Session 2 (July 13) - 1994-2011: Kim Jong Il

[Hilda Dixon]

Certainly, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. However, North Korea’s retraction was not officially recognized. Still throughout the years, there have been a lot of sanctions against North Korea, but these sanctions have not stopped North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.  The typical sanctions include actions such as limiting imports from North Korea. Perhaps these restrictions have not been detrimental enough for many countries’ perspectives. The reality is that we don’t know because North Korea has closed its boundaries for so many decades.

[Julie Wakefield]

Tom, thank you for such a thorough response that helped me understand a little more about military strategy and the nuclear situation. I agree with you that part of the mentally for developing nuclear weapons is to show they do have the technological ability to be a strong country - both in military and innovative (nuclear) advancements. We do use technology and military as a measure of a country's development yet this alone does not show the whole picture (of North Korea) as we know.

[Julie Wakefield]

Hi Jasmine, do you believe there is unification in the future for North and South Korea? I know this is looking into a looking glass. I hear interesting stories (some from students I talked to while visiting on a teacher trip) that there was a division between those in South Korea who wanted reunification and those who did not. This divide seems to be generational, not necessarily political. Yet, all generations seem to recognize the economic stress this would put on South Korea. Just curious. I also realize that it is not a topic many of the memoirs of the exiles talk about. 

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

How did Kim Jong Il ensure regime survival? 

It seems like Kim Jong Il inherited a nation whose glory days were fading into the past, and he needed to do something to keep it going, yet in a new way- maybe to fit with the times, or maybe to distinguish himself from his father.  Maybe some of both.  By the time he took power, it was clear that pure Soviet-style or Cuban-style communism wasn't working, and the PRC isn't even really communist anymore. What really mattered to him was military strength- which, if you don't have economic strength, could be a reasonable idea, but it's not very sustainable without the economic force to back it up. It also strikes me as incongruous to be building up your military prowess on the one hand, and cooperating with your supposed enemy to open joint-owned factories and share the Unified Korea flag. But maybe this was what they needed at that time to keep stability, to give hope to a certain demographic, and just keep the support of the people?

How did South Korea’s Sunshine Policy change international relations?

I really didn't have any idea that there had been so much cooperation between NK and SK for any period of time, so this was all surprising to me!  For the first time, as Laura put it above, NK got to sit at the grown-up table with the world powers.  I think this is fascinating based on the prior history. But the fact that most countries didn't follow through also shows what changes when there is a transition in leadership and people come in with different priorities.

[Heather Butler]

I also found the strong impact of Hyundai interesting. Bringing those cows to the north, was probably very beneficial to many people in the short term, but I am curious in the long run how impactful it actually was. I think it really depends on if they set up breeding programs, or if they were used for beef or dairy purposes.  And were the cows taken to be used for feeding the military or for the rest of the country?

[Heather Butler]

I agree that propaganda was crucial to the survival of the regime. By having these larger than life leaders made as heroes in giant sculptures, portraits, songs, children's storybooks and textbooks etc., and prevalent in every aspect of their lives, it makes it really hard for the people to escape from it. I think of this quote from Josef Goebbels,"The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succomb to it utterly and and can never again escape from it." When I was in college, I did a study abroad to Thailand, which is a constitutional monarchy, and they have images of the royal family everywhere, on every light post and in their homes, the king or queen or prince or princess, is depicted, even in small villages. Mow looking back I realize it is sort of the same thing, because now I know that it is illegal to criticize the monarchy. Kim Jong Il and his father's use of propaganda also make me think of this quote from Thomas Mabry of the US Office of War Information, "People should wake up to find visual messages everywhere, like new snow- every man, woman and child should be reached and moved by the message." It is much harder to change people's minds when ideas become imbedded at a young age and constantly reinforced.

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

Having now read the articles, I must revise my previous speculation with regard to economic concerns, as the articles explain that the economy was of great concern to Kim Jong Il and he opened up the markets much as China had done. I was surprised by this because it is so contrary to communist ideology, but it makes more sense as a way to rebuild the country’s economy and establish his role as a new kind of leader. It also fits with the changed world he was living in in the 1990s, and the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Therefore, he ensured regime survival by shifting from juche to the son-gun military first ideology, but also by opening the economic system so they could produce sufficient goods and increase the standard of living in order to gain or keep the support of the majority.

Now that I’m watching Crash Landing on You, I begin to understand things like the market where Captain Ri buys the South Korean products, the access to the Jaguar and the South Korean soap operas.

I also understand better the broader impact of the Sunshine Policy as a way of opening the economy for growth and development and improved international relations, especially with China, which in turn would keep the population better off but also open up the society as a whole to new ideas.

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

I think the elites woudl atetnd special schools only for the chidren of elites -- not private schools in actuality but in function.

As for the military, this BBC article says women must serve in the NK military and sexual violence and harassment are rampant: 

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-41778470

This article talks about sexual harassment and discrimination in genearl: 

https://www.independent.co.uk/world/north-korean-women-rights-kim-jongun-domestic-violence-sexual-harassment-a8525086.html

[Juana Evink]

The reading by Andrei Lankov, " Ch2  Two Decades of Crisis" makes it clear that North Korea's early economic success was due to the support from the Soviet Unuion and once that stoped when Gorbachev became the new secretary of the Communist party. It's impressive how North Korea's communism still standing today since compared to other countries it didn't collapse or reform itself. Without foreign economic aid North Korea's economic system suffered terribly. Yet, North Korea still a communist country, with soem alllies arounf the world. It's a different society that the one under KIm II Sung, but the Korean leader is still loved or at least feared by its people.

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