Table Of ContentNorth Korea
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North Korea
Beyond Charismatic Politics
Heonik Kwon
and
Byung-Ho Chung
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2012 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heonik Kwon, 1962–
North Korea : beyond charismatic politics / Heonik Kwon and Byung-Ho Chung.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7425-5679-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4422-1577-1 (electronic)
1. Korea (North)—Politics and government. I. Chung, Byung-Ho, 1955– II. Title.
JQ1729.5.A58C58 2012
320.95193—dc23
2011045117
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 The Great National Bereavement, 1994 9
The Partisan State 15
The Family State 18
New Family State 26
Politics of Longing 29
2 The Modern Theater State 43
Power as Display 45
The Flower-Selling Girl 52
The Sea of Blood 56
Invention of Tradition 63
3 The Barrel of a Gun 71
The Political Theory of Sŏn’gun 75
The Gift of a Gun 83
The Barrel-of-a-Gun Philosophy 87
The Power of the Gun and the Power of Love 92
4 The Graves of Revolutionary Martyrs 101
North Korea’s National Cemetery 103
Memorials for Revolutionary War Martyrs 111
The Political Afterlife of the Manchurian Partisans 113
The Completion of Hereditary Charisma 121
5 Gifts to the Leader 127
Global North Korea 129
The International Friendship Exhibition Hall 131
Leader of the Postcolonial World 135
The North Korean Exception 143
vii
viii Contents
6 The Moral Economy 151
The Idea of Moral Economy 159
The Arduous March 162
The Ethics of Common Survival 173
Conclusion 183
Bibliography 193
Index 211
About the Authors 219
Illustrations
1.1 “Do not hope for any change in me!” 12
1.2 General Kim Jong Il as the nation’s guardian 24
1.3 Mankyŏngdae Revolutionary School 25
1.4 Eternal Life Tower, Pyongyang 31
1.5 The Foundation of the Workers’ Party Tower, Pyongyang 32
1.6 Three Principles of Fatherland Unification Tower, Pyongyang 32
2.1 The rising sun performance, Arirang Festival, 2005 46
2.2 Kim Jong Il and his son and designated new successor
Kim Jong Un, together with top party and military elite,
at the Kŭmsusan Kim Il Sung Memorial Palace 47
2.3 Kim Jong Il looking at a roll camera 53
2.4 The Flower-Selling Girl 55
2.5 A still from the revolutionary musical The Sea of Blood 55
2.6 Schoolchildren’s musical performance, Mankyŏngdae
Children’s Palace, Pyongyang 62
3.1 “Nobody in the world can beat us!” 77
3.2 Kim Il Sung receiving two guns 84
3.3 “Honor to the great victory of military-first politics!” 90
3.4 Kim Jong Suk defending Kim Il Sung 95
4.1 Mansudae War Memorial, Pyongyang 103
4.2 The Graves of Revolutionary Martyrs 115
4.3 Kim Jong Suk statue in Hoiryŏng 117
4.4 Kim Jong Suk and Kim Il Sung with children 120
5.1 “The sun of the 21st century shines over the world!” 130
5.2 International Friendship Exhibition Hall 133
5.3 Kim Il Sung welcoming Third World delegates 141
5.4 Kim Il Sung birthday anniversary march by international delegates 145
ix
