 On October 7, the Rodong Sinmun celebrated the 90th anniversary of an anti-Japanese organization said to have been created by Kim Il Sung. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
It’s time for a new episode of “A Closer Look Inside the Pages of the Rodong Sinmun” with reporter Jang Song Mu. The Rodong Sinmun is the official publication of the North Korean Workers’ Party, which is used almost solely as a propaganda outlet to glorify the leadership. With October 10 being Party Foundation Day (a national holiday in North Korea), the Rodong Sinmun was filled with propaganda articles related to the anniversary in the week leading up to the holiday.
The first article we will discuss today was on page two of the October 7 edition entitled, “The Korean Workers’ Party serves the people.” The article claimed that as a teenager Kim Il Sung was already decrying the imperialist system and working toward the foundation of the Korean Workers’ Party. It’s understood that the paper fabricates all kinds of aspects of alleged history like this around Party Foundation Day. Can you give us a few more examples?
We see this sort of distortion and exaggeration occur on a regular basis when analyzing statements from the North Korean authorities. One of the first instances was the claim that Kim Il Sung established the basis for the Korean Workers’ Party in the 1920s via the creation of the “Anti-Imperialism Union.” This is, of course, a complete fabrication. The second example is the claim that October 10 is the anniversary of the Party’s Foundation. Both of these lies are designed to support the idolization of Kim Il Sung.
By way of illustration, Kim Il Sung was born in 1912. The Rodong Sinmun claims that he set up the anti-imperialism union in 1926, implying that he set up an elaborate political group at the age of 14. In point of fact, the true creator of the anti-imperialism union was a man named Ri Jong Rak. After Kim Il Sung’s father died, the young Kim had nowhere to go. Ri Jong Rak gave Kim food and helped him survive.
Ri Jong Rak not only formed the organization known as the anti-imperialism union, he also formed a group called the revolutionary army. However, when Lee was arrested by the Japanese authorities, all the groups he created were dismantled. Kim Il Sung took this opportunity to claim that the organizations were created by him. These facts are clearly recorded in official documents covering the time from liberation until 1960.
The Party is now 71 years old. As per their claim, has there ever been a time when the Party was working in the interests of the average citizen?
I think that there was some genuine will at the time of the Party’s foundation to serve the people. From the time of liberation from the Japanese until 1960, Kim Il Sung was focused on securing power. Because of this, he could not afford to flagrantly ignore the interests of the people. However, the situation began to change in the 1970s, particularly when it was announced that Kim Jong Il was destined to become Kim Il Sung’s successor. Around that time, Kim Il Sung’s word became law and the Party structures shifted dramatically. From that point on, although the Party continued to claim that it served the people, its foremost priority was to maintain the Kim regime and the Party leadership.
What do you think the Party’s central purpose was at the time of its founding 71 years ago?
One can learn about the early objectives of the Party by looking at their published doctrine. These publications stipulate that the Party’s objective is to “establish a democratic and completely independent nation, and work to further build elements of a democratic society.” Of course, this differs completely from what the Party has become today – totally devoted to reinforcing the principles of alleged Juche ideology and enforcing the supreme leadership of the Kim family. Of course, we expect political institutions to change over time, but the truth is that the Korean Workers’ Party has changed in order to reflect the interests of the Kim family, and has little regard for the interests of the common citizen in North Korea.
On October 8, we saw an article entitled, “A Party Forever Dedicated to the Suryong,” on page 8. On October 10, we saw an article claiming that, “The Korean Workers’ Party Elevates Kim Il Sungism/Kim Jong Ilism.” Doesn’t this conflict with the claim that the Workers’ Party is serving the interests of the people by explicitly stating that the priority is to reinforce the Suryong?
Absolutely. Furthermore, who recognizes the importance of Kim Il Sungism/Kim Il Jungism? Only North Koreans are exposed to this ideology, and they are deliberately deprived of alternative perspectives. In August this year, the name of the “Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League,” was changed to the “Kim il Sungist-Kim Jong ilist Youth League.” So clearly we can see a shift away from the tenets of socialism and towards further regime idolization. What other modern country has a third generation dictatorship in place? The Party has become a puppet of the Kim Dynasty.
Do you think that the North Korean people expect anything from the Party at this point?
I don’t think so. Personally, I don’t think the Party has the capacity to serve the people at this point in time. On the one hand, a fair amount of North Koreans are Party members, but if you received sincere feedback from ordinary residents on the value of the Party, I’m sure you’d get negative feedback. I think the Party’s days are numbered.
 On September 30, the Rodong Sinmun published propaganda touting reconstruction successes in areas struck by the flooding in North Hamgyong Province. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
Let’s move on to the next article. On October 8, the fourth page was dominated by a single article on Kim Jong ll. Kim reportedly died trying to protect portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il when severe flooding struck in North Hamgyong. It seems that the Party is deliberately ignoring how inept their emergency response has been, and is content to use the flood as an opportunity to pour praise on those who idolize the regime.
This type of story is appearing in the Rodong Sinmun quite frequently. The purpose, obviously, is to curry favor with Kim Jong Un. It isn’t really clear if the victim of the flooding mentioned in the article actually tried to save his Kim portraits, but it does appear that he died in the disaster. Of course, most people prioritize self-preservation over protecting Kim portraits in a life or death situation, but this kind of exaggeration is exactly what you can expect from the Rodong Sinmun.
I have a personal story that relates to this. I was in North Hwanghae Province, mobilized to a construction site as part of the Sariwon Shock Troopers. Most of the troops went home during the Chuseok break. But some of the soldiers remained to serve guard duty. The soldiers made a small fire so they could drink alcohol and relax outside, but the fire grew out of control and burned a nearby barracks down. The Brigade cadre was ultimately responsible for the group, according to the Party. So he made up a story about how one of the soldiers died in the fire while hugging a portrait and trying to protect it from the flames. Because of this story, the cadre got off with nothing but a slap on the wrist. The story was published in the Rodong Sinmun and other publications. Far from being punished, the cadre was actually praised! There is no end to this genre of story, in which the North Korean authorities leap at the opportunity for propaganda that glorifies the Kim family.
How do the residents feel when they read this sort of propaganda?
By repeating these lies with such frequency, there are always some people who end up believing elements of the propaganda, but at this point many have realized the truth. A significant proportion of the population has become averse to even hearing propaganda. And some become envious of the dead victims, because their families are bestowed with honors. It is truly a sorry state of affairs when people are envying the dead.
