Kim Il Sung, the first and "eternal" president of North Korea, took power in 1948 with the support of the Soviet Union. The official calendar in North Korea begins with his birth year, 1912, designating it "Juche 1" after the state's Juche ideology. He was 41 when, as shown here, he signed the 1953 armistice that effectively ended the Korean War.

In the years and decades after the war, Pyongyang's propaganda machine worked hard to weave a mythical narrative around Kim Il Sung. His childhood and the time he spent fighting Japanese troops in the 1930s were embellished to portray him as an unrivaled military and political genius. At the 1980 party congress, Kim announced he would be succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Il.

In 1992, Kim Il Sung started writing and publishing his memoirs, entitled "Reminiscences: With the Century." Describing his childhood, the North Korean leader claims that he first joined an anti-Japanese rally at 6 years old and became involved with the independence struggle at 8. The memoirs remained unfinished at Kim Il Sung's death in 1994.

After spending years in the top tiers of the regime, Kim Jong Il took power after his father's death. Kim Jong Il's 16-year rule was marked by famine and economic crisis in an already impoverished country. However, the cult of personality surrounding him and his father, Kim Il Sung, grew even stronger.

Historians outside North Korea believe Kim Jong Il was born in a military camp in eastern Russia, most likely in 1941. However, the leader's official biography claims it happened on the sacred Korean mountain Paektu, exactly 30 years after his father, on April 15, 1942. A North Korean legend says the birth was blessed by a new star and a double rainbow.

Kim Jong Il had three sons and two daughters with three different women. This 1981 photo shows Kim Jong Il sitting besides his son Kim Jong Nam, with his sister-in-law and her two children in the background. Kim Jong Nam was eventually assassinated in 2017.

In 2009, Western media reported that Kim Jong Il had picked his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, to take over as the head of the regime. The two appeared together at a military parade on 2010, a year before Kim Jong Il passed away.

According to Pyongyang, the death of Kim Jong Il in 2011 was marked by a series of mysterious events. State media reported that ice snapped loudly at a lake on the Paektu mountain during a sudden snowstorm, with a glowing message appearing on the rocks. After Kim Jong Il's death, a 22-meter (72-foot) statue of him was erected next to the one of his father (l.) in Pyongyang.

Kim Jong Un mostly stayed out of the spotlight before his ascent to power. His exact age is disputed, but he is believed to have been born between 1982 and 1984. He was reportedly educated in Switzerland. In 2013, he surprised the world by meeting with former NBA star Dennis Rodman in Pyongyang.

Like the leaders before him, Kim Jong Un is hallowed by the state's totalitarian regime. In 2015, South Korean media reported about a new teacher's manual in the North that claimed Kim Jong Un could drive at the age of 3. In 2017, state media said that a monument to the young leader would be build on Mount Paektu.

Altough Kim took power at a younger age and with less of a public profile than his father and grandfather, he has managed to maintain his grip on power. The assassination of his half-brother Kim Jong Nam in 2017 served to cement his reputation abroad as a merciless dictator. The North Korean leader has also vastly expanded the country's nuclear arsenal.

The Games in South Korea will require less travel than at Sochi four years ago. Any competitions on skis, plus the bob and luge, will take place in the Pyeongchang Mountain Cluster. The disciplines on ice be staged around 35 kilometers to the east in Gangneung Coastal Cluster. Pyeongchang is a small city of around 10,000, roughly 180 kilometers east of the capital Seoul.

Alepnsia is a winter sports resort built especially for the Gangwon province's 2010 bid for the Winter Olympics. It cost in the region of €1 billion ($1.25 billion). Alpensia is host to the sliding events (bobsled, luge and skeleton), biathlon, cross-country skiing and sk jumping centers. The resort was built on what used to arable land, primarily potato fields.

Might top German ski-jumper Richard Freitag leap to a medal off these ramps? If the spectator stands look a familiar shape to you, there's a reason for the that. The landing zone stands are more typically used for football games involving Gangwon FC. It's one of the signs that the organizers have spared a thought for the sustainability and future of the venues.

The courses for cross-country skiers, winter biathletes and Nodic combined competitors snake around the 7,500-seater ski jumping stadium, thorough the forested hills. Although the peaks and troughs are not that steep, the wind could prove a real issue for the athletes, especially when shooting. Close to the coast and 700 meters above sea level, heavy winds often blow in from the Sea of Japan.

The ice track for the bob and skeleton riders can accommodate 7,000 spectators. German luge coach Norbert Loch estimates that peak speeds of around 130 km/h (81 mph) will be possible. Three-time Olympic luge winner Felix Loch describes the course as follows: "An interesting track, which will definitely be good fun. The phase around turns 8 and 9 will be decisive."

The Olympic Stadium is also located in the Alpensia resort. It's a temporary stadium designed for the opening and closing ceremonies. It can accommodate 35,000. At a cost of over €100 million, it's a costly temporary fixture. It's slated for deconstruction after the Games, as no subsequent use for it could be found.

Alpine skiing events will take place at two venues: speed events (downhill and Super-G) at the Jeongseon Alpine Center and technical disciplines (slalom, grand slalom and team events) at the Yongpyong Alpine Center, roughly half an hour's drive away. Snowboarders and freestyle skiers will compete at the Phoenix Snow Park in Yongpyong.

For the host nation, it's the ice events more than the skiing that offer real medal hopes. South Korea is especially favored to fare well in the figure skating and short track speed skating. Both those events will take place in the all-new Gangneung Ice Arena. It offers space for 12,000 spectators and, according to the organizer, boasts an environmentally-friendly cooling system.

Expect a strong contingent of fans from the Netherlands, speed skating's dominant power, in the Gangneung Oval seats. The arena has a 400-meter track and space for 8,000 people. It was opened in February 2017 for the World Single Distance Championships. Dutch skaters won all five of the men's titles in that event, and one of the five for women.

This is the principle of the two ice hockey venues for the 2018 Games. All the men's games and all the medal games will be played here. The women will play their earlier matches at the Kwandong Hockey Center. This four-floor stadium is estimated to have cost around €100 million. Whether it will remain in use afterwards is not clear. While South Koreans do play ice hockey, it's a big house to fill.

The logo, like the name, gives the game away. This is where the curling stones will glide and the brushes will furiously sweep a path for them. But you won't see German athletes in here, unless they've come as spectators. For the first time since its Olympic adoption in 1998, no German curling team has qualified for the Games.

A few more high-rises than you'd see in the average village. As with many previous Games, accommodation for the athletes was built from scratch. There's one Olympic Village in Pyeongchang (pictured here) and another in Gangneung. As well as the bedrooms, the athletes and coaches have shared kitchens, canteens, living rooms and conference rooms and more besides.

The bedrooms have a bit of a youth hostel feel to them. They're sparsely furnished and at such a size, getting the right roommate (with the right amount of equipment and luggage) could be crucial. Nevertheless, the bedding is obviously supposed to remind the athletes why they've come.