Kim Il-Sung is known as the founder and first president of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea. Kim was born to a small peasant family but they were soon forced to flee following the Japanese occupation of his homeland. After moving to China, Kim soon became radicalised and joined forces that were committed to defying the occupiers. Even as an early teen, he was involved with armed resistance activity and as a young man he was promoted to a leadership role. Driven by his anti-Japanese sentiments, he sided with the Soviet Union in the World War, where he trained and fought along with the Soviet soldiers against the Japanese. He eventually rose to the ranks of a leader in the Soviet military. At the end of the war, he was in a prime position to take over the mantle of leadership of his newly-liberated country. Seizing the opportunity, Kim and his forces soon overruled the entire peninsula but faced stiff resistance from foreign countries. After a bitter and devastating war, the peninsula was split in half and he became the undisputed leader of the northern half. Combining Communist and Marxist ideology with his own brand of Korean self-reliance, he soon forged himself as the shining leader of a new country. After ruling his country with an iron grip for half a century, the supreme leader passed away, leaving his country in the hands of a virtual monarchy.