Kim Jong-il

About Kim Jong-il

Kim Jong-il was the second supreme leader of North Korea, serving from 1994 until his death in 2011. As the head of a tightly controlled, officially Juche-ideology-driven state, his impact was profound, shaping the political, military, and economic trajectory of the Korean Peninsula for nearly two decades. This significant, albeit controversial, political career is why MIT's Pantheon project ranks him at #221 in global historical importance.

Despite this high historical ranking, Kim Jong-il's digital footprint in 2025 is relatively small, garnering only 59K annualized Wikipedia pageviews. This places him in a clear position of underattention, with an Attention Gap score of -8x when compared to his historical significance. For contrast, the far less historically important Louis XV of France (#258 HPI) receives double the online traffic at 100K views, illustrating a substantial modern disconnect from this key 20th-century political figure.

Furthermore, the data suggests this relative lack of digital interest is not recent; his pageviews show a year-over-year decline of -13.0% and a negative momentum of -9% when comparing Q1 to Q3, indicating a steady drift away from recent digital engagement.