Kim Jong Il (16 February 1941 â 17 December 2011) was the Supreme Leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He was proclaimed with posthumous title as the "Eternal Leader of the Party and the Revolution" on 12 January 2012. Following his death in December 2011, the holiday was formally renamed the Day of the Shining Star which begins on 16 February and lasts for two days every year, where celebrations are observed throughout the country. Pyongyang has observances such as mass gymnastics, music performances, fireworks displays, military demonstrations and mass dancing parties. Boulevards are lined up with flags and banners. Millions of people visit the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun where both leaders lay in state, and is considered one of the most important national public holidays in North Korea, often viewed as second only to the "Day of the Sun" (Kim Il Sung's birthday) on 15 April. The name "Shining Star" refers to state propaganda claims that a bright star appeared over Mount Paektu near the Chinese border at the time of his birth.
According to North Korean sources, Kim Jong Il published some 890 works during a period of his career from June 1964 to June 1994. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the number of works from 1964 to 2001 was 550. In 2000, it was reported that the Workers' Party of Korea Publishing House has published at least 120 works by Kim. In 2009, KCNA put the numbers as follows:
Two collections exist, the Selected Works of Kim Jong Il () and the Complete Collection of Kim Jong Il's Works (). Both contain forged works that Kim never wrote, included to give readers the impression that he was working with ideologically formulating the Juche idea in his youth. In reality, Kim only sporadically talked about the topic. When he did, mentions were typically backdated. For instance, a speech published in 1984 called On Some Questions in Understanding the Juche Philosophy () is dated February 1974 and contains a plea that "it would be advisable not to publish my talk for the present" in an effort to explain why it had not been published immediately.
The Selected Works of Kim Jong Il (Enlarged Edition), whose publishing has continued posthumously, runs into volume 24 in Korean, and to volume 15 in English. Volumes three to eight were never published in English. The fact that new volumes are being added in such a peculiar order could also be an indication that the project is not a priority for the North Korean regime.
The Complete Collection of Kim Jong Il's Works is currently in volume 63. The earliest work in this collection is from July 1952, when Kim would have been only 11 years old.
Kim Jong Il did not enjoy speaking in public. That is why he chose to break with the tradition of New Year addresses delivered to live audiences that his father had. During Kim Jong Il's rule, New Year addresses were always published jointly in three newspapers â Rodong Sinmun, Joson Inmingun, and Chongnyon Jonwi â instead.
There is a "Kim Jong Il's Works Exhibition House" () dedicated to his works in North Korea, holding 1,100 of his works and manuscripts.
In his teens and university years, Kim Jong Il wrote poems â notably "O Korea, I will Add Glory to Thee" (). Kim Jong Il also wrote song lyrics.
Kim wrote particularly much on the arts. For instance 22 out of 46 works in volume one of his Selected Works (1964âÂÂ1969) are on the topic. His first truly major literary work was also on the theme, On the Art of the Cinema (1973).