Did you know that when Kim Il
Sung was born in a poor hut high up in the mountains hundreds of thousands of
Swallows flew above the sky, and his Grandfather proclaimed that this baby was set
for greatness. Actually his Father was a
Presbyterian Minister, and Kim Il Sung sang in the choir. His family were
actually Middle Class, in equivalent terms they were like a family living in
Rathgar, not humongously wealthy by any stretch, but they led a more than comfortable
lifestyle. He also went to School and
achieved good grades. Only about 10% of Koreans attended school at this time.
Did you know that the year Kim
Jong Il was born, it was the harshest winter in Korea for over 100 years. The
snow covered some houses. However, when whilst in the middle of a battle with the
murderous Japanese Imperialist dogs, his Mother gave birth on the foot of Mount
Peaktu, the sun appeared, melting the snow away in mid winter, the birds flew
about, animals came out of hibernation and grazed on the grasses and a triple
rainbow appeared.
In truth Kim Jong Il was actually
born in a Soviet Army camp near Khaborovsk, which bordered China, and was a
fair distance from North Korea. In 1920, the young Kim Il sung and family fled
to Manchuria, and then in 1940 he and wife joined a band of other Korean Exiles
and fled to the Soviet Union after Manchuria was overridden and essentially
occupied by the Japanese. When the Soviets liberated the Northern Half of
Korea, and the tanks drove through Pyongyang, Kim was still in Russia. The Soviet commanders initially had problems
communicating and fraternalising with the locals. The Russians of Korean
Descent they had brought with them were deeply mistrusted by the locals,
especially as these Korean Russians had little understanding of the traditions
and nuances of the people they now mingled with, and tried to help their Soviet
Generals gain control over.
The first de facto leader of what
became North Korea, was the famous Linguist, University professor, and
politician Kim Tu Bong. He was a very
popular figure, but had little gra for the Stalinists and their modus
operandi. He very quickly snipped the
strings on his arms, and began to make speeches and behave in a way that oft
made the Soviets aghast. In a desperate
attempt to put some order on proceedings, they framed Kim Tu Bong on flimsy
charges and arrested him. But this left
a desperate need to find someone to replace him as the de facto head of the
Korean Peoples Assembly, and in a way that
really was sort of like an
eenie-meeny-miney-mo process, Kim Il Sung was picked. But the Soviets
did not realise just how cunning and deceptive a man they had picked. They
quickly had to rewrite history to make him seem a lot more heroic than he was.
“So in truth he and others killed 6 Japanese soldiers, and nicked about 20
rifles from an observation post? Lets scribble that out, and say it was 100
soldiers, and a whole array of munitions that they grabbed, with Kim il sung
killing the bulk of them.”
There were essentially 4 main
factions in North Korea at the time – 1, The Soviet Koreans, Soviet Citizens of
Korean extraction. 2. The Ya’nans,
Chinese of Korean origin, whose parents or Grandparents were born in Korea, but
who had moved or fled to China, 3. The
Domestics. Those members of the
Communist Party of Korea who operated as an underground resistance force under
Japanese occupation. The leaders of this
grouping were mostly based in Seoul. When the Soviets liberated the Northern
Half of Korea, many fled North. Others who had stuck around in the Southern
part were executed by the Blood thirsty Synghman Rhee dictatorship, that
executed many people to ensure a strong grip on power. 4. The last group were
the Nationalists of whom Kim Tu Bing was seen as their leading light. There
were generally right wing persons whose families were quite wealthy, and held
various positions of wealth and power before and in some cases during the Japanese
occupation from 1911 til the Soviets and US forces pushed them out.
Syngman Rhee was the first ruler of what became South Korea. He was a US puppet. It is worth noting that South Declared itself
a separate state before the North did. At this point Kim Il Sung harboured
genuine ambitions that Korea would soon be reunited once again, albeit under
his rule. Many who had been in authoritive
positions and collaborated with the Japanese occupiers, were kept in their
posts by Rhee’s South Korean administration.
This caused immense anger in Southern Korea at the time. Rhee was a US born He was born in Korea but
moved to the US and was educated there, and attended various Universities and
gained a number of degrees and doctorates. Whilst there his accent apparently
morphed into a US accent. Thus when he
came back and spoke at rallies etc, some people found it hard to understand
what he was saying, and were also wary of him due to his accent.
NB. Korea was a country with a
rich and varied past. It was said, in the 1700;s and before, if a foreigner was
unlucky to stray into Korea, he would be killed almost on the spot, with many
cannibalised. The Koreans were a very
inward looking population who had a massive distrust of foreigners.
So Kim slowly and cunningly
played a slow game of political dominoes.
He firstly placed some of the lead persons of the Yan’an and Domestics
groups into his inner circle, and used them to direct their peoples into
helping to purge the Nationalist group from any positions of influence and
power they may have had. Once they were
out of the picture, he then rounded on the Yanan’s, andt then the
Domestics. He elft the Soviet Koreans
well alone (Well until the mid 70’s anyways) as he knew not to overplay his
hand visa vis the Soviets,
On June 25th 1950, the
Two Korea’s went to war. Kim Il Sung was
itching to do battle for sometime, but only moved after receiving assurances of
a military nature from Stalin. EG The
Soviet Airforce would be used to help the North Koreans overcome the South. This never happened. Whilst the US and British forces forced the
North Koreans back as far as the banks of the mighty Yalu River (And for a time
the North Korean leadership fled to Manchuria, the Soviets stood still. It took a massive intervention by Chinese
troops to force back the US and British commandeered South Korean Troops, and a
stalemate ensued on the 37th Parallel. After truce talks, China,
USSR, USA, and North Korea signed a peace treaty, but the South Refused to be a
signatory. Hence the two states are
still technically at war.
Til the day he
died Kim Il Sung remained very bitter by what he saw as his ‘betrayal’ by
Stalin. But he badly needed the economic
support of his neighbour, so fiercely bit his lip and danced to the tune of
whomever was offering the most gifts at that time, be it China or USSR. Up until 1972, officially, the Capital of
North Korea was Seoul! But Pyongyang was then designated the Capital officially
in that year.
One of the first major programs
Kim il Sung sought to initiate was the mass collectivisation of farming. The North Korean army and implementation
officials from the various departments of the state met very hostile responses
almost everywhere they went. There were many examples of Soldiers and officials
being ran out of villages, whereupon they would have to return a few days later
with a much bigger force to violently quell any dissent. Many farmers preferred to burn crops and
slaughter animals rather than hand them over to the state. Initially the state tried to effectively implement
a produce tax, ie the farmer would have to hand 60-70% of his crops/animals to
the state, and was allowed to sell the remaining 30-40% at local state
sanctioned markets, were prices were fixed. But by the Mid 60’s the regime
implemented the collectivised farming model in full. Many huge industrial
factories were also built in North Korea.
In fact, up until the mid to late
60’s the GDP per Capita Ratio in North Korea far surpassed that of the
South. By 1970, the South had caught up
with the North, and signs were it would surpass it. In desperation North Korea
sought huge loans from Western banks to further develop it’s economy. But it spent a fortune buying in industrial
machinery, for example, that it’s workers hadn’t an iota as to how to work them,
or even had huge machines delivered that were too big and powerful to be fitted
and operated inside any North Korean factories.
Thus scores of very expensive machinery and the like lay in storage
gathering rust. Also due to very bad planning money was wasted on badly
constructed infrastructure projects.
Many apartment complexes were built, but toilets would not flush due to
badly designed piping/sewerage systems, Electricity supply was not enough to
meet the full needs of the cities, and domestic supply was oft cut off for a
time in order to ensure the factories and hospitals had an unfettered
supply. Pyongyang became the first
Stalinist state to officially enter into a default. The North Korean economy went into a
tailspin, and it was blacklisted by the Western Financial conglomerates, and
the value of it’s exports plummeted almost overnight too.
Yes there was Central planning in North
Korea, but just like the Soviet states you could in no way characterise it was
being democratic. If an order came from
above, you got on and did it, regardless of whether you KNEW it to be correct
or not. There are numerous examples of people being arrested and sent away for
merely pointing out to his Factory head etc, that a there was serious flaws in
a design his boss and drawn up, with the employee explaining a better solution
to the design and so forth. People were
oft put into position of influence in factories simply due to their loyalty to
the regime, in a lot of cases with no proper know how as to what the factory
manufactured. This was also quite
evident in planning too, when officials with no knowledge of the subject
matter, would often make disastrous decisions, that simply could not, and were
not questioned/ countermandered. Thus
you had yields for crops that were far lower than the Western average, goods
manufactured in factories that were of a very poor quality and the like.
In the USSR we had at first
Leninism, then Stalinism. In China we had Moaism, in Yugoslavia what was known
as Titoism, and in North Korea they developed their own ideology based around
the cult of the leader, Jucheism. The first known reference to Juche as a
domestic, North Korean ideology was an anti-Soviet speech given by Kim Il-sung
on December 28, 1955. Titled "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and
Establishing Juche in Ideological Work".
Kim realised that whilst both China and the USSR got pissed off with him
from time to time, neither wanted to fall out with him and see him side firmly
with the other (Or more importantly for South Korean Capitalism to gain a foothold
in the state), so both continued to indulge him. The official North Korean Calender was
switched to the Juchean Calender, where day 1 was Kim il Sung’s Birth
date. As well as being an attempt at
further tightening his grasp on power, it was also a way of the regime trying
to proclaim (or pretend) that it was powerful too, and that it also had an
ideological ferment that should be feted and praised around the world, like
many groups did of Stalinism or Maoism. Large
sums of money were spent setting up Juche learning centres, in other Third
world countries, especially in Africa.
But in reality many of these persons in Africa who claimed to be
adherents of Jucheism and were given money to supposedly spread it’s influence
across Africa, were little more than charlatans, who spent most of the money
either on themselves, or furthering the reach of their own organisation, who’s
actual ideals and policies were in truth anything but like those espoused by
Pyongyang.
Even to this day each village,
and area in the cities have their own Minomin.
These persons are supposed to conduct an audit of their area every
night. Are the Family next door in? If not, where are those not present? Oh
look, they have a visitor from elsewhere. Have they got their identity papers
with them, and their authorisation letter allowing them to be here? Also have the family been reading the Juche
texts as required, and are the portraits of the Two Kim’s properly positioned
and polished? Right that’s my check list
filled in, and additional information added in were necessary. I’m off to the police station to hand in my
report as required.
There are also many detention
camps in North Korea, were many people have been worked to their deaths, if not
tortured to death before then. These
make many goods for sale in China, and some also make very fine suits for sale
in Japan. For example, a Japansese trader could buy suits from these camps, and
easily sell them at 20 times that amount in a store in Tokyo. Many Chinese businessmen are nw dealing with
the North Koreans too, as they can get goods produced there at far lower prices
than it would be to have them made in a Chinese factory. It is getting to the sickening stage now,
were people are being sent to these camps on ever flimsier charges as they
simply need more “workers” to keep up with the illegal supply and demand. Obviously those places are kept far from the
tourists eye when they visit North Korea on an organised trip.
Kim il Sung passed away in 1994,
amid scenes of crazy mournful adoration across all of North Korea. Many people genuinely believed he was a demi
god who would rule forever and so forth.
His son then took over the reigns.
He was a recluse who was rarely seen in public, loved to drink good
Cognac, and the company of pretty women.
In fact in each of the handful of mansions across North Korea that the
leader resided in had a harem of young pretty women in them. If of an evening
he got bored, he would ring for one or more of the girls to be sent to his
chambers. In fact there were “scouts” who used to travel around the country
visiting various secondary schools to source these women for the leaders
pleasure. Once one was identified, she
would be soon whisked away to be trained in etiquette and manners etc, before
being placed in one of the mansions.
Once she reached her early 30’s she would then be released from duties,
and placed in a nice apartment in Pyongyang, with a huge monthly payment by
North Korean terms, on the agreement that she would never seek to contact her
family again, or tell anyone of her recent “duties”. In Korean society, especially North Korean
society, it is a cherished norm of parents that their son or daughter would
still be a virgin at marriage. So if word of Kim’s trysts became public
knowledge, it would likely cause outrage.
Kim Jong Il passed away on the 17th
December 2011, and was succeeded in power by his third song Kim Jong Un. One of Kim’s other 3 sons now lives in Macau,
loves gambling, and has at times spoken out publicly against the regime, which
angered his father enormously. Then the other of the 3 was arrested in Japan
after travelling there on a false passport.
It was said he had planned to visit Disneyland in Tokyo, and was found
with quite a bit of money on his person
This also annoyed his father somewhat.
The elite in Pyongyang live in a sealed off gates part in a fine houses,
with shops that sell imported goods smuggled into the country from Japan and
elsewhere. Many are truly oblivious to
the suffering that people all over North Korea, outside Pyongyang are
suffering.
Make no doubt about it Kim Yong
Nam is a stooge. His Auntie, Kim il Sung’s daughter, and the military top brass
call the shots. In a nod and a wink way, they’ve told him – “Leave the
politicking to us, and we’ll leave you and your fancy wife alone to live your
life of luxury”. So as peoples living
standards continue to plummet, many especially older persons begin to (secretly
in their own minds) question the way country is being run. They genuinely
thought Kim il Sung was the real deal, but are not sure about his successors. How
do you maintain a grip on your people?
Why ratchet up the fear doctrine, claim that barbarous forces are intent
on invading and killing one and all. They
also keep pushing mountains of propaganda painting South Korea and the United
States as in a far worse predicament that they are in – As bad as things are
now, you wouldn’t like to be in the position they’re in, trust me! Did you hear that the US population are so
poor, that millions are forced to live on the streets and eat snow, and drink
cups of hot snow (Snow mixed with boiling water) as food supplies are reserved
only for the rich elite in the US? No,
no! That video clip of people queuing at a van really IS people queuing for a
cup of hot snow, (as the North Korean voiceover person claims) NOT coffee...
North Korea has long harboured
ambitions to be a nuclear power, as Kim il Sung saw this as a guaranteed way of
ensuring South Korea or Japan would never think of invading etc, once they knew
the North could use nuclear weapons in response. Thus the North Koreans asked the USSR, and
then Russia, what the going rate was to receive Nuclear materials, and have
their own personnel trained in the area of Nuclear science, and then handed
over the cheque. It is estimates that
about 4 years ago, The main Nuclear reactor in North Korea, Yongbong, was
repaired and retrofitted by Russian contractors for a considerable sum, while
many died due to an unprecedented famine.
On 9th October 2006 North
Korea detonated what is now known, was a very small nuclear device. This was merely seen as a tool of
brinkmanship, trying to send a signal to the outside world that they were not
bluffing, when they claimed to have nuclear capabilities. On
July 4th 2009, US Independence Day, North Korea fired of 2 missiles,
thought to be scud missiles, with a range of up to 400 KM into the Sea of
Japan. This evoked worldwide
condemnation, and further sanctions were imposed on the hermit kingdom. These rockets had no GPS devices on them,
which most countries would have put onto their rockets, as they didn’t have the
capability to develop such a system. Thus they had no real control over the
rockets, and they could have landed anywhere. A big question now is as to whether
or not North Korea have the ability to attach nuclear warheads to conventional
missiles, and thus could be in a position to target Japan, South Korea, or the
US dependency of Guam with such weapons.
The view of most analysts is that they have not, and that despite all
it’s rhetoric North Korea really hasn’t the ability to carry out it’s threats,
so we shouldn’t be too worried about them.
On the other hand, others are of the opinion that we don’t REALLY know
what’s going on inside North Korea vis a vis it’s military and nuclear
capabilities. It has the 4th largest standing army in the
world.
Whilst they may not have the
ability to send nuclear missiles to Japan or the West coast of the USA, they
might very well have the ability to nuke Seoul for example. The North Korean
TV, the official newspaper Radong Signum are ratcheting up the rhetoric, will
the regime now have no choice but to do something, be it launch another missile
or otherwise to justify all the rhetoric?
Surely if it does a total climbdown, and ends up doing nothing, this
would lead it with a lot of explaining to do amongst it’s own people? So whilst
mad men in Colorado are busy buying goods at Wal Mart to store in their bunker,
as they convince themselves that Obama being re-elected is going to lead to a
nuclear attack on San Francisco by North Korea, many South Koreans go about
their business as normal, as they’ve heard it all before, and have long stopped
caring or being afraid. So when will all
the talking stop, and some if any action be taken by the North Korean Military?
Only time will tell.