by Ralph Hassig
7. Andrei Lankov, one of the most astute observers of North Korea, grew up in the Soviet Union and studied for several years at Kim Il-sung University as an exchange student. His collection of essays on North Korean life provides numerous illustrations of how the North Koreans borrowed aspects of Soviet communist culture. See Andrei Lankov, North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2007).
8. Andrei Lankov tells the story in his Crisis in North Korea: The Failure of De-Stalinization, 1956 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005).
9. Buzo, The Guerrilla Dynasty, 237.
10. A summary of the behest was published in South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper, in Korean, on November 18, 1996, 9. According to the article, the full behest was published by North Korea that year in volume 44 of the Collection of Kim Il-sung’s Works.
11. Although it is unusual, hereditary succession, especially from father to son, does have much to recommend it. In a 2007 article on the subject, Jason Brownlee found only nine successful cases since 1946. His research supports Gordon Tullock’s hypothesis that this form of succession occurs almost exclusively when the leader predates the ruling political party. Among the advantages of father-to-son succession is the avoidance of damaging succession struggles. For the regime’s supporters, hereditary succession provides some assurance that the new leader will not jeopardize their privileged positions. See Jason Brownlee, “Hereditary Succession in Modern Autocracies,” World Politics 59 (July 2007): 595–628.
12. Morgan E. Clippinger, “Kim Chong-il in the North Korean Mass Media: A Study of Semi-Esoteric Communication,” Asian Survey 21, no. 3 (March 1981): 289–309.
13. Megumiya, “Secret of Kim Chong-il’s Birth.”
14. Ri Ki-pong, “Immortal Military Achievements Shining on the Pages of History of Military-First Politics: Reminiscing about the History of Shining Victory the Great General Won in Fierce Confrontation with U.S. Imperialists in the 1960s,” Nodong Sinmun via the KPM website, February 3, 2008, in Korean.
15. Yi Kun, “III. Diplomat Kim Jong-il (1): A Diplomat Who Has Yet to Debut on the International Stage; ‘Invention’ of Charisma Hidden from Diplomatic Stage,” Chosun Ilbo, March 17, 2005, Internet version, in Korean.
16. “Great Military Genius, Iron-Willed Commander,” KCBS, March 10, 1994, in Korean.
17. Hyun-sik Kim and Kwang-ju Son, Documentary Kim Jong Il [in Korean, with these title words transcribed in the Hangul alphabet] (Seoul: Chonji Media, 1997), 202.
18. Hwang Jang-yop has written several books, available only in Korean: Pukhan-ui Jinsil-gwa Howi [Truth and Falsehood of North Korea] (Seoul: Institute for National Security and Unification Policy, June 1998); Nanun Yyoksa-ui Jjilli-rul Poatta [I Saw the Truth of History], (Hwang’s memoirs) (Seoul: Hanul, 1999); Odum-ui Pyoneedoen Happyossn Odum-ul Palkilsuopta [Sunshine That Supports the Darkness Cannot Lighten the Darkness] (Hwang’s advice on achieving Korean unification) (Seoul: Monthly Chosun, 2001), coauthored with Cho Kap-he and Kim Duk-hong; Hwang Jang-yop-ui Daejollyak: Kim Jong-il-gwa Chonjaeng Hajiankko Iginunbop [The Grand Strategy of Hwang Jang-yop: How to Win against Kim Jong-il without War] (Seoul: Monthly Chosun, 2003).
19. Ryo Hagiwara, “I Will Risk My Life to Fight against Kim Jong-il,” December 1998 interview with Hwang Jang-yop, Bungei Shunju (February 1999): 324–46, in Japanese.
20. Cho Kap-che, “Recorded Tape of Kim Jong-il’s Live Voice—60 Minutes of Astonishing Confessions Similar to That of a Reactionary,” Wolgan Chosun (October 1995): 104–28, in Korean. The quotations in the following paragraphs are taken from this source. While residing in the United States, film director Sang-ok Shin and his actress wife, Eun-hi Choi, authored a two-volume work (available only in an out-of-print Korean edition) about their experiences in North Korea: Choguk-un chohanul chomolli [Diary: The Motherland Is Beyond the Sky and Far Away] (Pacific Palisades, CA: Pacific Artist Corporation, 1988). See also “Table Talk: Hwang Jang Yop and Shin Sang-ok Talk about the Two Homelands They Have Experienced,” Wolgan Chosun (March 1999), 609–41, in Korean.
21. Cho Tong-ho, “II. CEO Kim Jong-il (1): Reform and Anti-Reform,” Chosun Ilbo, February 3, 2005, Internet version, in Korean.
22. Cho, “Recorded Tape,” electronic version.
23. Cho, “Recorded Tape,” electronic version.
24. Song Hye-rang, Dungnamujip [Wisteria House] (Seoul: Jisiknara, 2000), in Korean. She also published Sosik-ul jonhamnida [Here Are My Greetings] (Seoul: Jisiknara, 1999), in Korean.
25. “ ‘Daughter’ on Kim Chong-il’s Private Life,” Bungei Shunju (February 1998): 274– 92, in Japanese.
26. “ ‘Daughter’ on Kim Chong-il’s Private Life.”
27. At this time, none of Fujimoto Kenji’s books is available in English: Kim Jong-il-ui yorisa [Kim Jong-il’s Chef], 2003, in Korean (translated from the Japanese edition titled Kin Seinichi no Ryoryinin); Kin Seinichi no Shiseikatsu [Kim Jong-il’s Private Life], 2004, in Japanese; and Kaku to Onna o Aishita Shogun-Sama [The General Who Loved Nukes and Women], 2006, in Japanese.
28. Fujimoto, Kin Seinichi no Ryoryinin,8–9.
29. Ermanno Furlanis, “I Made Pizza for Kim Jong-il,” in three parts, Asia Times Online, August 4–18, 2001, in English.
30. Kim Mi-yong, “President’s Cattle Ranch—Ranch for ‘Nobility,’ Including Kim Jong-il,” Chosun Ilbo, March 12, 2002, Internet version, in Korean.
31. Han Young Jin, “The Dear Leader’s Apples and the No. 8 Farm,” Daily NK web-site, May 30, 2005, in English.
32. Cho Myong-yong, “Noble Benevolence for Coming Generations,” Nodong Sinmun, December 6, 2003, 2, in Korean.
33. Yi Tae-nam, “The Future of a Prosperous and Rich State Lies in Upholding the General,” Nodong Sinmun, June 28, 2001, 2, in Korean.
34. Fujimoto, Kin Seinichi no Shiseikatsu, 18–27 and 32–42; Kin Seinichi no Ryoryinin, 74–80. Yi Yong-kuk, Nanun Kim Jong-il Kyonghowoniotta [I Was Kim Jong-il’s Bodyguard] (Seoul: Sidae Chongsin, 2002).
35. Konstantin Pulikovskiy, The Oriental Express: Through Russia with Kim Chong-il (Vladivostok: Gorodets, 2002), in Russian. Obtained in electronic version.
36. Chon Song-ho, “Heart of 10 Million Soldiers and People,” Nodong Sinmun via the Uriminjokkiri website, March 2, 2004, in Korean.
37. NTV International, in Russian, August 3, 2001.
38. Aleksandr Vladimirovich Lukin, “Why Does Moscow Need Pyongyang? Russia Is Interested in Gradual Transformations in DPRK,” Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 1, 2001, 6, in Russian.
39. “Rumor Mill” column, Moskovskiy Komsomolets, August 6, 2001, Internet version, in Russian.
40. Mikhail Krasnov, “. . . But It Is Our Armored Train in the Siding,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta, August 7, 2001, 2, in Russian.
41. Vyacheslav Kostikov, “Visit of Kim Jong-il Is Humiliation of Russians,” Argumenty i Fakty, August 9, 2001, 2, in Russian.
42. Yuliya Kantor, “Rain Man,” Izvestiya, August 7, 2001, Internet version, in Russian.
43. Aleksandr Korzun, interviewing Konstantin Pulikovskiy, Kommersant, August 15, 2001, 1, 2, in Russian.
44. Interfax, August 7, 2001, in English.
45. Kim In-ku, “Even after Kim Jong-il’s Departure, DPRK Media Said, ‘He Will Visit Russia in the Near Future,’ ” Chosun Ilbo, August 2, 2001, Internet version, in Korean.
46. KCBS, August 18, 2001, at 0500 GMT, in Korean.
47. Talk: “Shock of a Great Man,” KCBS, August 18, 2001, at 1152 GMT, in Korean.
48. “Shock of a Great Man.”
49. The edited transcripts from these tapes are found in “Kim Jong-il’s ‘Monologues’; Top Secret Instructions Given to Association Leaders,” Gendai, January 1, 2003, 122–34, in Japanese.
50. Wolgan Chosun (April 1997): 306–17, in Korean.
51. Information about decision making in North Korea is fragmentary; so far as we know, none of Kim’s close associates has defected. Several views of Kim’s leadership style can be found in a June 2004 re
port issued by the Institute for Defense Analyses and titled North Korean Policy Elites, coauthored by Kongdan Oh Hassig, Joseph S. Bermudez, Kenneth E. Gause, Ralph C. Hassig, Alexandre Y. Mansourov, and David J. Smith.
52. An Yong-chol, “The Mystery of the Son’s Rivalry to Become Heir and Who Is This No. 2 Man, Kang Sang-chun—Kim Jong-il’s Group of Closest Confidants Wrapped in Veil of Secrecy,” Gendai, August 1, 2003, 110–19, in Japanese.
53. Memoir by the defector Im Kyong-su, “The Inside of DPRK Ministry of Public Security: A Prison Empire of Corruption, Conspiracy, and Torture,” Wolgan Chosun (June 1999): 340–70, in Korean.
54. Michael Breen, in Kim Jong-il: North Korea’s Dear Leader, 144, reports that a representative of Hennessey confirmed that North Korea, several years ago at least, was the company’s biggest purchaser of its premium “Paradis” cognac, spending up to $700,000 a year on it.
55. Choe Chol-hui, “Jangmadang [Market] Goods Are More Valuable Than the General’s Gifts,” Daily NK website, February 20, 2008, in English.
56. “ ‘On-the-Spot Guidance Tours’ by DPRK’s Kim Jong-il Explained,” Chosun Ilbo, February 19, 2001, Internet version, in English. Also see “Number One Events,” Chosun Ilbo, May 20, 2001, Internet version, in English.
57. Yi Yong-chong and Chong Yong-su, “North Manual Says U.S. Aims at Leaders,” JoongAng Ilbo, April 8, 2005, Internet version, in English.
58. “DPRK Leader Inspects KPA Unit No. 802,” KCBS, November 10, 2005, in Korean.
59. To take one example: “DPRK Leader Inspects KPA Unit 1337,” KCBS, November 11, 2005, in Korean.
60. “DPRK Leader Inspects KPA Unit No. 802.”
61. “Legend of Love That Blossomed on the Path of On-the-Spot Guidance,” Korean Central Television, February 13, 2004, in Korean.
62. Yi Yong-kuk, Nanun Kim Jong-il Kyonghowoniotta [I Was Kim Jong-il’s Bodyguard] (Seoul: Sidae Chongsin, 2002).
63. KCNA, March 13, 1998, in English.
64. “Let Us Make Harmonious Homes in the Entire Country,” KWP Publishing House lecture material, May 1, 2004, in Korean.
65. Kim In-son, “He Continued to Walk the Footpaths between Fields to Guide the Nation’s Farming All His Life,” Nodong Sinmun, May 30, 1999, 2, in Korean.
66. Kang Chol-hwan, “One Must Pass Six Checkpoints to Enter Kim Jong-il’s Official Residence—Parodied Songs Satirizing His Habit of Frequently Visiting Military Units Are Popular,” Chosun Ilbo, January 20, 2005, Internet version, in Korean.
67. Koh Young-hwan, “Specially Attached Interpreter Who Defected Discloses the True Character of Kim Il-sung and His Son,” Bungei Shunju (August 1994): 94–103, in Japanese.
68. Ryang Sun, “Great Motherly Party,” Nodong Sinmun, August 22, 2005, 2, in Korean.
69. Kim Kwang-ok, “Brilliant Commander’s Field Uniform,” Minju Choson, August 11, 2004, 2, in Korean.
70. Interview with Dr. Roland Hetzer, Fuji Television, June 20, 2007, in Japanese.
71. “Rumors of North Korean Ruler Kim Jong-il Undergoing Heart Surgery,” Die Welt, June 23, 2007, 7, in German.
72. “The Enigmatic Kim Jong-il; Leader’s Mythical Birth Key to N. Korean Regime,” Daily Yomiuri, February 24, 2004, Internet version, in English.
73. The cost has been variously estimated at between $100 million and $890 million.
74. KCBS, July 19, 2000, in Korean.
75. KCBS, October 23, 2000, in Korean.
76. “Wonder Takes Place,” KCNA, July 8, 2001, in English.
77. “Kimjongilia Estimated As King of Flowers,” KCNA, February 2, 2005, in English.
78. KCBS, April 21, 2003, in Korean.
79. “Wonders on February Holiday,” KCNA, February 19, 2001, in English.
80. Cho Chong-chol, “Military-First Teleporting Method,” Nodong Sinmun via the Uriminjokkiri website, December 25, 2006, in Korean.
81. KCBS, on February 16, 2002 (Kim’s birthday), in Korean, quoting that day’s Nodong Sinmun editorial titled “Let Us Brilliantly Realize the Cause of Building a Powerful State under Great Comrade Kim Jong-il’s Military-First Leadership.”
82. “Comrade Kim Jong-il’s Experience of War,” KCNA, October 1, 1997, in English.
83. “45th Anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s Start of Songun Revolutionary Leadership Marked,” KCNA, August 24, 2005, in English.
84. “ ‘Moving Story’ Associated with Chol Ridge,” KCNA, October 6, 1999, in English.
85. “I Will Tell Him Everything,” Korea Today via Naenara website, June 3, 2006, in English.
86. Choe Chil-nam and Pak Chol, “Sacred Three Years,” Nodong Sinmun, July 2, 1997, 3–4, in Korean.
87. “For an Invincibly Powerful State,” Nodong Sinmun, April 7, 2003 via KCNA, on the same date, in English.
88. “Kim Jong-il Authors 1,400-Odd Works during University Days,” KCNA, March 18, 2004, in English.
89. “Leader with Marvelous Memory,” KCNA, June 18, 2004, in English.
90. Han Song-ki, “Economic Ideology of Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong-il Is That of Juche Era’s Original and Scientific Ideology,” Kyongje Yongu, February 10, 2004, 5–7, in Korean.
91. “Exclamation of Researcher,” Minju Choson, September 29, 2004, 2, in Korean.
92. “Let Us Struggle Persistently by Taking Our Party’s Idea and Line As Faith,” Nodong Sinmun editorial (via KCNA), December 2, 2004, in Korean. In a 2006 update of the same idea, Kim is said to have been “perfectly on target” in formulating “all the hundreds and thousands” of policy lines. Kim Pyong-chin, “Great Comrade Kim Jong-il’s Military-First Revolutionary Chronicles Are Eternal Treasures for the Socialist Victory and Prosperity,” Nodong Sinmun, February 28, 2006, in Korean.
93. In his classic article on the use of Kim’s title “Party Center,” Morgan E. Clippinger lists the characteristics noted in the text as being ascribed to Kim in the North Korean press. See Clippinger, “Kim Chong-il in the North Korean Mass Media,” 289–309.
94. Early in his political career (by the end of the 1960s), Kim Jong-il was referred to as “Dear Leader Comrade” (chinaehanun jidoja tongji). Two days before his father’s death, he was referred to for the first time in Nodong Sinmun as Yongdoja (“leader”). Beginning in January 1995 he began to be referred to as Widaehan Yongdoja (“great leader”). See Young Whan Jo, Maeu Tukpyolhan Inmul Kim Jong Il [Very Special Person, Kim Jong-il] (Seoul: Jisik Kongjakso, 1996), 220–27, in Korean.
95. Kim Kum-son, “We Cannot Live Apart from the Bosom—Reciting the Epic Poem ‘Mother,’ ” Nodong Sinmun, October 9, 2003, 2, in Korean.
96. Toshio Miyatsuka, Saishin Naibu Bunsho 150 Tsu wo Ura Yomu: Ganbaruzo! Kita Chosen [Reading between the Lines of 150 of the Latest Internal Documents: Go! Go! North Korea] (Tokyo: Shogakukan, July 10, 2004), 62–93, in Japanese.
97. “Song of Faith That Will Remain Forever Generation after Generation,” KCBS, June 4, 2004, in Korean.
98. “Ri Po-ik,” Korea Today via the Naenara website, May 2, 2006, in English.
99. Choe Chong-hon, “The Fundamental Requirement of the Do-or-Die Spirit of Defending the Leader,” Minju Choson, February 20, 2001, 2, in Korean.
100. So Sung-uk, “Content of the Secret ‘Study Note’ Document,” JoongAng Ilbo, April 8, 2005, Internet version, in Korean.
101. “Korean People’s Noble Spirit of Defending Leader at Yongchon,” KCNA, April 28, 2004, in English.
102. Ho Yong-min, “The Spirit of Defending the Nerve Center with a Do-or-Die Spirit Is an Important Characteristic of the North’s Military and People,” Nodong Sinmun, October 23, 2002, 5, in Korean.
103. “Slogans Discovered on Trees Lauding Kim Chong-il,” KCNA, February 6, 1998, in English.
104. “The Respected Mother Is the Greatest of All Great Loyalists Infinitely Faithful to Comrade Supreme Commander,” lecture material from the KPA Publishing House dated August, Juche 91 (2002), obtained from a Japanese source and published in South Korea by Wolgan Chosun (March 1, 2003): 120–30, in Korean.
105. “Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee Secretariat Directive No. 0101,” September 25, 2005, published by Wolgan Chosun, no date available, in Korean.
Chapter 3: The Economic System
1. Song Hyon-chol, “State’s Centralized, Unified Leadership Is the Lifeline of Socialist Economy,” Nodong Sinmun, February 11, 2009, electronic edition, in Korean.
2. Institute for Far East Studies, “DPRK Economic Growth Estimates for 2006,” North Korean Economy Watch, August 22, 2007, www.nkeconwatch.com/2007/08/22/ dprk-economic-growth-estimates-for -2006. Also see Dick K. Nanto and Emma Chanlett-Avery, “The North Korean Economy: Overview and Policy Analysis,” CRS Report for Congress, April 18, 2007. Also personal correspondence with Bank of Korea staff.
3. Jo Dong-ho, “Aid Is Not the Same As Investment,” JoongAng Ilbo, August 21, 2007, Internet version, in English.
4. For a well-structured review of North Korea’s economic history into the 1990s, see Doowon Lee, “North Korean Economic Reform: Past Efforts and Future Prospects,” in Reforming Asian Socialism: The Growth of Market Institutions, ed. John McMillan and Barry Naughton (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1996), 317–36.
5. KCBS, January 4, 2001, in Korean, citing a Nodong Sinmun editorial of the same date titled “Let Us Glorify This Year As a Year of New Turnaround by Upholding the Joint Editorial.”