The Politics of North Korea Flashcards
1
Q
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
A
- Possibly the most totalitarian society every created
- Very rigid political structure permeates all aspects of life
- But crucially: economic malaise is tearing at the institutional fabric of society
- Rise of markets means people’s lives less dependent on state and class system (Songbun)
- Homeless children, rich entrepreneurs, destitute criminal gangs: more and more people do not fit into the apparatus for totalitarian control
- Tensions are exacerbated during COVID crisis
2
Q
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
A
- Resilience of the regime: why does it survive?
- Totalitarian mechanisms for control: surveillance through neighbourhood committees, political organisations, the Workers’ Party
- Ideology and ideological mobilisation is woven into the entire fabric of society
- The class system: Songbun
- Oppression: human rights, concentration camps
- Militarism: central place of military in society
- The unofficial DPRK: markets, business(wo)men, homeless, refugees in China, forced labourers abroad, clandestine financial operations abroad
3
Q
The Kim Dynasty
A
- Kim Il-sung 1912-1994
- Kim Jong-il 1941-2011
- Kim Jong-un 1983-
4
Q
Regime Legitimacy: Anti-Imperialism
A
- Legitimacy regime based on anti-imperialism and independence
- Needs a constant external threat to maintain this legitimacy
5
Q
Juche
A
- Ideological autonomy
- Political independence
- Economic self-sustenance
- Self-reliance in defence
Opposite of Juche: Sadae (subservient relations)
6
Q
Juche
A
Marxist-Leninism: “historical materialism”
- Material forces are driving force of historical progress
Juche: “Popular masses drive history”
- Human beings driving force of history
- To be successful they need a “Great Leader”
7
Q
The Priority: Preservation of the DPRK regime
A
- Why no China-style economic reforms?
- Why spend money on nuclear bombs during food shortage?
- Why emphasis on military and not economy?
- Why domestic oppression so extreme?
- Why so aggressive and uncooperative internationally?
- Answer: it serves goal of regime preservation
- All policy must be understood in this context
8
Q
What is crucial for the preservation of the DPRK regime?
A
Crucial: the regime’s view of history
- Legitimacy: History of oppression by Japanese colonialists and the American imperialists
- The great fear: International developments of the last 30 years
– Tiananmen uprising and massacre
– fall of the USSR and communist states in Eastern Europe
– Arab spring
9
Q
The Priority: Preservation of the DPRK regime
A
- Military strength (internationally): strong army with militarised population and nuclear weapons
- Military strength (domestically): source of pride and legitimacy, loyalty of military essential in case of civil unrest
- Towards building a totalitarian state: oppression, surveillance and ideological mobilisation/indoctrination
10
Q
The Nuclear Weapons Program
A
- Priority: regime preservation
- Starts with end of the Cold War
- Estimated to have more than 30 nuclear weapons, ability to produce 6 or 7 per year
- Also large stock of biological and chemical weapons
- 2003-2009: “Six Party Talks” (DPRK, ROK, Japan, China, Russia, US) aimed at ending program
- Seen as insurance against attack and bargaining chip, as well as source of pride for leadership
- Motivation must be understood through context of DPRK’s international outlook and legitimacy of the leaders: self-reliance in defense
11
Q
Totalitarianism
A
- Highly centralised state
- Well-defined ideology
- Seeks to transform and fuse the institutions of state, society, and the economy
- Main objective: transform the total institutional fabric of a country to meet ideological goal (different from other nondemocratic regimes)
- Due to ambitious goals: violence and the resulting terror often necessary tools to destroy any obstacle to change
12
Q
The Origins of North Korean Totalitarianism
A
Why does the regime survive?
- Just because of state terror and oppression? Too simple.
- Ideology: anti-imperialism and independence
- Surveillance: inminban (neighbourhood committees), “organisational” membership; extensive system of informers
- Mobilisation: the above societal units serve to constantly reaffirm ideology
- Oppression: highest number of political prisoners in the world. Zero tolerance: absolutely no political dissent tolerated.
13
Q
Inminban: “people’s units”
A
- Neighbourhood committees
- 15-30 families living together in village, urban block, or building
- Always headed by a woman
- She must know “number of chopsticks in each household”; must know everything about the families in her inminban and regularly brief the people
- Registers overnight visitors, makes random checks at night with police (2-4 times a year)
- General mobilisation for political events
14
Q
“Organisational Life”
A
- Through workplace unit everyone is affiliated with some organisation
- 5 organisations nationally: party/workers/farmers/women’s/youth
- Ideological education sessions twice a week (mandatory attendance)
- Plus one self-and-mutual criticism session per week: public admission of ideological lapses the previous week and criticism of co-workers
15
Q
Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System
A
- Most important ideological document in the country
- Every citizen must memorize
- Basis for the Kim personality cult
- Established in 1970s
- Contains 65 sub-clauses that must also be learned
