Book Review: Kim Jong-Il: North Korea's Dear Leader

Michael Breen, Kim Jong-Il: North Korea's Dear Leader (New York: John Wiley, 2004). $24.95

Reviewed by Scott B. MacDonald

Click here to purchase John Wiley's book, "Kim Jong-Il: North Korea's Dear Leader," directly from Amazon.com

Michael Breen, an old Korean hand and journalist, has written an entertaining, must-read book on North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-il, also known as the "Dear Leader".

Having traveled to North Korea a number of times and now living in the South, he clearly has an understanding of the local political culture and how it often collides when the West looks at North Korea, which he ultimately describes as thus: "It's Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia in the middle of Mao's Cultural Revolutionary madness." Considering the fractured nature of data available about North Korea and its dubious place as part of President George W. Bush's Axis of Evil, Breen provides an educated glimpse into a country made critical by the combination of its harsh political regime and possession of nuclear weapons.

Breen traces Kim Jong-il's childhood, his relations with his family and describes the world around him. He notes that the Dear Leader's rise to national leader in the boots of his father, Kim Sung-il (the Great Leader) was not a given, considering the existance of a half-brother, the son of the elder Kim's second marriage. As Breen notes: "The stage was better set for his half-brother Pyong-il to be seen as the new 'first son', and Jong-il to be the more obscure Billy Carter/Roger Clinton figure identified in the pictures as 'second left, back row, with the hair'." What saved Jong-il from this fate was that his mother had been a partisan and that he was active in promoting the personality cult for his father. Indeed, the younger Kim demonstrated a strong interest in film and opera, all of which aimed at reinforcing the personality cult of North Korea's Great Leader and the mission of self-reliance (Juche). Along these lines, we are treated to such exciting revolutionary operas as The Sea of Blood, True Daughter of the Revolution, and (how can we forget!) Fate of a Member of the Self-Defense Corps. Nonetheless, Jong-il's patriotism and loyality to Kim Sung-il made an impression on the veterans around the Great Leader. As the Great Leader aged, these veterans increasingly looked to Jong-il as the successor. By 1980, Jong-il emerged as the official successor, though he was exceedingly careful not to upstage his father. When the elder Kim died in July 1994, Jong-il was probably actively involved in running the government. Even so, he did not officially emerge as North Korea's undisputed leader until 1997, having observed a lengthy period of respect. He was also busy consolidating his power.

Although Breen admits that it is tempting to regard Kim Jong-il as a "nutter", someone that suffers from malignant narcissism (according to one political psychological profile), he emphasizes that the Dear Leader is a product of local political culture. Korean political culture is clearly heirarchical, founded upon Confucianism. While this is changing in the South due to democratization and globalization, it has been allowed to go unchecked in the North, with the dyfunctional twist of fate being the emergence of a Communist dynasty. Within this context, Kim Jong-il is aware that the North Korean state is a facade of forced loyalty, held in place by a system of gulags and military power. Breen also asserts that Jong-il is aware that his father generated real emotion from his people having fought against the Japanese in the liberation of his country and then against the Americans. In contrast, the son does not generate that level of support. In fact, according to Breen, he is the one fat man in a country hard hit by famine during the 1990s (that might have left 3 million dead) and focused on remaining in power and living the high life. In a sense, Kim must relaize that he is trapped. If he makes the changes necessary to moving North Korea out of its developmental cul-de-sac, he is also opening the door for his own demise. Any crack of freedom (even just economic), threatens to disrupt a system of ruthless and total control. Consequently, the system is run to have total loyalty to the Dear Leader and focus with a deep hatred on the enemies that threaten the North Korean workers paradise.

Why do we care? According to Breen we care because Kim Jong-il presides over a country that is unable to feed itself, but has the capacity to threaten the surrounding region with weapons of mass destruction. The new series of missiles, which probably can carry nuclear weapons, can currently reach Japan, China, Russia and Alaska. The next generation of missiles might be able to hit the U.S. west coast. This certainly makes Washington take notice of the strange, chubby man with the funny hair sitting in Pyongyang. While we have our own security concerns, there is also the fate of the North Korean people, caught in the world's most isolated state.

What to do? North Korea represents a very difficult foreign policy problem. The Kim regime is a brutal authoritarian regime, armed with weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, no one really wants to see the North Korean state implode. The economic and political costs of a failed state in North Korea would be massive for South Korea and poise tough questions for both China and the United States. Breen believes that North Korea needs to be nudged along, gradually making the necessary changes. U.S. policy should broaden its focus from the nuclear issue to a more fullsome approach, including the discreet interdiction of the regime's illicit trafficking in drugs and weapons (cutting off the flow of cash which allows Kim Jong-il to buy his imported cognac), a non-agression pact, a Korean War peace treaty, U.S. embassy in Pyongyang, loans, and access to U.S. markets. In addition, North Korea should be made to sign a human rights agreement with the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. Although it would be difficult to enforce, it would give the outside world a little more legal leverage on promoting change within the North. Although none of this is perfect, it could create a workable peace. As Breen concludes:

"But then, although unstated, a comprehensive engagement approach would also lay the groundwork for the eventual regime change and the exit of Kim Jong-il - which, after all - is what we're all waiting for. The sad fact is that, until that happy day, the poor people of North Korea will continue to suffer."

Breen's Kim Jong-il is a very worth while read.