Editing Kim Jong-il (section)

===Childhood===
Soviet records show that Jong-il was born in the village of Vyatskoye, near Khabarovsk, in February 16, 1941, where his father [[Kim Il-sung]] commanded the 1st Battalion of the Soviet 88th Brigade, made up of Chinese and Korean exiles. Jong-il's mother Kim Jong-suk was Il-sung's first wife.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1671983 A Visit to Kim Jong Il's Russian Birthplace], ''NPR Morning Edition''</ref>

However, Jong-il's official biography states he was born in a secret military camp on Baekdu Mountain (Korean: 백두산밀영고향집) in Japanese-occupied Korea on February 16, 1942. Official biographers claim that his birth at Baekdu Mountain was foretold by a swallow, and heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow across the sky over the mountain and a new star in the heavens.<ref name = Paektu></ref><ref name = facts>[https://www.cbsnews.com/media/kim-jong-il-10-weird-facts-propaganda/ Kim Jong Il: 10 weird facts, propaganda], ''CBS News''</ref>

In 1945, Jong-il was 4 years old when [[World War II]] ended and Korea regained independence from Japan. His father returned to Pyongyang that September, and in late November, he returned to Korea through a Soviet ship, landing at Sonbong (선봉군, also Unggi). The family moved into a former Japanese officer's mansion in Pyongyang, with a garden and pool. Jong-il's brother "Shura" Kim (the first Kim Pyong-il, but known by his Russian nickname) drowned there in 1948. Unconfirmed reports suggest that 5-year-old Jong-il might have caused the accident.

In 1949, his mother died in childbirth. Unconfirmed reports suggest that his mother might have been shot and left to bleed to death.