North Korea Indoctrination And Cult Of Personality

North Korea Indoctrination And Cult Of Personality

Introduction

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships. The sociologist Max Weber developed a tripartite classification of authority; the cult of personality holds parallels with what Weber defined as 'charismatic authority'. (Soucek, 2008)

A cult of personality is similar to hero worship, except that it is established by mass media and propaganda. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of religious or non-political leaders.

Not all dictatorships foster personality cults, not all personality cults are dictatorships (some are highly democratic), and some leaders may actively seek to minimize their own public adulation. For example, in the Khmer Rouge regime of Cambodia, Dictator Pol Pot's image was rarely seen. On the other hand, in North Korea there exists a very successful cult of personality, which includes actual semi-worship of both the father (Kim Il-sung) and son (Kim Jong-il). (Shikhmuradov, 2009)

The spread of democratic ideas in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries made it increasingly difficult for monarchs to preserve this aura. However, the subsequent development of photography, sound recording, film and mass production, as well as public education and techniques used in commercial advertising, enabled political leaders to project a positive image like never before. It was from these circumstances in the 20th century that the best-known personality cults arose. Often these cults are a form of Political religion.

In order to maintain control and prevent dissent, North Korea a Confucian like rank system in which men were ranked higher than women,urban workers higher than farmers. The top and most trusted class is called the core class, mostly Korean Workers' Party members,government officials and families of those who fought alongside Kim Il Sung. The middle class is sometimes labeled the wavering class, they are not completely trusted but have committed no crimes against the state. the bottom class is called the hostile class. Those thus labeled were often swept up in purges . There is also a vast network of secret police, with at least one or two in every work unit .

Discussion

Journalist Bradley Martin documented the personality cults of North Korea's father-son leadership, "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung and "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il (Martin, 2010) While visiting North Korea in 1979 he noted that nearly all music, art, and sculpture that he observed glorified "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung, whose personality cult was then being extended to his son, "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il.[5] Kim Il-sung rejected the notion that he had created a cult around himself and accused those who suggested so of "factionalism".(BBC, 2010) A US religious freedom investigation confirmed Martin's observation that North Korean schoolchildren learn to thank Kim Il-sung for all blessings as part of the cult.[6] Evidence of the cult of Kim Il-Sung continues into the 21st century (despite ...