The death of Kim Jong Il has left North Korea, a Stalinist dictatorship and a failing state, in the hands of his youngest son, Kim Jong Un. On December 19th, 2011, he was officially dubbed the ‘Great Successor’. He will continue a family dynasty.
Kim Jong Il (the ‘Dear Leader’) died of a heart attack on December 17th, 2011, at the age of 69. He was a son of Kim Il Sung (the ‘Great Leader’), a founder of the modern North Korea, who died in 1994, at the age of 82.
Kim Jong Il was well prepared to take over in 1994. He had been designated a successor in 1980 and had opportunities and time to solidify his power. Prior to his father’s death he had run North Korea’s propaganda operations and later its nuclear and missile programmes. He had been well-known and lauded as a revolutionary hero by the country’s propaganda machine, before his full ascension to the power.
North Korea is a totalitarian state. The regime uses the ideology, propaganda and terror to have an absolute control over the society. The North Korea’s population is divided into three classes. First one is dubbed a ‘loyal core’. The second includes people of uncertain loyalty – the ‘wavering’ ones. The lowest class includes people, who are defined as ‘hostile’ to the Kim’s regime (see globalopinion.pl ‘North Korea doomed to years of dictatorship’ 16/12/2010).
People who are classified as ‘hostile’ are doomed to die in the North Korea’s gulag system. They are often sent there without a trial or explanation of their alleged crimes. The regime also imprisons the relatives of people it suspects of hostile activities.
The ‘Dear Leader’ ruled ruthlessly. No one inside North Korea dared to criticise him. No one mocked him for oversized sunglasses, zipped-up suit or hairstyle. Those unfortunates who objected his dictatorial power, ended up in prison camps (gulags), where they were subjected to hard labour, starvation and very bad accommodation conditions. One could have been sentenced to live in such a terrible place even by hanging Kim Jong Il’s portrait askew or not bowing low before it. During his seventeen years in power about two million people starved to death, almost 10% of the country’s population; 1 in 20 North Koreans passed through the prison camps; possibly 200 000 still remain there.
The world knows very little about Kim Jong Un. His mother was a performer in a North Korean dance troupe and died of cancer in 2004. He attended a school in Switzerland under a false name and after returning to North Korea, he trained as an artilleryman at a military university in Pyongyang. It is not even clear when he was born; he is probably 28 or 29. The world didn’t even know how he looked liked until his father began grooming him as a successor three years ago. Kim Jong Un was never mentioned in the media until he was promoted to become a general in 2010.
He has two brothers. His oldest brother, Kim Jong Nam was assumed to be an heir, but fell out of Kim Jong Il’s favour after being arrested at Tokyo’s airport attempting to take his family to Disneyland on a fake passport. His second brother, Kim Jong Chol was regarded by his father as too feminine to take over the power in the totalitarian state.
A power transfer to Kim Jong Un began, when Kim Jong Il suffered a stroke in 2008. In 2010, North Korea took a series of provocative actions. Two incidents – the sinking of Cheonan, a South Korean navy corvette, in March 2010, and the shelling of South Korean Yeonpyeong Island, in November 2010, were linked to Kim Jong Un’s need to win the respect and credibility of his country’s military leadership. In the North Korea’s power structure a support of the 1.2 million strong military is crucial, if Mr Kim wants to consolidate his power.
At the end of September 2010, a first party congress of the ruling Korean Worker’s Party in 30 years took place in Pyongyang. The day before the party congress, Kim Jong Un was made a four star general, despite his limited military experience. At the part congress he was also appointed a deputy chairman of the Party’s Central Military Commission. On December 30th, 2011, at a meeting of the Politburo, he was officially appointed a supreme commander of the military.
The new ruler of North Korea will undoubtedly be surrounded by advisors, who will support the young ruler in the initial years of his rule. They will also help him to establish his supremacy. Despite his youth and inexperience, he should be able to retain the power. The North Korea’s generals and party activists are unlikely to threaten his position. They might be even happy that the new ruler is so inexperienced, because they would be able to manipulate him and influence his decisions.
The most important persons of his inner circle of advisers are:
1. His uncle, Jang Sun Teak, a vice-president of the National Defence Committee;
2. The wife of Jang Sun Teak, who happens to be Kim Jong Il’ sister, Kim Kyong Hui;
3. The chief of staff, general Ri Yong Ho;
4. The chairman of the presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim Yong Nam.
These advisers make sure that Kim Jong Un will continue his father’s policy.
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