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November 18, 2004
"Dear Leader" No More
Something big may be happening in North Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has ordered the removal of his portrait from display throughout the Stalinist state, signaling a scaling back of the decades-old adulation of the supreme ruler, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported yesterday.Other news outlets reported this too. Experts were quoted as saying that the changes are "significant," although it is too early to say what it all means. One explanation is that
The order to take down portraits was issued three weeks ago by Mr. Kim himself, who was concerned that he "has been lifted too high," the agency said.
Also yesterday, North Korea's official press dropped the glorifying description of "dear leader" for Mr. Kim, Kyodo News Service reported, citing the Japanese monitoring agency Radiopress.
By deflating his own personality cult, Kim may be seeking to dodge some of the blame, say some experts. He also may be seeking to escape some criticism over North Korea's human rights record, they add.It's even possible that they're taking a lead from Libya, or are at least seeking accomodation with the United States. The regime was hoping to deal with a Kerry presidency, and the election of Bush came as a "slap in the face," according to one news report:
With the last Bush administration true moderate, Secretary of State Colin Powell, out of the picture, the only option for the communist state is to reach out for help from other members of the six-nation disarmament talks."North Korea seems to be signaling that they want return to the talks now, realizing that the Bush administration, once inaugurated for a second term, will only get tougher since the past policies failed to reach a resolution and it will be more willing to flex its muscles," a diplomatic source said.
Who knows, Kim might even be reacting to pressure from his military. Although they were slavishly loyal to his father, Kim Il Sung, there were always rumors that they were less than pleased with a dynastic succession.
I'm no expert on North Korea, but I have read a fair amount about totalitarian countries. To the best of my knowledge, this is absolutely unprecidented. Never did anything like this happen in any of the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century: Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, China under Mao, none of them. As long as the dictator was in power, his cult of personality only grew bigger. Only after he was safely in the grave did his heirs dare to make changes.
Of course, all this may amount to nothing. but it got my attention, and these reports deserve to be followed.
Posted by Tom at November 18, 2004 9:01 AM
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