Kim Il-Sung (Through the Eyes of the 80s)

Kim Il-sung (15th April 1912 - 2nd December 1990) was

Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) from 1948 until his death in 1990. Under his leadership, North Korea was established as a communist state with a publically owned and planned economy. It had close political and economic relations with the Soviet Union. By the late 1950s and during the 1960s and 1970s, North Korea enjoyed a higher standard of living than the South, which was suffering from multiple political crisis. The situation was reversed in the 1980s, as a newly stable South Korea became an economic powerhouse which was fueled by Japanese and American investment, military aid and internal economic development, while North Korea stagnated and then declined during the same period. Differences emerged between North Korea and the Soviet Union, chief among them was Kim Il-sung's philosophy of Juche, which focused on Korean Nationalism, Autarky and Communism.

Death
Kim Il-Sung had been ill for months with his Comitee scrambling for a successor. With tensions high in the DMZ the United States and South Korean Armed Forces on the edge of there seats for news. In a false alarm on November 27th 1990 a battalion of South Korean moved towards the DMZ in a offensive menouver, the DMZ North Korean forces responed with fireing rounds into there direction, with the South Korean battalion being ordered to withdraw. By November 30th 1990 Kim Il-Sung had gone into a secret location and on December 2nd 1990 apprently gave the order to invade South Korea, although this is debated due to the announcer being Ri Kun-mo, the Premier of North Korea. Soon Kim Il-Sung fell into a spasm and died soon after, the order reached the front line 23:00 that night.