President Kim Il Sung (1912-1994), the founder of socialist Korea, was probably awarded the largest number of honours in the world. He received over 370 orders, medals and honorary titles from governments, political parties, organizations, institutions and businesses of scores of countries, as well as regional and international organizations.
Among them are the Order of Red Flag and the Order of Gold Star awarded in recognition of the distinguished feats he performed by defeating the US and Japanese imperialists in his generation, and the Order of Karl Marx, the Order of Lenin and the Order of Victory of Socialism that honour his undying exploits for the cause of global socialism and the cause of independence against imperialism. There are also the National Grand Cross Order, the Grand Cross Order of Independence and the National Grand Cross Order of Merit, bestowed out of boundless reverence for and trust in the President who set a world example in building a socialist state and rendered material and moral support to the peoples of different countries in their struggle for building a new society. And medals, diplomas of honour, and the titles of honorary leader, honorary citizen, honorary professor and honorary doctorate were conferred on him in praise of the exploits he performed for global peace, friendship and solidarity, and the progress and prosperity of mankind.
Great King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, when he visited the DPRK for the first time in October 1965, said at the ceremony of conferring the Grand Order of Independence and the Order of the Royal Court on President Kim Il Sung that he deemed it the greatest honour to confer the highest orders of his country on the President, and that he was sorry that his country had no higher orders.
After the demise of Kim Il Sung in 1994, the Socialist Progressive Party of Lebanon, noting that the demise of the President was a great loss to the progress of mankind and its cause of independence, conferred the Supreme Order of the Socialist Progressive Party, dedicated to the fighters who made extraordinary contributions to the struggle for social progress of mankind, on him before anyone else.