In this debut episode of Divine Mortals, we travel behind the iron curtain of North Korea to explore the life and rise of Kim Il Sung—not through the lens of his propaganda machine, but through the people closest to him.

From guerrilla warfare in the snowy hills of Manchuria to the marble corridors of Pyongyang’s palaces, we follow his evolution from rebel commander to “Eternal President.” But while the world remembers the myth, this episode asks: what did it cost to love him? What was it like to live with him, serve him… and survive him?

You’ll hear the tragic arc of Kim Song-ae, his second wife—devoted, silenced, erased—and the ghost of Kim Jong-suk, the first wife immortalized in state doctrine.

🔍 This episode covers:

• The trauma of Kim Il Sung’s childhood under Japanese occupation
• His brush with death during the purges in exile
• The psychological roots of his authoritarian rule
• The emotional fallout for the women in his inner circle
• How myth and memory were weaponized to shape a divine narrative

This is not just the story of a dictator. It’s the story of a man who became more than mortal—and the people who paid the price for it.