Kim Hyong-jik

Kim Hyong-jik was born on 10 July 1894 and became an independence activist during the Japanese occupation of Korea. He died on 5 June 1926, more than two decades before his son Kim Il Sung would found North Korea. His legacy passed through three generations: Kim Il Sung became the country's first leader, his grandson Kim Jong Il succeeded him, and his great-grandson Kim Jong Un rules today. The activist's life ended in colonial Korea, but his bloodline became the basis of the world's only communist hereditary state.