2. Homework
• Report on prominent leaders of Koreas early
independent movement:
• An Chung-gun (1879-1910)
• Kim Ku (1876-1949)
• Lee Tong-hwi also Yi Tong-hui (?-1928)
• Syngman Rhee also Yi Sung-man (1875-1960)
3. Kim Il Sung’s Formative Years
1912-1934
• Despite Kim & N. Korean claims: Kim did not play a
prominent role either in Korea’s independence or
communist movement
• He was only 6 when the March 1 movement took place
• Not until 1929 at 17 did Kim team up with Korean
communist activities which promptly landed him in jail
4. Kim’s Family
• Kim Il Sung claimed descent from an impoverished
farming family
• In reality, his grandfather taught at an affluent private
school and made a good living
• As a result Kim’s father attended a private American-
Christian school in Pyongyang
5. • At the private school his father gained a very strong anti-
Japanese resentment which he later passed down to Kim
Il Sung
• Kim confirmed his mother was a practicing Presbyterian
& he occasionally attended church with her
6. • In 1920 Kim’s parents fled to S. Manchuria
• For 2 years Kim attended a Chinese elementary school
• 1921 as Japanese police resumed their search for Kim’s
father, Kim was sent back to their home village in Korea
7. Kim’s “Arduous” March
• Kim claims he walked alone the 250 miles in 14 days
• Kim once again begin to learn Korean language & culture
• However, after Japanese police arrested Kim’s uncle, he
returned once again to study in China
8. Kim Discovers Lenin
• After his father’s death in 1926 14 year old Kim claims he
began middle school in Manchuria
• He says there that he began reading The Fundamentals
of Socialism & The Biography of Lenin in Chinese
• His claims are dubious as he would of needed at least a
college education in Chinese to do so
• Chances are he learned about communism in
underground study groups
9. From Student to Guerilla
• N. Korea claims Kim Il Sung as its founder & that he
founded their army on 4/25/1932
• This is fiction: Kim’s greatest accomplishment from 1932
– 1940 was staying alive
10. • Japan wiped out the early leadership of the Korean
communist movement
• Hundreds of supporters died or were imprisoned
• Others surrendered or defected to the Japanese
11. • But, according to Japanese military records Kim’s star
rose steadily
• The price on his head climbed from a lowly $10,000 to
$100,000 three years later in 1936
12. • Some historians claim Kim & his guerilla fighters were
forced to retreat into the USSR
• Others say he traveled there on his own
• Either way, Kim found himself in the USSR with the
blessing of the Soviet military
13. Life in the USSR
1941-1945
• Kim Il Sung accepted training in the USSR
• While Kim’s potential rivals for power died fighting the
Japanese, Soviet officials groomed him to play a leading
political role in post-war Korea
• On Feb. 1942 Kim’s wife Chong-suk gave birth to their
first son: Kim Jong Il
14. Kim Who?
• When Kim returned to Pyongyang in 1945 he was not
greeted as a hero
• He was merely an obscure anti-Japanese guerilla fighter
• But Kim had the support of the local Soviet military
commanders
15. • Kim faced little competition in Pyongyang
• Most prominent leaders had flocked to Seoul, Korea’s
traditional capital
• Socialism had attracted many young Koreans who
attended college in Japan
• Once Japan’s impending defeat became evident, the
communist ranks swelled
17. The Korean Cold War
• Soviets quickly put Kim in charge of an interim Korean gov
• Soviets then declared numerous Japanese factories built
in northern Korea as war redemption and dismantled and
shipped them home
18. • In the south many Korean leaders had returned and
behind Kim Ku (also know as Kim Gu) formed a socialist
government
• The US quickly objected and replaced it with their own
19. • For months the US & Soviets tried to est. a multilateral
gov. to rule Korea
• May 31, 1948 Korea had a national presidential election
but the Soviet North boycotted it
• The North then had an election voting for Kim Il Sung
26. The Cost
• S. Korea: 1.3 million
• USA: 172,000
• N. Koreans: 900,000
• Chinese: 900,000
27. Post War N. Korea
• After the War, Kim Il Sung set out to achieve his 3 “R’s”
• Reconstruction, reunification, revolution
28. Paradise or Prison
• Kim quickly sealed off the country to nearly everyone
• Korea in the past was a “hermit kingdom” to keep out W.
powers & British opium
• Kim Il Sung closed N. Korea however to keep out any idea
other than his own
29. • Kim declared his domain a paradise
• Magazines full of color portrayed smiling faces, well-fed
& well-dressed N. Koreans in modern factories & emerald
green rice paddies
30. The truth…
• At the end of the war N. Korea was a wreck
• US had dropped more bombs during the Korean War
than it did in all of WWII
• Industrial centers were nothing more than rubble
• Transportation and power plants were destroyed
• Production of everything except some food had stopped
31. Helping Neighbors
• China & the USSR rushed to help N. Korea
• Both competed to turn war-torn Pyongyang into a
showcase for their different approaches to communism
• They were after the allegiance of so-called “third-world”
nations that had won their independence after WWII
32. • Moscow’s approach was to focus on industry and large
urban areas
• China’s approach was one focused on farming & rural living
33. • Kim Il Sung saw opp. In the rivalry & took advantage of it
• From the USSR he received: heavy industrial equipment,
power plants, hydroelectric dams, electric railroads, &
massive electric irrigation systems
34. • From Beijing Kim received crude oil, food and fertilizer
35. • Though Kim Il Sung was greatly benefiting from foreign
aid, he was determined not to be a satellite to China or
any other country again
• In order to make this clear he invented his own form of
communism: Juche
37. Kim Solidifies His Power
• Using Education, inducements, and social pressure Kim
solidified his power in N. Korea
38. Education
• Kim Il Sung used the schools to erase & re-teach history
• Schools craftily used past events such as Japan’s invasion
of Korea to make parallels to Kim’s rule and the
importance of following him
• Schools also taught an unwavering allegiance to Juche
39. Inducements
• Kim created the Korean Worker’s Party (KWP)
• One can join the KWP if they are 100% faithful to the
party’s beliefs & ideology; and score high in civil exams
• Once in the party one has opportunity to excel
• However outside the party (apx 21 million) one is
virtually destined to a life of poverty
40. Social Pressure
• Much like old USSR; social norms virtually force cultural
rituals to Kim and his party
41. Cracking the Whip
• State Security Agency: “secret police”
• Monitor everything and everyone
• Control 12 state prisons with 200,000 inmates
• Also conduct special overseas missions or attacks
45. The Good Old Days
• N. Korea actually achieved impressive economic gains
between 1953-1985
• Aid poured into the war wasted country & they quickly
erased the Korean War’s damage
47. Extensive Growth
• Following the Soviets, NK focused on “extensive” growth
– Rather than increase productivity, simply add more productivity
• However, underlying infrastructure needed for continued
“extensive” growth was decaying since so much money
was going into the military
48. Old Friend’s Passing
• In 1991 the USSR ceased to exist
• Aid stop coming in & several projects were left undone
such as power plants & fertilizer production centers
• Most importantly cheap crude oil stopped coming in
paralyzing everything from transport to farming
49. Dwindling Trade
• With the USSR a shell of its former self, trade with N.
Korea greatly dropped
• Furthermore China began to trade heavily with S. Korea
• No one wanted N. Korea’s cheap products
• Trade dropped from $5 bil in the 80’s to $1.5 bil in 90’s
50. Environmental Disaster
• Korean developers allowed thousands of acres of trees to
be cut down from hills & mountains
• Massive erosion soon followed
– Dikes and irrigation systems were washed away
– Chemicals mixed with the flooding water and depleted large
amounts of farmland fertility
– Wells were polluted
– Fishing greatly decreased
51. Nature’s Whim
• Aug 1995 torrential rains caused massive flooding
• 70% of the annual rice harvest & 50% of maize destroyed
• 100,000 families were left homeless
• 400,000 hectares of arable land destroyed
• Hunger, starvation, & disease soon followed
52. • Kim’s communism promised a utopia w/o bureaucracy
where all were treated equally and shared everything
• Kim’s dynasty created the opposite: a highly stratified
society dominated by haves and mostly have nots
53. • In order to have any wealth or opportunities one must be
part of Kim’s communist party
• Several other dividers exist as well
54. • Citizens in Pyongyang have much more than rural citizens
55. • Males always take precedent over females
• Women are not allowed to drive vehicles
• Men hardly ever carry anything, they use tractors:
Women however always have to carry heavy things
56. • On 8 July 1994, at age 82, Kim Il-sung collapsed from a
sudden heart attack.
• After the traditional Confucian Mourning period, his
death was declared thirty hours later.
• His funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of
people from all over North Korea
• Many people committed suicide or were killed in the
resulting mass mourning crushes
58. Death of Kim Jong-il
• Died Dec. 17, 2011 of a reported heart-attack
• Replaced by Kim-Jong Un
• Please read/visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-
11388628
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kim-Jong-
Un/197999793546225
