Kim Il Sung

American

[kim il soong, suhng] / ˈkɪm ˈɪl ˈsʊŋ, ˈsʌŋ /

noun

1912–94, North Korean political leader: premier 1948–72; president 1972–94.

Kim Il-sung British

/ kim iːlsʌŋ /

noun

1912–94, North Korean statesman and marshal; prime minister (1948–72) and president (1972–94) of North Korea

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Instead, Kim Il Sung supplemented and eventually replaced Marxism-Leninism with the Chuch’e Ideology, a philosophy that the Great Leader, as Kim Il Sung was known, is said to have begun developing as a 14-year-old revolutionary.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Belarusian state media showed Kim and Lukashenko hugging at a lavish welcome programme on Wednesday involving an artillery salute and goose-stepping soldiers before a large flag-waving crowd at Kim Il Sung Square.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

The annual event was established in 1981 to celebrate the birth of North Korea's founding leader Kim Il Sung.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

Just as Kim Jong Un has dressed to echo his predecessors, the sartorial symmetry underscores his daughter’s connection to the “Mount Paektu bloodline”—those with a direct lineage to North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 28, 2026

Current leader Kim Jong Un is the third in line to rule in the world's only communist monarchy, following father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung.

From Barron's • Jan. 2, 2026

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023