Aiming to induce loyalty from the people, the North Korean authorities have coined a new term, ‘Kim Jong Il Partiotism’. Having established the ‘rule of the last instructions’ and placed the focus on harsh social controls, it appears that the country is now working to encourage the idolization of Kim Jong Eun via reference to his father.
Rodong Shinmun commented on the idea today in an editorial entitled ‘Let’s Strengthen Education on Kim Jong Il Patriotism’, asserting, “Today the People’s Army and people of Korea work energetically to build thriving nation under the banner of Kim Jong Il’s patriotism.”
It continued, “It is a lofty patriotism which our contemporaries much cherish, and a great banner for the building of a thriving nation.”
The publication also pointed out, “In it we can hear the strong pulse of the revolutionary philosophy of leader Kim Jong Il, his love for the country and people and his precious teaching on how a revolutionary should live.”
In his first public address at the military parade commemorating the Day of the Sun on April 15th, Kim Jong Eun first put forward the notion of Kim Il Sung-Kim Jong Ilism; a combination of standard Kim Il Sungism, Kim Jong Il’s ‘military-first politics’ and his ‘last instructions’.
The piece emphasized the need to employ propaganda tools in order to normalize the study of Kim Jong Eun’s book and speeches.
“’Kim Jong Il Patriotism’ is a term of idolization that has just emerged,” a South Korean government source commented. “While emphasizing Kim Jong Il’s last instruction, North Korea is adding the word ‘Kim Jong Il Patriotism’ to induce loyalty to Kim Jong Eun.”
Chung Seong Chang of the Sejong Institute explained, “We can look at this as Kim Jong Eun showing off his loyalty to Kim Jong Il, a new word to advertize Kim Jong Eun’s ability in the ideological area.”
Another North Korean expert agreed, saying, “’Kim Jong Il Patriotism’ is to strongly emphasize absolute loyalty to Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Eun creating this new word, ‘Kim Jong Il Patriotism’, and propagating it is to say that he too has the skills to be a leader in ideology.”
