Death of Kim Il Sung and the Kim Jong Il Era

Kim Il Sung died during the first North Korean nuclear crisis, and Kim Jong Il took over, ruling first in his father’s name and then as chairman of the National Defence Commission.

Kim Jong Il was designated successor in the 1970s and confirmed at the 1980 Party Congress. In 1993 North Korea announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, starting the first nuclear crisis. An inter-Korean summit was agreed in 1994 but never took place, as Kim Il Sung died on 8 July. In October North Korea and the US signed the Geneva Agreed Framework, freezing the nuclear programme in exchange for light-water reactors.

Kim Jong Il ruled in the name of his father’s instructions, became general secretary of the Party in 1997, and in 1998 revised the constitution to centre the state on the National Defence Commission, which he chaired. He proclaimed "military-first" politics.