The flower, named Kimjongilia, came into being as the flower of the sun on the occasion of the February holiday of Juche 77 (1988) by a prominent Japanese botanist who was fascinated by the personality of leader Kim Jong Il as a peerlessly great man.

The Korean army and people have devoted their wisdom and energies to the cultivation and dissemination of the immortal flower with loyalty to Kim Jong Il.

April 1988 witnessed a change in the study, cultivation and dissemination of the flower of the sun with the emergence of a modern Kimjongilia greenhouse at the Central Botanical Garden of the DPRK.

The Korea Kimilsungia-Kimjongilia Committee was inaugurated in June 1995 and similar committees were formed in all provinces, which gave further momentum to cultivating and disseminating the flower throughout the country.

The Kimilsungia-Kimjongilia Exhibition was built on the bank of Taedong River of Pyongyang in April 2002 and Kimilsungia-Kimjongilia greenhouses appeared across the country.

The flower in praise of the great man was also cultivated abroad.

After the formation of the Nordic Kimjongilia Association in Sweden in 1995, many organizations for disseminating and supporting the flower have been inaugurated one after another in countries and regions such as the Japanese Association of Kimjongilia Lovers and the Guinean Kimilsungia-Kimjongilia Association.

Kimjongilia was officially registered as new species of begonia by the International Society for Horticultural Science in August 2004.

There took place 31 immortal flower festivals and exhibitions on the occasion of the Day of the Shining Star and other national holidays in the DPRK after Kimjongilia exhibition was held to mark the 55th birthday of Kim Jong Il.

The flower has come into fuller bloom even after his demise.

Over 173 500 potted Kimjongilias have been displayed at the six Kimjongilia festivals since the year 2012 and their visitors numbered more than 2 266 500.

In 2013 alone, 26 Kimjongilia shows were held in Mongolia and Russia.

In 2014 over 15 000 potted Kimjongilias were on show at the exhibitions held in different countries to mark the 50th anniversary of the start of Kim Jong Il's work at the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

The flower was awarded the best display prizes, special prizes, gold prizes and other top prizes at 16 world horticultural expositions and shows such as 2006 World Floricultural Show in Shenyang of China and 2011 International Horticultural Exposition in Xi'an of China.