Anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter on Mt. Paektu, posthumously revered as one of the 'Three Generals'
One day while the unit marched, five or six enemies rose from the reeds and aimed at the General. Comrade Kim Jong-suk shielded him with her own body and shot down an enemy with her revolver.
Kim Jong-suk was an anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter who served as a women's unit commander under Kim Il Sung in the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, fighting in the Battle of Pochonbo and other engagements. She married Kim Il Sung in 1940 and gave birth to Kim Jong Il in the Soviet Far East; after liberation she helped found the Korean Democratic Women's Union, and after her death in childbirth in 1949 she was posthumously revered as the 'Woman General of Mt. Paektu,' becoming a central figure in the 'Three Generals' political mythology of the Paektu bloodline.
Career Timeline
- 1935Joined the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army
- 1936Personal guard to Kim Il Sung; women's unit commander, Singalpa unit
- 1937Fought in the Battle of Pochonbo; joined the Chinese Communist Party
- 1937–1938Expanded revolutionary organizations in Sinpa, Pungsan, and Tanchon areas
- 1940Married Kim Il Sung; relocated to the Soviet Union
- 1945Returned to Pyongyang after liberation
- 1946–1949Co-founded the Korean Democratic Women's Union; women's movement work