Kim Jong Il Talks with His Entourages Outside in Fear of Being Bugged

[imText1]North Korean leader Kim Jong Il considers personnel shifts for executives of the Party, military, and the administration as top secrets, as was the case when Kim Il Sung was alive.

The Party leader is thought to fear the possibility of the formation of rival parties should confidential information leak out, since executive affairs are critical in controlling the people.

Surprisingly, Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung usually did not use the office, and went outside when discussing executives. While it may be hard for outsiders to comprehend, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il actually worried about being bugged.

Kim Jong Il discusses personnel shifts for executives outside with Kim Il Sung

Kim Jong Il has long lived in constant fear of wiretaps in his office or private villa. This caused him to venture outside to the hallways or open areas for discussions with his father, especially when they pertained to shuffling the positions of the executives. While they discussed the normal businesses of the Party inside the office, when it came to personnel, they went outside to talk.

Three portraits hang in every house in North Korea, Kim Il Sung’s on the right, Kim Jong Il’s in the middle, and a portrait of both of them on the left. Until 1992, the leftmost photograph depicted the two chatting in Changsung Villa (in Pyeongbuk Changsung-gun Yaksu-li). This photo is likely to be a scene of the two discussing personnel transfers.

North Korea also experienced a rise in ‘factions,’ as with the Soviet Union. The Yeonan Faction, the Gapsan Faction, and several others stood against Kim Il Sung in the 50’s and 60’s, and this is the primary reason why they kept personnel transfers as carefully guarded secrets.

Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia once remarked to Kim Il Sung that “Your hair has turned gray early for your age,” to which he responded “The history of the Worker’s Party of Korea is the history of struggle against the factions. My hair turned gray 10 years earlier because of the conspiring of counterrevolutionaries from those factions.”

Kim Jong Il’s ‘Right Hand Man’ Lee Ha Il, suspended for 2 years for unauthorized use of Kim Jong Il’s chateau

Kim Jong Il supervised his chateaus with special thoroughness, which he did not allow even his half brother Kim Pyeong Il to visit. Kim Jong Il is said to distrust even the people who guard his family, for fear of the possibility that they will put wiretaps in his chateaus.

Lee Ha Il, a member of the National Defense Commission and the General Manager of the Military, disappeared from view in 1995, and rumors circulated that Lee Ha Il had been purged on accusations of being a spy.

He then resurfaced two years later, which disproved the spy rumors. He had actually gone inside Kim Jong Il’s chateau for two hours without permission, and although Kim Jong Il had trusted him as his ‘Right Hand Man,’ Lee Ha Il was suspended from duty for two years.

I learned this after I came to South Korea, where I heard South Korean news coverage stating, “Lee Ha Il purged for conspiring to start a military coup.”

Kim Jong Il’s relatives form 20% of the North Korean Executive Personnel

The Executive Department of the Central Party manages the selecting and positioning of the executives in the Party and performs administrative duties by selecting executives for the Worker’s Party. The Central Party submits documents on personnel to the Organizational Secretary (Kim Jong Il) and the Secretary General makes the decision. Ultimately, everything depends on Kim Jong Il.

The Executive Department performs final deliberations via references, candidates informally referred by Kim Jong Il are selected as executive members. From the Executive Department of the Central Party to the Executive Department of the Local Party, all departments follow the same procedural “rule”. The Executive Department selects personnel since that is what the Executive Department does, however executives chosen by Kim Jong Il are appointed by final ratification.

Executives recommended by Kim Jong Il are all appointed without exception. Kim Jong Il, who monopolizes the Worker’s Party, appoints whom he likes; mainly his relatives. Close relatives of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are known to compose 20% of all the important positions in North Korea.