Posts Tagged ‘Kim Jong-il’
Mountains and Seas of Gold: 2015 New Year’s Message
Robert Winstanley-Chesters returns to Sino-NK with his thoughts on Kim Jong-un’s 2015 New Year’s Address from a developmental and narrative point of view, going past – way, way past – debatable calls for inter-Korean rapprochement to look at the developmental sloughs and sumps therein concealed.
Communist Normalcy: How Authoritarian Leaders Disappear and Return
Kim Jong-un has now made a handful of public appearances since ending his 40+ days out of the public eye, and it appears clear that the young leader’s health was a major cause of his absence. This came as no surprise to analyst Nick Miller.
Hagiography of the Kims and the Childhood of Saints: Kim Jong-il
Christopher Richardson examines the mythological narrative of Kim Jong-il’s genesis, uncovering the carefully constructed combination of religion, half-truths, and state propaganda.
“Victory Day,” the Canonization of Kim Jong-il, and North Korean Succession Politics
Why did the North Korean commemorations of the July 27, 1953 Armistice dwell so heavily on Kim Jong-il, who was just a child during the Korean War? Adam Cathcart investigates how shifting histories in Pyongyang are laying the groundwork for ongoing succession narratives for the present leader.
Slogans, Portraits, and Patterns in Kimist Purges
In scenes from the recent purge of Jang Sung-taek lie traces of guerrilla tactics of Manchurian yore. Reading from Kim Il-sung’s Works, Adam Cathcart confirms: a political economy of dictatorship indeed.