Kang Pan Sok

Biography

She came from the village of Chilgol and raised Kim on a small farm in Mangyongdae, both near Pyongyang. She accepted, but rarely participated in her husband's pro-independence activism. After the family fled to Manchuria to avoid arrest, she did not return to Korea. 21 April is a day of memorial for her in North Korea, when a wreath-laying ceremony is held at Chilgol Revolutionary Site.

Legacy

In North Korea, Kang Pan Suk is referred to as the "Mother of Korea" or "Great Mother of Korea". Both titles are shared with Kim Jong Il's mother and Kim Jong Un's grandmother Kim Jong Suk. However, it was Kang Pan Suk who was the first family member of Kim Il Sung to have a cult of personality of her own to supplement that of her son, from the late 1960s onwards. In 1967, Rodong Sinmun praised her as the "mother of all". The same year, the Democratic Women's League initiated a campaign called "Learning from Madame Kang Pan Suk". There is a song by the name of "Mother of Korea" in her honor, as well as a hagiographic biography, also called The Mother of Korea (1968).

The Protestant Chilgol Church in Pyongyang is dedicated to the memory of Kang Pan Sok, who was a Presbyterian. Her name meant "rock", having been named for Saint Peter.

References

References

1. (4 October 2007). "NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 468". [[Yonhap News Agency]].
2. Armstrong, Charles K.. (December 2005). "Familism, Socialism and Political Religion in North Korea". Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions.
3. David-West, Alzo. (2011). "Archetypal Themes in North Korean Literature". Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche.
4. Ken E. Gause. (31 August 2011). "North Korea Under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change". ABC-CLIO.
5. Jae-Cheon Lim. (24 March 2015). "Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North Korea: The Leader State". Routledge.
6. Kim, Suk-Yong. (2011). "Dressed to Kill: Women's Fashion and Body Politics in North Korean Visual Media (1960s – 1970s)". Positions.
7. Evans, Stephen. (3 August 2015). "North Korea and Christianity - uneasy bedfellows". [[BBC]].