Jang Song-thaek’s execution was the occasion through which the organisation that I founded, New Focus International, first revealed the reality and reach of the OGD to the world. Although there is still much more work to be done, our guiding principle from the start has been: Don’t worry about going faster than those who have had a head start; worry only about being more honest. It may take a long time for the truth to come to light, but it will remain long after the lies have faded.
The single most powerful entity in North Korea has not been recognised as such by the outside world, nor by ordinary North Koreans, because the reality of the OGD is intertwined with the secret history of Kim Jong-il’s rise to power. Kim Jong-il built up an entity whereby the OGD Party Secretary – himself – became more powerful than the Supreme Leader, leaving Kim Il-sung with only symbolic authority. The OGD must remain hidden because it is the entity that destroyed Kim Il-sung even as it upheld, on the surface, the most sacred legitimacy of the Supreme Leader.
The OGD is North Korea’s engine of power. That engine might be concealed, but it nevertheless moves the vehicle. Just as the OGD’s connection with Kim Jong-il’s secret rise to power remains obscured, so its absolute authority is veiled by its operational secrecy. The world believes Kim Jong-il’s succession was enabled by Kim Il-sung; but Kim Jong-il could not have obtained power without the OGD, and neither could Kim Jong-un remain in power without it. Through its meticulous and absolute control over personnel vetting and surveillance, not even the military – let alone any individual within the armed forces – can hold power away from the OGD. The situation is no different in the fields of authorised commerce or diplomacy. Moreover, the OGD not only runs North Korea’s secret police and prison camps through the Ministry of State Security, it commands the ruling Kim’s bodyguards and, as discussed elsewhere in this book, all policy proposals are routed through it.
Many approaches to the regime focus on its being the agent of possible reform. They therefore pursue sanctions towards it on the one hand, or use diplomacy, official exchanges and investment on the other. Yet the unleashing of unregulated market forces from below, which have amplified the flow of unofficial exchanges, has weakened the OGD’s totalitarian grip more than anything else in history has done. North Korea might be ruled by a threatening regime as far as the outside world is concerned, but within the country itself, the regime no longer determines the price of a single egg. We must keep this reality in mind – along with the reality of power in North Korea – as we look to its future: while the OGD will not compromise on control of its own accord, its authority will diminish as long as livelihoods and opportunities lie in areas beyond its grasp. We must place our faith in the people of North Korea, not in the system that imprisons them.
GLOSSARY
Admitted, the
– the tiny circle of elite whose presence Kim Jong-il has personally requested and who have spent more than twenty minutes with him behind closed doors.
Arduous March, the
– the official North Korean term for the state of food emergency from 1995 to 1998.
Chosun
– North Korea’s name for itself.
Dear Leader
– Kim Jong-il.
DMZ
– Korean Demilitarised Zone: armistice line since 1953 that divides the Korean peninsula.
DPRK
– Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).
General, the
– Kim Jong-il.
Great Leader
– Kim Il-sung or Kim Jong-il.
Gukgun
– South Korea’s National Army.
Jochongryon
– Association of Chosun People in Japan: organisation run by the UFD that represents people of Korean origin in Japan.
Juche
– state-ratified policy of North Korea based on the principle of self-reliance.
KPA
– Korean People’s Army (North Korean).
‘Localisation’
– UFD’s policy of adopting South Korean ways of thought in order to influence South Korea.
NLL
– Northern Limit Line: demarcation of territorial waters between North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea.
Office 101
– the policy-making section of the UFD.
OGD
– Organisation and Guidance Department: the executive chain of command of the Workers’ Party.
PAD
– Propaganda and Agitation Department.
PAF
– People’s Armed Forces (North Korean).
PDS
– Public Distribution System, which determines allocation of all necessities in North Korea.
Rodong Sinmun
– the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party.
Scrutiny, the
– the North Korean term is shimhwajo, which can be translated literally as ‘intensifying the scrutiny (of identification documents)’.
Section 5
– the section of the OGD responsible for the personal needs of Kim Jong-il.
Seed-bearing Strategy
– the North Korean strategy of kidnapping foreign, especially Japanese citizens.
side-branch
– a member of the Kim family to be ‘pruned’ for the tree to grow tall and strong.
Songun
– the Military-First policy of North Korea.
southern Chosun
– North Korean name for South Korea.
Sunshine Policy
– South Korea’s foreign policy towards North Korea, declared a failure by South Korea in 2010.
Supreme Leader
– Kim Il-sung.
Suryong
– Supreme Leader.
UFD
– United Front Department: key section in the Workers’ Party, which oversees inter-Korean espionage, policy-making and diplomacy.
Workers’ Party
– the official, ruling political party of North Korea.
INDEX
The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
‘Admitted’, the xiv, xvi, xvii–xxvi, 19, 20, 24, 42, 45, 50, 61, 72, 77, 81–2, 125, 316
Annals of the Kim Dynasty 125–41
April 15 Literary Group 4–5
‘Arduous March’, the xxvi, 44, 45, 61, 316
Baekhwa-won Guesthouse 139
Bocheonbo Band 67
Carter, Jimmy 140
Chae Chang-guk xvi, xviii, xxii, 154, 256, 257
Chae Mun-deok 173
Chang-yong 101, 102, 103, 104–5, 106, 107–8, 109, 110–11, 112, 113, 114, 115–16, 117, 119, 120, 121, 122, 142, 143, 144–5, 164, 180, 181, 190, 191, 205, 212, 213, 214, 215, 218, 226, 229, 230, 291, 309
Cheon Doo-hwan 17
Chiang Kai-shek 252
China: aid to North Korea 48–9, 264; cultification of one man ceases in 100; Cultural Revolution 29, 36, 130, 131, 244; ‘dark children’ in 169; economy 222, 223, 260, 262, 264; ethnic Koreans in 29–30, 98–105, 181, 261; Kim Jong-il visits, January, 2001 262, 264; Kim Jong-il visits, May, 2000 262, 263–4; Kim Jong-il’s attitude towards 260–5; Korean War and 253; Ministry of State Security 263, 264, 302; North Korean intelligence turns it’s attention towards 261–2; North Korean refugees in 109, 167; pursuit of economic relations with South Korea 260, 264; reform of 100, 146, 148, 216, 222, 223, 264, 277; repatriation of North Korean refugees 109, 170; Shenyang Incident and 263–4; trade with North Korea xvii, 76, 78, 265; trafficking of North Korean women into 164–72
Chinese Communist Party 98, 100, 260, 263, 274, 302
Cho Myong-rok 262
Choe Tae-bok 314
Choi Hyon, General 131, 132
Choi Liang 29, 30, 31, 32, 40, 251, 270
Choi Ryong-hae 131
Chosun period 125, 288
Chosun Social Sciences Institute, Pyongyang 33
Collected Works of Lord Byron (Byron) 32, 33–5
Confucius 70, 162
Corpse Division 48, 49
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) 3, 7, 9, 19, 33, 36, 153, 155, 156, 157, 261, 262, 315, 316: compartmentalised nature of system xi, 77, 129, 134; coup attempt, 1968 131; defectors from xi, 110, 113, 114, 126, 179, 193, 196, 309, 311–12; defectors to 126; dualities of x–xi, xii; economy x, xxvi, 5, 12, 43, 45, 49, 54, 64, 72, 76, 77, 82, 101, 146–7, 149, 159, 160, 172–3, 254–5, 257, 259, 265, 273–4, 275, 315; electricity supply xv, 37, 41, 56, 83, 215–16, 241; executions x, 57–9, 62, 65, 81, 172, 177, 233, 315; food supply/famine/starvation in x, xxvi, 5, 10–11, 23, 44–59, 61, 62, 90, 147, 172–3, 188, 232–8, 254, 255, 273, 316, 317; foreign policy 252–65; freedom of movement/travel passes 43, 44, 48, 72, 76, 77–9, 85, 88; future of 314–15; guilt-by-association 67, 68, 70–1, 175; identification booklets/life-long report card 173; interrogations 67, 73, 79, 114, 171, 183, 213, 266; kidnapping of foreign citizens 152–60; map of vii; media portrayals of x; military xxiii, 3, 16–17, 18, 42, 58, 65–6, 77, 134, 136, 154–5, 174, 175, 237, 253–9, 315, 317; miraculous escapes from 311–12; mobilization of people, 2001/compulsory three-year period of military service 65–6; mother’s attempt to sell daughter in marketplace in 232–8; myth-making xi; novels in 4–5; nuclear weapons x, 158, 258, 313; official North Korean version of post-1945 history 127; poetry in ix, xi, xxii, 3, 5–6, 8, 10, 12, 13–24, 33–5, 36, 38, 39, 40, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 72, 88, 101, 103, 120, 125, 136, 153–4, 190, 207–8, 229, 256, 272, 282, 284, 299, 309–10; prison camps xiv, 33, 63, 67, 68, 100, 132, 138–9, 171, 175, 176, 177, 186, 217; propaganda x, 12, 13, 18, 20, 22, 25–6, 58, 64, 68, 133, 140, 141, 159–60, 177 see also Propaganda and Agitation Department and United Front Department; purges of high-ranking officials x, xiv, 70, 131, 134, 172–7, 264; queuing in 42–3, 84–5; railways xvii, 41–4, 45–6, 84, 91, 159, 286; rations 10–11, 44–5, 254, 273; re-education 138–9; regulations posted in public 56; religion in 185–6; repatriation of Koreans from Japan 25–8, 54; rural 41–59; ‘self-reliance’, principle of 11, 21, 172, 186, 260, 316; trafficking of women 164–72, 224; water supply 47, 146–7; Workers’ Party see Workers’ Party; women, trafficking of 164–72, 224 see also under individual leader, area, strategy and institution name
‘First Class’, concept of xvii, xviii, 4–5, 186, 243
First Party Secretary xiii, xiv, xvi, 78–9, 81
Foreign Affairs Bureau 139, 155
Foreign Investigations Bureau 155
Foreign Ministry 157, 160
‘For my One and Only Homeland’ (Ri Su-bok) 35
General Political Bureau 22, 262
Grandfather Apple-Tree Cottage 51–2
‘Great Movement of the Korean People’ 25–7
Guards Command xix, xxiii, 135, 137
Hwang Byong-seo 153–4
Hwang Jang-yop 132
Hwang Jin-thaek 67, 68, 173, 175–6
Hwang Young-min: accused of murder 109–10, 115, 124, 182, 183, 192, 193, 201, 212; arrives at Musan 84–7; attempts to share notion that infallibility of North Korean system might be questioned 66–7, 68; attempts to visit family in Yanji 112, 117, 180, 181–3, 200–1, 211–12, 215, 240, 266, 267, 291; classmate of Jang Jin-sung at Pyongyang Arts School 66; crosses North Korean border 86–92, 95; death 291–2, 293, 305, 306, 311; decision to commit ‘suicide’ if caught 72; decision to go to South Korea 71–2; effect of ordeal upon 114, 117, 183, 187, 194–5, 197–201, 290; enters China 95–101; father and 67, 68, 172, 173, 175–6; Jang Jin-sung passes southern Chosun periodical to 66, 68; knowledge of Kim Jong-il’s personal life 67–8, 111–12; losses southern Chosun periodical 69–72, 78, 79, 80; on Section Five 111–12; outlines knowledge of the Scrutiny 172; reaction to trafficking of North Korean women 161–2, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167–9, 170; retrieves Jang Jin-sung’s book of poetry 118–19, 229, 284–5, 310; separation from Jang Jin-sung 198–202, 205, 206, 208, 210, 211–12, 214, 215, 216, 218, 219, 222, 225, 228, 239, 240, 241, 249, 266, 267; tension between Jang Jin-sung and 117, 120, 198–201, 277–8; thoughts of suicide 200–1
Hyundai 199, 254, 256
Im Tong-ok xvi, xxii, 14, 15–16, 17, 19–20, 21, 22, 24, 40, 62, 65, 66, 125, 136, 153, 154, 241–3, 256–7, 259
Jang Jin-sung: ‘An Ode to the Smiling Sun’, poem written for Celebration of Kim Il-sung’s Eternal Life 19–24, 41–2, 61, 65; Annals of the Kim Dynasty, works on 125–41; attempts by North Korean regime to kill and threaten 313; Beijing correspondent of South Korean newspaper, contacts 295, 298–300, 302, 309; Beijing, journey from bus station to South Korean Embassy in 301–7; border, crossing of 85–92, 95–6; Chang-yong, meets 99, 100–1, 114, 121, 122, 145; Chang-yong’s mother-in-law’s house in Yanji, stays at 106–19; Changchun, arrival in 216–19, 223; childhood 25, 28–30; China, appreciation of reforms in 146, 148; China, enters 95–8; Chinese security forces search for 113–24, 192–3, 208, 222; Chinese security forces discover in Shenyang 280, 281–7; Cho-rin, meets 224–32; Cho-rin’s intended, meets 272–80; Cho-rin’s uncle’s house in Xita district of Shenyang, stays at/becomes piano tutor 240, 241, 244–51, 266–71, 280, 281–3; Cho-rin, attempts to contact from South Korea 309; Collected Works of Lord Byron, discovers love of poetry through 32, 33–5; decision to leave for South Korea 71–2, 73, 75–83; doubt over North Korean narrative begins 60–72; ‘Extraordinary Summons’/invited to become one of the ‘Admitted’ of Kim jong-il after writing poem in his honour ‘Spring Rests on the Gun Barrel of the Lord’ xiv, xvi, xvii–xxvi, 3, 16–19, 20, 24, 42, 61, 72, 81, 125, 256; family 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 39, 49, 54, 73–5; foreign policy, on North Korean 252–65; freedom, on risking life for 311, 313; hierarchy of respect in Korean language, on 228–9; hometown, visits 24, 25–6, 40, 41–59; I Sell my Daughter for 100 won, first poetry publication 309–10; identification documents 144, 152, 159, 162–4, 179, 220, 282, 299, 304, 305; karaoke bar in Yanji, visits 149–50; Kim Sang-o, discovers poetic mentor in 35–40; Kyonghoeru restaurant, Shenyang, finds help in 288, 293–4, 295–7, 309; Longjing, old man helps in 188–9, 190–4, 206, 209–14, 215, 223, 309; manuscript of poetry carried into China 72, 88, 101, 103, 118–19, 120, 190, 229, 272, 282, 284–5, 309, 310; mentor, first 29–32; military service 66; mother’s attempt to sell daughter for 100 won, on story of 232–8; mountainside in Yanji, hides on 119–24, 142–3; murder, accused of 109–10, 115, 116, 117, 124, 192, 193, 212, 300; music, love of 28–32; National Security Research Institute, Seoul, becomes a senior analyst at 309, 310; New Focus, sets up 310; New York Times op-ed, April, 2013 310; nightmares after settling in South Korea 312; period of flight from Chinese and North Korean authorities 310–11; personal peace in waging war against despotism 313; Poetry Parnassus, London, 2012, takes part in ix–x, 310; politeness markers in Korean language, on 144–5; Pyongyang Arts School, enters 32, 39; Pyongyang to North Korean border (Musan), journey from 75, 82–3, 84–5; religion in North Korea, on 185–7; return of money from Chang Yong’s wife, asks for 212–14; sauna in Yanji, visits 146–9; seed-bearing strategy, learns of 152–60; ‘7.1 Measures’, on 273–4; Shenyang to Beijing, bus journey from 295, 296, 297–8, 300–1; Shenyang, bus to 214–15, 219–20; Shenyang, revisits 309; Shin Gwang-ho and see Shin Gwang-ho; South Korean citizen, life as 308–10; South Korean consulate in Shenyang, contacts 219–22; South Korean embassy in Beijing, attempt to get to 221, 222, 225, 226, 239; South Korean literature, reading of 8–9, 10, 17, 63–72, 126–41; southern Chosun periodical, lends to Young-min 66–7; southern Chosun periodical, questioned over missing 79–82; southern Chosun periodical, Young-min losses 69–70; statement detailing family relations and what intelligence can be passed on to the South Korean government, writes 152; surrender, considers 212; ‘The Most Delicious Thing in the World’ 207–8; ‘The Prisoner’ 59; The Songs of a Blessed Generation, poems included in and 39; trafficking of North Korean women, on 164–72, 224;
travel pass, acquires 76–8; UFD career xiii–xxvi, 5–24, 40, 61–72, 75, 78–82, 125–41, 144, 153–60, 185–7, 254–65, 288, 294, 296 see also United Front Department; wife and child 313; Xita Church, attempts to find help in 288–91, 293; Yanji, bus ride into 101–5, 106; Yanji churches, search for refuge in 184, 187, 193–7, 210; Yanji to Shenyang, journey from 205–23; Young-min retrieves book of poetry 118–19, 120, 229, 284–5, 310; Young-min, separated from 199–202; Young-min, reaction to death of 291–2, 293; Young-min, tension with 117, 120, 198–201, 277–8; Young-min’s attempt to contact family in Yanji and 180–3; Young-min’s movements after separation, hears news of 211–12
Jang Song-thaek x, 174, 175, 314, 315
Japan xvii, xx, 5, 7, 8, 18, 25–8, 35, 36, 41–2, 53, 54–5, 77, 98, 100, 112, 127, 130, 152–4, 156, 157–60, 180–1, 242, 243, 253, 261, 316, 317
Jiang Qing 130, 133
Jochongryon (Association of Chosun People in Japan) 27, 156, 160, 261, 316
Ju Yun-bal 271–2, 275, 276, 277, 279, 282, 283
Juche philosophy 21, 33, 65, 126, 127, 132, 186, 260, 316
Jung Ha-chul 15
Jung Joo-young 254, 256
Jung-hyaun 168
Kaesong Industrial Complex 259
Kang Sok-ju 38
Kim Chang-bong 131
Kim Dae-joong 253, 255, 258
Kim Du-nam 138–9
Kim Il-chul 258, 262
Kim Il-sung (Great Leader/Supreme Leader): Annals of the Kim Dynasty and 125, 128, 129; anniversary of death/‘Celebration of Kim Il-sung’s Eternal Life’ 19–20, 126; armed coup against, 1968 131; birthday 20–1, 53, 126, 128, 187; builds up strength of military after Korean War in order to entrench his power 154; children of supporters excluded from Central Party 136–7; cultification of 130, 131, 133, 185, 217; death xxvi, 13, 19, 20, 126, 139, 141, 173; early years 128; First Class Citizen xvii; ‘Great Movement of the Korean People’ and 25–6; guerilla leader in anti-Japanese resistance 27, 36, 127, 130, 141, 180–1; use of language in North Korea and 34, 144; humiliation of by Kim Jong-il/re-education of Kim Du-nam and 138–9; Kim Jong-il keeps up pretence of good relations with 139–40; invasion of South Korea 129; Juche calendar and 126–7; Kim Jong-il refuses to fulfill burial requests 141; Kim Sang-o and 35–7 40; Koryo Confederation strategy 155; love of novels 4–5; pursuit of peaceful unification of Korea/approval for inter-Korean summit 140–1; required to offer up a personal ode of praise on his son’s fiftieth birthday 139; sinking of Titanic and birth of 13; UFD and 6; usurpation by/succession struggle with Kim Jong-il 129–41; With the Century (memoir) 4–5, 112
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