Jong Chun-sil (a.k.a. Chong Chun-sil; 29 December 1941 – July 2015) was a North Korean politician, who was elected to 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 ...

from 1977 until her death in 2015. In the 1960s, she managed a number of retail stores in Jonchon County, and was made famous for having a movement created in her name.

Life

Jong Chun-sil was born in Samrak-ri,

Wiwon County Wiwŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, in northern Chagang province, North Korea. It stands across the Yalu River from the People's Republic of China. It was originally part of North P'yŏngan province, but was annexed to Chagang in 1954. It b ...

in 1941 as the daughter of a forestry worker. She attended a People's School and a middle school before 1949, and then attended the Jangang Province Commercial Worker Training Centre between 1949 and 1957. Afterwards, she then began working as a saleswomen and eventually a manager at the Jonchon Industrial Produce Store, then becoming a general manager at the general goods store in Jonchon-up, the main town in the county. She joined the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

in April 1961, after participating in a national commercial worker convention, where she received congratulation from Kim Il Sung. Since 1969, she was the director of the Jonchon County Industrial Management Office. She wrote a book called "Our household notebook", which records the details of families who visit the store, such that better service could be provided to them. This was praised by

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 ...

when he visited Jonchon County, and similar notebooks were distributed to other stores. Kim Il Sung noted that this was an effective method to organise delivery of goods to families. Later on, she decided to also produce food, rather than just selling it. This was achieved by raising animals, which her and the shop workers participated in. In the 1990s, as the supply of goods became increasingly tense, a new movement was created in her name, the Jong Chun-sil Movement to encourage people in the commercial sector to be more productive. She was praised in various news media, such as

Rodong Sinmun ''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean official newspaper of record of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on 1 November 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel for the North ...

as displaying exemplary working posture, and was how 'a revolutionary warrior should live and fight'. However, according to defectors, the movement lost meaning, as they allege that she was involved in corruption. The

JoongAng Ilbo ''The JoongAng'', formerly known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'' (), is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also pu ...

, a South Korean newspaper, criticised this movement for filling a mismatch between supply and demand by relying on the sincerity of workers to fulfil their quote, that problems with lack of goods could only be solved by relying on the 'hidden hero', who produces more than others. Two films about her were made in 1991 and 2008, respectively. She made a speech in occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK. Jong Chun-sil died in July 2015. Her death was marked by

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

, who sent a wreath to express his condolences.

Parliamentary career

She was first elected to the

in 1977, to its 6th convocation. She was then subsequently elected to the

7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...

, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and

12th Supreme People's Assembly Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 8 March 2009 to elect the members of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly. They were originally scheduled to be held in August 2008 but were postponed for unknown reasons. Observers of North Kore ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Chun-sil 1941 births 2015 deaths North Korean politicians People from Chagang Province