[imText1]There are a countless number of statues, monuments, and revolutionary laboratories in worship of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il across the nation in North Korea. They are believed to number about 87,000 of them all together. We do not know the exact number of them, but I believe there are no cases like North Korea which built as many concrete idolatry figures. Hussein’s statues and monuments in Iraq are nothing compared to those of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
Even Kim Il Sung would not have predicted nation-wide idolization would make individuals this dumb and easily enslaved. Kim Jong Il was the Chief Commander for the Suryeong (Supreme Leader) Idolization process. Kim Jong Il demanded workers of each party’s Propaganda and Agitation Department to educate the workers like the Nazis propagandist, Goebbels. He emphasized that the fundamental objective for each of the party’s work is to “propagate the greatness of the Great Suryeong’s throughout the generations.” For this reason when Kim Il Sung suddenly died, the people all ran out to the streets and wept in grief.
Kim Jong Il enforced so called “Ancestral Rule” for three years after Kim Il Sung’s death. During these years, Kim Jong Il took full advantage of the people’s love for Kim Il Sung, in order to maintain the regime inherited to him. Kim Jong Il also came up with a new a brilliant idea to inherit Kim Il Sung’s glory. As he erected “Everlasting Life Monuments” of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il propagated, “The father Suryeong lives in us forever.” Kim Jong Il’s “survival strategy” was to make sure Kim Il Sung remained in the memory of the people.
Height 30-70m, Monuments Erected During the Mass Death Period
The erection of “Everlasting Life Monuments” started in 1996, and two hundred of them were placed in each city and province. The Supreme Leader’s Palace in Pyongyang was expanded, Memorial Palace was built to preserve the dead body of Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Il said everyone has to “do everything for the love of the Father Suryeong” but when he ordered the erection of everlasting life monuments in memory of Kim Il Sung while thousands died of starvation everyday, the people talked amongst themselves, “Kim Jong Il is a bad son who disgraces his deceased father.” They said, “Is it Kim Il Sung’s last wish to starve the people to death?”
The Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Party was in charge of the erection of the “Everlasting Life Monuments.” The constructions were conducted by the Secretaries of Propaganda of each City or District Party as the leaders in charge. Those in charge wore sun glasses and wore a farmer’s hat and stayed at the construction site as if they were living there. That was the way they could express their loyalty for the party. Meanwhile, all the leaders in the local areas who finished construction late or carelessly were “cleaned out.”
Revolution History Museums were built in each province and revolutionary laboratories were built for the military as the biggest and most luxurious building in the middle of cities. In front of that, the Everlasting Life Monuments were erected. The height of monuments varies from 30m to 70m. The monuments were built out of a pile of polished granite stones. The provinces who could afford more could build higher monuments than others. Some provinces built monuments out of cement.
Since they were “Everlasting Life Monuments,” they had to be storm and thunder-proof. For this reason, cement for normal construction was not good enough. They could not use the cement in local places to build houses, but used extra strong cement to build the pillars and covered them with white cement from France. Then they engraved “Great Suryeong Comrade Kim Il Sung Is With Us Forever,” and pigmented the letters red.
Everlasting Life Monuments Built Out of the Lives of Living People
Each provinces and cities were in charge of their own budgets for the monuments. They collected 300won (price for about 5kg of rice at the time) per family, and a bag of corn from farmers. For those who could afford to pay more were perceived as people with more loyalty. The construction workers were selected from factories and farms. They were offered entrance into the worker’s party after the construction was done.
They were starving but built up the granite stones although their emaciated bodies were shaking. Hungry people stared at monuments without any thought. There was a young man of 23 years who lost his balance in the middle of the monument, fell, and died. He was the only survivor of his family, who buried his two older brothers starved to death without coffins. His mother was struck speechless upon her last son’s death and stared at the sky, dumbfounded.
She blamed heaven. She despised Kim Jong Il who took the life of her son. The people of North Korea divided their meals and tightened their belts to give more for the construction of the monument. The Central Party wasted the nation’s foreign currency to build the Memorial Palace in Keumsu Mountatin, and the local cities were sucked in the blood of people to build the “Everlasting Life Monuments.” Even these days, these monuments silently demand people’s loyalty for Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il anddote the nation like monsters.
However, the people know. They know the “Everlasting Life Monuments” were built at the cost of people’s lives; and that the monuments contain their resentment. Once the democratization movement starts in North Korea the first target of the people will be the “Everlasting Life Monuments.”
