The newly revealed North Korean documentary film about Koh Young Hee, ‘The Great Mother of Songun [Military-first] Chosun’, is a key plank in propaganda efforts to emphasize the legitimacy of the Kim bloodline and secure the integrity of the regime of Kim Jong Eun.
In the film, which Daily NK obtained from Japanese NGO ‘RENK’ on the 30th, description of the whereabouts and actions of Koh comes from the ‘words’ of Kim Jong Il. In other words, North Korea ‘borrows’ the mouth of the former leader to emphasize Koh’s greatness.
This is part of a sequence of moves by the authorities aimed at realizing the idolization of Kim Jong Eun. Kim, who took official control of all the remaining levers of North Korean power during April’s political functions, needs to be idolized, and that requires the idolization of his mother, Koh.
In other words, for the North Korean people to accept Kim requires them to understand what kind of person he is; or, rather, what kind of person the authorities want the people to believe he is.
According to Professor Yoo Ho Yeol of Korea University, “North Korea has established the 3rd generation succession system, and has now started full-fledged idolization efforts. To achieve this, they must complete his family tree. Because the substructure, his birth and upbringing etc, have to be complete, they have started on Koh Young Hee idolization.”
“The aim is to carve in sharp relief the relationship between Kim Jong Il and Koh Young Hee, and also to emphasize Koh’s dignity as the mother of Kim Jong Eun,” he went on. The film emphasizes Koh’s modesty and simple, honest nature in a number of places.
Cheong Seong Chang of the Sejong Institute added to this, “The North Korean system has dynastic origins. In a dynastic state, authority comes from bloodline. Koh Young Hee must be elevated to the status of ‘queen’, or ‘the nation’s mother’, in order for Kim Jong Eun to become a legitimate ruler.”
He went on, “The official succession has been completed, so they are moving from absolutism and the individual right to rule to the legitimacy of his bloodline.”
