South Hamgyong Province (Hamkyeongnamto) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Hamgyŏng Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea. Its capital is Hamhung.

The province is bordered by Ryanggang to the north, North Hamgyong to the northeast, Kangwon to the south, and South Pyongan to the west. On the east of the province is the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). South Hamgyong is also home to Yodok prison camp.

South Hamgyong is divided into 3 cities ("si"), 2 districts (1 "gu" and 1 "chigu"), and 15 counties ("gun"). These are further divided into villages (ri and dong, with dong also denoting neighborhoods in cities), with each county additionally having one town (up) which acts as its administrative center. These are detailed on each county’s individual page. Some cities are also divided into wards known as "guyok", which are administered just below the city level and also listed on the individual page.

Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as "North Korea", from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death. He was also the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea from 1949 to 1994 (titled as chairman from 1949 to 1966 and as general secretary after 1966).

His tenure as leader of North Korea has often been described as autocratic, and he established an all-pervasive cult of personality. From the mid-1960s, he promoted his self-developed Juche variant of communist national organization, which later replaced Marxism-Leninism as the ideology of the state in 1972. In the Library of Congress Country Study on North Korea in 2009, he was described as "one of the most intriguing figures of the twentieth century". He outlived Joseph Stalin by four decades, Mao Zedong by two, and remained in power during the terms of office of six South Korean presidents, 7 Soviet leaders, ten U.S. presidents, and twenty-one Japanese prime ministers.

Kim Jong-il (born Yuri Irsenovich Kim; 16 February 1941; official biography claims 1942 – 17 December 2011) 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". He was also referred to as the "Dear Leader", "our Father", and "the General", among others. His son Kim Jong-un was promoted to a senior position in the ruling Workers' Party and is his successor. In 2010, he was ranked 31st in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People. The North Korean government announced his death on 19 December 2011.

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.