Index of Korea-related articles
• Sinuiju North Korean Leader's Residence

Notes and references[link]