 The embalmed body of Kim Il Sung. Image: Daily NK |
Upon the 20th anniversary of the death of Kim Il Sung, the latest rumor doing the rounds in North Korea contends that the national founder’s corpse is withering away, an inside source told Daily NK on the 8th. According to the
source, the story, which often emerges at this time of year, started with people compelled to go and pay their respects at
Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, which serves as the Kim family mausoleum.
“The story about the decaying corpse came from people who went
up to Pyongyang last week to visit Kumsusan Palace,” the source
from Yangkang Province explained. Regular displays of respect to the embalmed corpses of Kim
Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are an essential feature of life for a large number of North Koreans, for whom showing loyalty to the regime is essential for
economic and political well-being.
However, the source said that forcing people to do this runs the risk of doing more harm than good. People find it hard not to notice that Kim’s skin
appears to be deteriorating and his head and body are shrinking.
Party cadres, who generally visit Kumsusan more often than anyone else, are
somewhat dismissive of the former leader, whose body is, they say, “losing
water like a drying Pollack.”
The cost of staving off decay doesn’t help keep public
opinion on the side of the regime, either. “The amount of money funneled into
preventing decay is completely unfathomable,” the source said. “The money needed to
import the embalming fluids alone is more than we’ll all see in a lifetime.”
Expert opinions vary, and the Russian scientists and technicians who carry out
the process remain tight-lipped on the matter, but estimates contend that the
embalming process cost around $1 million USD, with annual upkeep thought to be approximately $800,000 USD. It is unclear whether North Korea receives a
discount since both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are housed in the same location.
In any case, “People who are struggling to
make ends meet are hardly concerned about the decomposition of that corpse, and complain
that the money being squandered on it only drives them deeper into
hardship,” the Daily NK source explained.
Naturally, however, few people are willing to complain publicly.
