Kim Il Sung, nicknamed the 'eternal president', is an enigmatic and extremely controversial figure and the grandfather of the current president of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. Born in 1912, he spent his childhood during the Japanese occupation of Korea, a period marked by violence and brutality. His family took refuge in Manchuria, where in the 1930s the young Kim first joined the anti-Japanese communist resistance movements, supported by the Soviet Union. He soon distinguished himself and became a prominent anti-Japanese guerrilla leader.

After the defeat of Japan and the end of World War II, Stalin chose him to become the new leader of the new Korean communist state, North Korea. In 1948, the Korean People's Republic was born and Kim became its new president. Two years later, his unbridled ambition led him to declare war on South Korea, which in the meantime had received American support. The Korean War (1950-1953) devastated the peninsula and ended with an armistice that divided the two states along the 38th parallel, still today the most militarised border in the world.

In the aftermath of the war, North Korean propagandists began to build the myth of Kim Il Sung, attributing to him an almost divine image. Almost mythological tales began to circulate of him single-handedly defeating entire Japanese armies or performing superhuman acts. One of the most unusual myths is that Kim was born on a sacred mountain under a double rainbow and a bright star.

His image began to become ubiquitous and can still be found in squares, schools, private homes and offices. Everywhere, the face of the supreme leader continues to observe North Korean citizens. Behind the popular myths and legends lies a tyrant and a regime characterised by violence, brutality and oppression. His political opponents or rivals, even within the communist movement itself, were progressively murdered or interned in prison camps. A legacy of delirious violence that has not stopped to this day.