History Today: When Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, founded North Korea

North Korea was established by Kim Il-sung as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on September 9, 1948. The united Korea, which was under Japanese occupation since 1910, was divided after World War II between Syngman Rhee’s Republic of Korea in the South and Kim Il-sung’s DPRK in the North. On this day in 1976, Mao Zedong, who is considered to be the founding father of modern-day China, passed away in Beijing

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