Synopsis: "Kingdom of the Kims"<br />Set against decades of Japanese imperial rule, in 1912 a boy is born near Pyongyang—Kim Il Sung—whose arrival is seen as an ominous portent signaling the end of colonialism. Through a powerful blend of firsthand testimony and archival footage, the episode chronicles how this once-obscure guerrilla fighter seized power, consolidating absolute control over North Korea and cultivating a god-like cult of personality. Viewers witness his instigation of the Korean War, the creation of gulag-style camps for political dissenters, an assassination attempt on the South Korean president, the provocative seizure of the USS Pueblo and imprisonment of American sailors, and the chilling “axe murders” in the DMZ.
