Hong Il-chon (; born 1942) was the first wife of

Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...

. She was the daughter of a soldier who died during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. In the early 1960s,

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

, father of Kim Jong Il, introduced her to his son and handpicked her to marry him in 1966. Her only child, daughter Kim Hye-kyung, was born in 1968, and is the first child of Kim Jong Il. They divorced in 1969. Hong Il-chon held a degree in Russian Literature from

Kim Il Sung University Kim Il Sung University () is a public university in Taesong, Pyongyang, North Korea. It was founded on 1 October 1946 and was the first tertiary education institution established in post-war North Korea. The 15-hectare campus, along with the m ...

. After her divorce from

, she was still active in politics and educational affairs. She became one of the members of the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified ...

during the period between 1977 and 1991. After she withdrew from the Assembly, she was appointed as principal of Kim Hyong Jik University of Education in September 1991. She retired from that post in July 2012 at the age of 70.

References

Living people People from Pyongyang 1942 births Kim family (North Korea) {{NorthKorea-bio-stub