JKSCHW at aol.com wrote:
>
> Nor do I think that we have a cult of personality around them comparable to
> that existing in North Korea--a situation, now that the elder Kim is dead,
> involving a cult of personality without a personality.
>
Cheap shot. Low blow. What is the source of this accusation? Have you met Kim Jong-il? North Koreans do worship their leader but its not a personality cult. Noone knows anything about Kim's personal life. It is kept that way so it *does not* turn into a personality cult.
The leader worship is actually worse than most people think. There are plaques in various places, in buildings, in people's houses, factories etc. announcing the last time Kim was there.
Cumings argues, convincingly, that however strange repugnant this leader worship is to an educated middle class American, it is well within the Confucian tradition of respect and reverance for the benevolent patriarch. The language used in the 'leader worship' documents is Confucian: 'fatherly', 'benevolent'etc. North Korea if anything resembles a Confucian kingdom.
As for Kim il Sung himself, if you want to know who he really was and what he stood for see *Kim il Sung. The North Korean Leader.* Dae Sook Suh. Colombia University Press.1994. Kim ,while in his twenties, was one of the leading figures in the Korean fight against Japanese occupation.
The Japanese drafted a special death squad to hunt and kill Kim il Sung. Further, one can only imagine the resolve and steely nerves of Kim il Sung as the Americans feigned dropping nuclear weeapons on P'yongyang. Given the state of the bombings in that war, they might as well have. It is this kind of thing that the north Koreans worship, Kim's exploits in the anti-colonial struggle, in the anti-imperialist struggle and the building of socialism. No doubt they exaggerate Kim's accomplishments, but they were nevertheless real. Typical north Korean propaganda says things like "Koreans are engaged in an anti-imperialist struggle under the wise and benevolent leadership of Kim _____." or "Here is a photo of Kim il Sung fighting the Japanese. All Koreans should follow the example of the wise and fatherly leader."
Just as there is more to the USA than pictures of Bill Clinton and endless stupidities in the "free press" about where he is putting his cigar and the endless worship of the constitution, there is much more to north Korea than pictures and statues of Kim.
North Korea is and has never been Stalinist apart from the emphasis on heavy industry. There are no pictures of Stalin or even Lenin or Mao in north Korea. If you read Stalin and Kim or even Mao and Kim they are years apart on all questions. Kim il Sung and north Korea are sui generis. It is not a model of development but there are many worthwhile things in that country worth defending, such as ecological programs.
Also, Kim Jong-il was, since birth, trained to take his fathers position. Kim jr. was born and educated in the USSR. He is in his late 60's. Lastly, there is no such thing as North and South Korea or N&S Koreans. It is a single country linked by a common (pre-American occupation) history. The 38' parallel is an arbitrary dividing line drawn up by American generals and CIA operatives, who were and are hated by most Koreans.
Sam Pawlett