THE CULT THAT IS NORTH KOREACHRISTOPHER M. CENTNER

Strategic ReviewSpring 2000United States Strategic Institute, Boston

Christopher M. Centner is a senior intelligence analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency. He has had numerous assignments in the Intelligence Community involving chemical weapons, nuclear weapons and combined arms analysis. He is a graduate of the Joint Military Intelligence College in Washington, D.C., and of Auburn University at Montgomery, where he received a Masters in Political Science.

IN BRIEF

World policymakers are puzzled by North Korea's erratic and violentbehavior, failing to understand that North Korea is not a traditionalnation-state, but a cult that possesses territory. As a cult, North Korea needs to maintain tensions with the outside world and resist reforms that would seem to others as rationally necessary. Moreover, Pyongyang seems to be slipping more and more toward a totalistic cult model that mirrors the behavior of groups that have, in the past, used weapons of mass destruction, murdered outsiders and committed group suicide. By viewing North Korea not as a rational nation-state but as a religious cult, policymakers will have a better model to understand and predict Pyongyang's behavior Some attributesof South Korea's Sunshine Policy appear to correctly focus on weakening Kim Jong-II's absolute control over the North Korean population.

North Korea is a conundrum. Despite our best efforts, Pyongyang continues to strain regional stability. U.S. attempts to resolve disputes with dialogue and substantial aid only result in aggressive propaganda and continued confrontational responses. U.S. policy and indeed most nations' policy toward North Korea are based upon the model of state-to-state relations. In this model, the two states, although possibly in conflict, bargain with one another to find areas of mutual gain. This 'rationalist' model of foreign affairs typically works well in estimating how another state will react to actions and propositions. It fails with North Korea. North Korea does not adhere to agreements or international norms that most countries - even themost venal - consider important. It uses diplomatic immunity to smuggle drugs and counterfeit funds worldwide. It kidnaps foreigners and forces them into slavery. While children starve, Pyongyang sells food for hard currency and tests missiles designed to strike countries providing it the greatest amount of humanitarian aid. North Korea is a foreign policy puzzle for Japan and China as well. In every case, these countries have failed to find a way to reduce Pyongyang's erratic behavior or bring it into the Community of Nations. A new model to understand and predict North Korea's seemingly erratic behavior is needed. Otherwise, the region will continue to spasm from crisis to crisis. The world will continue to attempt to placate and soothe a nation whose actions appear unpredictable and whose military capabilities threaten the region with nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. North Korea remains an enigma because the wrong model is being used by policy-makers. North Korea does

not behave in a manner consistent with a nation state. Instead, North Korea is, and behaves, like a violent religiouscult that controls territory. If one wants to understand why North Koreabehaves as it does, one must study not nation-state behaviour but the behaviour of other violent cults such as the Aum Shinrikyu, Peoples Temple, and others.

What is a Cult?There are numerous definitions of 'cult.' However, 'cult,' in its most contemporary and psychological sense, typically refers to religious or philosophical organizations with specific identifiable attributes. A cult is a group or organization that exhibits singular devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing. While such a definition could encompass practically any single-purpose organization, cults employ organized manipulative techniques of persuasion and control designed to advance the goals of the groups' leaders. These manipulative techniques of persuasion and control include, but are not limited to: isolation from society and family; information control and censorship; diminution of individuality orindividual judgment; promotion of total dependency on the group; and the depiction of the outside world as evil and dangerous.1. North Korea as Compared to Cult Definitions When compared to the attributes of a cult, North Korea slides easily into the definition. The country's political doctrine, juche (pronounced JOO-chay), is not communist, but instead 'a quasi-mystical concept in which the collective will of the people is distilled into a supreme leader whose every act exemplifies the State and society's needs. Opposition to such aleader, or to the rules, regulations, and goals established by his regime, is thus opposition to the national interest. The regime therefore claims a social interest in identifying and isolating all oppositions.

'Contrary to contemporary notions,' writes Thomas J. Belke, author of Juche:A Christian Study of North Korea's State Religion, 'Juche, which literallymeans 'self reliance,' is not just a North Korean version of Marxist atheistphilosophy. Rather it is a highly developed religion -- the eighth largestreligion in the world in terms of numbers of adherents.' Surprisingly,however, almost no works about the Juche cult are available in the U.S. Ofthe more than 4.7 million books available through Amazon.com, only fourfocus upon Juche; three of those are North Korean. In contrast, about 650books address Mormonism, over 260 address Sikh beliefs, over 60 discussWicca, and nearly 60 address Shintoism.

Thus, despite the fact that Juche has, for good or ill, a significant impactupon national security, almost no effort is made to understand the faith.The danger posed by ignoring Juche can be demonstrated by comparing itsattributes to cults and, in particular, violent cults. Michael D. Langone,Ph.D., Psychologist and Director of Research and Victim Assistance of theAmerican Family Foundation, (ICSA) created a checklist for individuals concernedthat a particular organization may, in fact, be a cult. North Korea fitspractically every attribute of the checklist:

* [North Korea] is focused on a living leader to whom members seem todisplay excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment. North Korea is led byKim Jong-Il, who seized and extended the personality cult created by his

father and North Korea's founder, Kim Il-Sung. Kim junior is depicted as theworld's greatest leader, with supernatural powers and unparalleledcapacities. An October 1995 North Korean press article stated that 'theleader is not an individual, but the brain of the revolution, the center ofunity, and the supreme person who represents the popular masses.' Kim isreputed to have written hundreds of books, all epic masterpieces. He canstop rain and predict the discovery of natural resources. He is brilliant,able to provide on-the-spot guidance to scientists and workers alike.Miraculous natural events demonstrate that even nature is on his side. As atoddler he smeared a map of Japan with black ink and caused a rainstorm topummel Japan. 'By a touch of Kim Jong-Il's hand the sea turned into afertile land and a deep valley into a paradise.'iii Spring blossomsmiraculously came into full bloom in October 1998, as Kim was proclaimedSecretary of the Workers' Party of (North) Korea. This phenomenon, we aretold, proved that nature also honors Kim Jong-Il.iv In just two years, NorthKorea published over 300 poems and over 400 songs praising Kim Jong-I1.vWords and images link him and his father to ancient Korean mythology.* [North Korea] is preoccupied with bringing in new members. North Koreaattempts to promote its cult across the globe. Worshipful groups exist inRussia, England, Australia, Japan, India, Bangladesh, Peru, Guinea, Vietnam,and in over 80 other countries.vi Libraries in the developing world findthemselves the destination for piles of tracts on Juche, a topic that has nopractical utility to locals.* [North Korea] is preoccupied with making money. North Korea's mainemphasis in its foreign policy is the acquisition of hard currency. Fromballistic missile sales to counterfeitingvii and opium production,viiiPyongyang focuses its organizational strength on accumulating hard currencywhich it then apparently uses for prestige construction projects and its warmachine, not on development or food.* Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.According to the U.S. Department of State, the North Korean governmentattempts to control all information. Internal media censorship is strictlyenforced, and no deviation from the official government line is tolerated.The regime prohibits its citizens from listening to foreign media, andviolators are severely punished. Radios and television sets receive onlydomestic broadcasts. The average North Korean cannot make or receivetelephone calls to other nations. There is no Internet access available tothe general North Korean public. All information feeds focus on Kim and hiscult. There is no academic or artistic freedom. A principal function ofplays, movies, operas, children's performances, and books is to contributeto the cult of personality surrounding Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-I1. Nearlyevery science paper in academic journals, from physics and math to fisheriesresearch, begins with a quote from either Kim or his father. Indeed, it isconsidered a gross criminal act to throw away a picture of the 'Great' or'Dear' Leaders.ix* Mind-numbing techniques (such as meditation, chanting, speaking intongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used tosuppress doubts about [North Korea] and its leader(s). In her book, NorthKoreans in Japan: Language, Ideology, and Identity, Professor Sonia Ryangdescribes how North Korean education methods limit the conceptual and even

linguistic options of Korean children. Instead of understanding concepts andtheories behind politics, children are provided rote chant-like responses topolitical questions, with no intellectual foundation to conceive ofalternatives.'x A North Korean-English phrasebook, contains such ditties as'I say the U.S. imperialists are wolves in human form!' and provides anothername for North Korea: Juche.xi* The leadership dictates sometimes in great detail how members shouldthink, act, and feel. North Korean authorities can control virtually allaspects of citizens' lives. The government dictates their schools, theirmovements even outside their villages and their residences. Some of theserestrictions seemed to have broken down recently due to the famine.xii* [North Korea] is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself,its leader(s), and members (for example: the leader is considered theMessiah or an avatar; [North Korea] and/or the leader has a special missionto save humanity). North Korea claims that Juche is a new, advanced andscientific ideology that will free the world finally of imperialism andreactionism -- that is, the U.S., South Korea, and Japan. 'For the firsttime, the movement for the transformation of the world began to achieve newdevelopments on the track toward independence, thanks to the immortal Jucheidea which completely clarified the road to realize independence for thepopular masses, countries and nations, and now with the 21st century justaround the corner, the movement to make the world independent has entered anew stage of development.'xiii* [North Korea] has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which causesconflict with the wider society. North Korea sees itself at war withimperialism in the forms of Japan and the U.S. 'The abominable crueltiescommitted by the U.S. imperialist aggression troops still make our peopleburn in their hearts with indignation and resolve firmly to take revenge onthe enemy.'xiv North Korea persistently claims Tokyo has not ended its driveto claim all of Asia. 'Our Republic has many problems to solve with Japan,'Korea Times reported. 'It can be easily guessed that when the pent-upresentment of the Korean people against Japan will turn into an immeasurablyterrible force of revenge when it flares up. The Japanese reactionaries mustgive up their ulterior motive hidden behind their attempt to aggravate thesituation by making a fuss about the [Korean] missile threat, and mustdiscontinue their foolish act of digging graves by their own hands.'* [North Koreas] leader is not accountable to any authorities. Kim Jong-Ilis a divine leader of North Korea, son of a divine leader Kim Il-Song. Kimhas no entity or organization to whom he is answerable. As Korea Todaystates: 'All the people should become absolute worshippers, resolutedefenders and thorough executors of Kim Jong-Ils ideas .....'xv

So it goes. Juche and the worship of Kim Jong-Il match almost perfectly withthose attributes expected to be found in a cult. Where U.S. policy isaddressed to a governmental counterpart, it is received by an organizationmore akin to the Aum Shinrikyu or the Solar Temple. Indeed, the mostoppressive nations imaginable -- Iraq or Libya, for instance -- do notcontrol their people, have such singular spiritual purpose, or match as manycultic attributes as North Korea. Aside from its possession of territory, itis a radical religious group, not a nation-state.

North Korea as a Totalist Cult - Nation-State Vs. People's TempleWhile identifying and treating North Korea as a cult rather than a countrymight help the U.S. to better formulate and execute an effective foreignpolicy, a further step is necessary to determine whether the cult ispotentially violent. Violent cults typically have the most extreme ofattributes seen in moderate cults. To these attributes is added a focus uponand preparation for death, major upheaval, or violence.xvi

Each violent or suicidal cult focuses upon a forthcoming fierce upheaval andprepares for the event. In Tokyo, the Aum Shinrikyu gassed innocents becausethey believed that if they started World War III, it would ultimately ensuretheir rebirth and salvation. In California, Heaven's Gate, the cult lead byMarshall Applewhite, focused violence inward through castration andeventually collective suicide. In Guyana's jungles in 1978, Peoples Templeleader Jim Jones ordered hundreds of his followers to swallow a suicidecocktail of cyanide-spiked Kool-Aid. His loyal guards, armed with guns andarrows, stood at the edge of the crowd threatening any resisters. They hadpracticed for that day, a day justified by Jones' hallucinatory view of theworld, wherein his flock faced an imminent attack by evil mercenaries.xviiIn a French Alps cottage in 1995, two Order of the Solar Temple members shotand killed 16 adherents before setting fire to the bodies and killingthemselves. Mass murder and suicide were justified in the minds of the groupleader, Luc Jouret, as an escape from an evil world that would soon bedestroyed.xviii Weapons were at the ready to carry out this plot.

Again, North Korea matches the pattern of the most violent cults. For years,Kim Jong-Il has directed massive resources to the military, despite thenationwide famine. Resource constraints and a faltering of its economicpartners have not reduced the North's pursuit of weapons of massdestruction. Indeed, since Kim Jong-Il took power, military officials havemoved steadily up the North's government hierarchy. The entire countrytransformed into a fortress, with massive underground facilities built towithstand the forthcoming Armageddon. Most disturbingly, North Koreanpropaganda is calculated to create a population eager for war, revenge, andmass suicidal attacks world-wide. Korea Today states, 'All the KPA officersand men are full of the fighting spirit and vigor to give an annihilatingblow to the aggressors and make them forlorn wandering spirits.... The U.S.imperialist aggressors should be mindful that this planet will never existwithout Korea.... If they finally unleash a war, our People's Army will blowup the U.S. territory as a whole and demonstrate the mettle of the greatMarshal Kim Jong-IIs army, the strongest in the world.'1 'There is nosanctuary on the planet to escape the North's unlimited, relentless strikeon this planet.2

DPRK troops are exhorted to defend Kim, Juche's cult leader, "at the cost oftheir lives, whatever storm may blow."3 Self-destructive phrases such as"the spirit of human bombs and of suicidal attack" have become common andrepetitive propaganda themes since Kim took power. The Korean Central NewsAgency, for instance, explained that "Our People's Army is replete with the

spirit of resolutely safeguarding the leader, the spirit of human bombs andthe spirit of suicidal attack."4 Korean People's Army soldiers sing songssuch as "Ten Million will Become Human Bombs.5 Oratorical contestparticipants call upon North Korean Youth League officials to fulfill theirobligations in preparing North Korea's youth to be human bombs.6 Thephrasing clearly indicates soldiers and children are indoctrinated to pledgetheir lives to Kim, to make suicidal attacks in defense of his person. Thesesuicidal attacks appear to be envisioned as a certain means to victory inthe final conflict with imperialism:

"All our people, more than 20 million, have firm faith and will; [we are]ready to become human bombs for your sake. This reminds me of the meaning ofour party's optimistic slogan 'Let us see who will be the final winner.Victory is ours.'7 With such religious fervor, it is possible that Kim couldcommand his followers to defend him even if North Korea is not actuallythreatened by outside forces.

The Rational Actor That Never WasOur current foreign policy appears predicated on a North Korean rationalactor that may not exist. Even Dr. William J. Perry's recent policyrecommendations8 on how to handle North Korea assume a rational,'calculating' Pyongyang counterpart -- even though previous policies basedupon that assumption have failed. When examining our policy with North Koreafrom a cultic perspective, the reasons why policy has not succeeded appearfar more obvious. Our policy appears grounded upon the concept that KimJong-Il is a con artist who merely uses Juche and the cult of personality toaccrue power and wealth. This viewpoint ignores the evidence that the Juchecult is preparing for an Apocalypse, one that it might set off at anymoment. Policymakers do not appear to consider the possibility that heactually believes himself to be a god. Thus, a policy to reduce regionaltensions while ensuring North Korea understands that they would lose anyconflict may easily fail. Soothing words from outside are calls to violence:Kim and North Korea use conflict with the outside world to maintain NorthKorean isolation and strong cult cohesion. For Mm, conciliatory responsesand attempts to reduce tensions by the U.S. must be met with hostility andovert aggression by the North.

Many in the U.S. believe Kim is unlikely to unleash a war he patently cannotwin. But Kim's calculations may be irrational. What objective informationdoes he have to formulate a rational policy? The North declares him beyondall other humans: "Human history records many distinguished thinkers andmilitary commanders, but there is no parallel to His Excellency Marshal KimJong-Il both in art and military affairs."9 He is a god, and one does notfurnish gods unfavorable intelligence, or tell them their goals can- not beachieved. He knows he is the master of a great crusade opposing imperialismand that he has suicide squads with fanatic acolytes. If war should come,surely there would be global convocation to the crusade. Certainly, thespiritual strength of the Korean masses would overwhelm the corruptimperialists and their reactionary lackeys. And, if North Korea should be

threatened with extinction, then Japan, the U.S. and their puppets willexpire with them. Kim's calculations may be as clear as those of otherviolent cult leaders: Jim Jones, David Koresh, or Marshall Applewhite. Cultsare dangerous because the threat dynamics are internal, not external. Theyare driven by the perceptions of a leadership that might interpret mundaneevents as cosmic signs for action. Thus, rock lyrics, congressional visits,and even comets have triggered murder and suicides. It is therefore unlikelythat U.S. policy can stave off similar acts by North Korea; the triggeringevents for such catastrophes may be unidentifiable and irrational.

The U.S. has attempted to negotiate with North Korea on nuclear and missileissues, but if the cultic model holds, these efforts are also likely tofail. Agreements with cults are transitory, and cease as new revelationsmake the agreements invalid. For North Korea, weapons are seen as essentialnot for deterrence, but as tools for final confrontation. When signing the1994 Agreed Framework that froze North Korea's nuclear activities atYongbyon, the U.S. apparently hoped North Korea would either collapse orreform before its nuclear program would mature. It has done neither. Cultsdo not collapse so predictably.

It is unlikely that, given the current leadership of Kim, North Korea willsoon join the list of respectable nations. The cult he runs needs conflictto maintain its identity. It must destroy South Korea and humiliate Japanand the United States. Even if peaceful unification was possible under thebanner of Juche, the bloodbath to purge Southern apostates would likelydwarf the genocide that stained Cambodia or even Nazi Germany. Actions takento prop up the North Korean regime - by food aid and other financialincentives -- are unlikely by themselves to soften the North's ideologicalfanaticism: aid might only extend the window in which a suicidal crusadecould come to pass.

A New Foreign PolicyA new and effective foreign policy for North Korea must start with thepremise that Pyongyang is a cultic state. Refocused intelligence andacademic research is needed before detailed policies can be recommended.Traditional approaches and policies are unlikely to be appropriate, muchless effective, when facing a cult-run enemy nation. Foreign policystrategies that have been used to avoid war successfully in the past -- suchas political concessions, arms control, financial rewards, economiccooperation, and personal inducements -- may not only be inapplicable toNorth Korea but unrealistic, given Pyongyang's fundamentally hostileworldview and its fanatical, resolutely uncompromising Kim-focus doctrine.Some guides to a new and more effective North Korean foreign policy may beavailable by studying past U.S. experience with cult organizations, and bystudying religious terrorists. In the case of the U.S. failure tosuccessfully negotiate with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, the FBIwas criticized for treating the cult leader as a "self-interested,perverted, self-indulgent personality who had conned these people." However,the FBI retorted that Koresh believed he was the sacrificed Lamb of God whowould lead them through the tribulations, and that Koresh remained in total

control of the negotiations. The FBI simply could not find a successfulmethod to negotiate with a religious fanatic who could break agreements by arevelation.10Koresh, and the other cult leaders remained in control of the timing,methods and actions of their followers during each bloody incident. In NorthKorea's case, the "Dear Leader" has controlled North Korea's internaldynamics, the method and timing of his international escapades, the pace ofthe resulting negotiations with the U.S., South Korea and Japan, and otheraspects of his environment. In any confrontation between Juche and theworld, Kim will always attempt to maintain total control. If Kim believesthat confrontation threatens the loss of internal control, it is possiblethat he will retreat to consolidate his influence and reestablish authority.Control is his primary weapon, both internally and externally.Dr. Langone noted that during the siege at Waco there was only onepsychological profile that actually mattered: that of David Koresh. "Theidiosyncrasies and possible mental instability of a cult leader can make thebehavior of the entire group as unpredictable as the leader's ownpersonality." Dr. Langone's statement suggests that the State Departmentshould pay particular attention to the psychology of Kim, and remain verysensitive to the unpredictability factor.

South Korea and Sunshine against Juche and Kim Jong-I1

Very little is written on how to diminish the threat of cults, or how toreform them toward peace. Many beneficial contemporary religions and severalsocial movements began their existence as cults, but evolved intomain-stream movements. It is possible that North Korea and Juche will do thesame. Unfortunately, North Korea currently appears to be heading down thepath of self-destruction and conflict, rather than reconciliation and peace.Moreover, it would appear that this is inevitable. North Korea, Kim, andJuche all exist as a counterpoint to South Korea and its allies. If NorthKorea could accept South Korea, its existence would no longer make sense. Tocompromise is to die. North Korea's rhetoric and ideology does not appear topermit it to go gently into that good night. If death is the only option,Kim may try to take South Korea, the U.S. and Japan with him.

One possible policy option is to focus efforts on the North Korean citizenryrather than the governmental leadership. Some research indicates how, andwhy, individuals withdraw from cults. Individuals leave cults when theybecome less isolated from the larger society; as intimate contacts becomeless regulated; as individuals see less urgency in regulation of their time,lifestyle and behavior; when individuals perceive the cult is failing thegroup it is supposed to support; and when individuals see the leadership asless exemplary.11

Interestingly, there are some aspects to South Korea's Sunshine Policy thatappear to consider these conditions. Many of Kim Dae-jung's policy goalsfocus on ways to increase contacts between Koreans rather than improvingrelations with the regime. These policies could weaken cult cohesion and

control. The more North Koreans are exposed to South Korean tourists, theless dominion Pyongyang has on the population's perception of the South. Themore families are united, the less Pyongyang has an ability to isolate itspeople. Even Seoul's outreach to Koreans in Japan will help break theJuche-based isolation of the pro-Northern faction. Meanwhile, South Koreahas shown that Northern military provocations will not be tolerated. Seoulis also creating what the Juche cult only promises: a powerful and proudKorean people who are respected across the world.

Other policy options are available. Juche stripped to the bone is a rathersimple philosophy. A schism, or "reformation" of Juche by Koreans outside ofNorth Korea could attack the most dangerous attribute of the cult: Kim'sright to lead. Indeed, Kim Jong-Ils consistent failure to provide for hispeople -- and his fixation on military development -- has led to hunger,economic collapse, and suffering. He has failed to meet his followers'needs, and should be held accountable by those who support Juche worldwide.Hwang Jang-yop, the North Korean who defected in 1997 and who had helped toformulate Juche, may be quite helpful in re-aligning the internationalmovement toward a more constructive and peaceful direction.

Kim Jong-Il obviously looks to the military as his greatest asset. Any timethat asset is weakened, as when South Korea responded powerfully to NorthKorean naval incursions, Kim himself is weakened. Front organizations thatserve North Korea's goals world- wide also need attention. Kim Jong-11 hasfocused his country on acquiring science and technology. Since he isobsessed with strengthening his armed forces, it is unlikely the acquisitionof any advanced technology by front organizations would serve the interestsof world peace.

Seoul's creative policy maneuvers are worthy of U.S. study. However, bothSouth Korea and the U.S. must incorporate within their respectiveconsultative bodies experts in cultic studies, and those experienced innegotiating with violent or suicidal cults. And both countries must ensurethat Kim is exposed to the outside world and pushed into reality. The KoreanPeople's Army soldiers make suicidal pledges to him. Mm controls themilitary and its devastating weapons. As long as the personality cult of Kimremains -- as long as he is a god -- and as long as Kim remains isolatedfrom reality, violence and mass blood- shed could occur at his whim.

Victory! Then What?The end of the Juche cult will not end problems in Korea. The North Koreanpost-unification citizens will need guidance and support. When a regimentedculture collapses, people often search for other organized ideologies tofill the void. Rampant Korean nationalism and expansionism may becomenear-term threats. Some evidence suggests that former cult members in theU.S. have been able to transition into regular society by joining mainstreamreligious groups that provide structure and personal support. Christianityand Buddhism are the largest religions in South Korea. Buddhists,Evangelicals, and other supportive mainstream religions should prepare toprovide the philosophical and emotional support the North Koreans will need

in a post-cult world.North Korea may be an extreme cult case, but it will likely not be the last.The world is now connected with communications means that permit thecreation of instant ideologies. Ideas, good or ill, are shared worldwide inthe wink of an eye. Internet and other modern means of connectivity permitpeople to immerse themselves into a world of like-minded individuals. Cutoff voluntarily from alternative views, they are the rich soil where new anddangerous cults will likely germinate.

Notes

1. Michael D. Langone, Ph.D. (Ed.), Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims ofPsychological and Spiritual Abuse (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1993),pp. 4-5.2. U.S. Department of State, Democratic People's Republic of Korea CountryReport on Human Rights Practices for 1998,http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1998_hrp_report/ (hereaftercited as DPRK Human Rights Report 1998).3. 'Personality Cult of Kim Jong-II,' Koreascope,http://www.koreascope.org/english/sub/213-/nk2-2.htm.4. Mark Caprio, -Me Election of Kim Jong-II,' Network Pacifica Asia,http://Iaw. rikkyo.acjp.npalng5O4.htra.5. 'Personality Cult of Kim Jong-II.'6. Thomas J. Belke, Juche: A Christian Study of North Korea's State Religion(Bartlesville, OK- Living Sacrifice Book Company, 1999), p. 192.7. 'DPRK Dollar Strong As Ever.' Chosun Ilbo, Seoul, November 6, 1998.Reprinted by Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network,http://wwwnautilus.org.8. 'North Korea on a Global Crime Spree: U.S. News,' Korea Time, February 7,1999. Reprinted by Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network.9. DPRK HumanRightsReport 1998.10. Sonia Ryang, North Koreans in Japan: Language, Ideology, and Identity(Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1996).11. Simon Bone, 'Happy Birthday Kim 11 Song,' September 1998,http://bone.8m.com.12. DPRK Human Rights Report 1998.13. Kim Jong II: The Lodestar of 21st Century, http://www.kena.co.jp.14. Kwon Hyok Choi, 'Sinchon Indicts Murderous U.S. Imperialists,'Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Number 7, Juche 88 (1999), p. 7. TheNorth Koreans use the birth year of Kim I1-Sung as the beginning of theircalendar. Oddly, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) website is organizedinternally in the traditional calendar, not the Northern one.15. 'Editorial Calls for letting This Year Mark Turning- point in BuildingPowerful Nation' Korea Today, Number 3, Juche 88 (1999), p. 5.16. Louis Jolyon West and Paul R. Martin, 'Pseudo-Identity and the Treatmentof Personality Change in Victims of Captivity and Cults.' From Dissociation:Clinical and Theoretical Perspectives, posted onhttp://www.trancenet.org/research.17. Chris Baden, Preventing Violence by Religious Cults: An IntelligenceCommunity Role? Non-published thesis, Joint Military Intelligence College,

August 1996, p. 27.18. Ibid., p. 26.19. 'Annihilating Blow Will Be Given,' Korean Central News Agency, December3, 1998, http://wwwkena.cojp.20. "Aggressors Cannot Escape Destruction" Korea Today, Number 3, Juche 88(1999), p. 32.21. "Young Soldiers Take Oath on Mt. Paektu"' Korean Central News Agency,August 26, 1998, http://www. kena.co.jp22. United States Must Clearly Know its Opponent--Military Commentator'sArticle, Korean Central News Agency, December 4, 1998. http://wwwkena.cojp.23. "Kim Jong Il sees performance of KPA merited chorus," Korean CentralNews Agency, September 9, 1999, http://wwwkena.cojp24. "Youth Day Observed," Korean Central News Agency, August 27, 1999,http://wwwkena.cojp25. Letter to G.S. Kim Jong E from war veteran, Korean Central News Agency,February 17, 1998.26. William J. Perry, "Review of United States Policy Toward North Korea:Findings and Recommendations," unclassified report, October 12, 1999,http://www. state.gov/www/regions/eap9910I2-northkorea.rpt.html.27. "Renowned Military Strategist" Korea Today, Number 10, Juche 87 (1998)p. 11.28. "FBI Got It Wrong, Says Expert," Psychiatric News, June 21, 1996,http://www.psych.org/pnews29. Stuart A. Wright, Leaving Cults: The Dynamics of Defection (WashingtonDC: Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Monograph Series, No. 7,1987), pp. 14-17.

AN ENSLAVED STATE WHERE PRIVATE LIFE IS ABOLISHED The Mirror (UK), October 10, 2006By Christopher Hitchens NOT even in the lowest moments of the Third Reich, or of the gulag, or of Mao's "Great Leap Forward" was there a time when all the subjects of the system were actually enslaved.

In North Korea, every person is property and is owned by a small and mad family with hereditary power. Every minute of every day, as far as regimentation can assure the fact, is spent in absolute subjection and serfdom.

The private life has been entirely abolished. One tries to avoid cliche, and I did my best on a visit to this terrifying country in the year 2000, but George Orwell's 1984 was published at about the time that Kim Il-Sung set up his system, and it really is as if he got hold of an early copy of the novel and used it as a blueprint ("Hmmm - good book. Let's see if we can make it work").

Actually, North Korea is rather worse than Orwell's imagined world. There would be no way, in the capital city of Pyongyang, to wander off and get lost in the slums, let alone to rent an off-the-record love nest in a room over a shop.

Everybody in the city has to be at home and in bed by curfew time, when all the lights go off (if they haven't already failed).

A recent night-time photograph of the Korean peninsula from outer space shows something that no "free-world" propaganda could invent: a blaze of electric light all over the southern half, stopping exactly at the demilitarised zone and becoming an area of darkness in the north.

Concealed in that pitch-black night is an imploding state where the only things that work are the police and the armed forces. The situation is actually slightly worse than indentured servitude. The slave owner historically promises, in effect, at least to keep his slaves fed.

In North Korea, this compact has been broken. It is a famine state as well as a slave state. Partly because of the end of favourable trade relations with, and subsidies from, the former USSR, but mainly because of the lunacy of its command economy, North Korea broke down in the 1990s and lost an unguessable number of people to sheer starvation.

The survivors, especially the children, have been stunted and malformed. Even on a tightly controlled tour - North Korea is almost as hard to visit as it is to leave - my robotic guides couldn't prevent me from seeing people drinking from sewers and picking up grains of food from barren fields (I was reduced to eating a dog, and I was a privileged "guest").

Film shot from over the Chinese border shows whole towns ruined and abandoned. It seems mines in the north of the country have been flooded beyond repair.

Kim Jong-il and his fellow slave masters are trying to dictate the pace of events by setting a timetable of nuclearization, based on a crash program wrung from their human property. But why should it be assumed that their failed state and society are permanent? Another timeline, orientated to liberation and regime change, is what the dynasty most fears. It should start to fear it more.

www.mirror.co.uk/northernireland/news/tm_method=full&objectid=17901104&siteid=94762-name

STAY SILENT ON NORTH KOREA AND YOU ARE A MORALLY BANKRUPT IDIOT

IRISH DAILY MAIL10.10.2006

The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) makes me sick. Yesterday, the “Dear Leader” of North Korea Kim Jong IL, flexed his nuclear muscles. And what was the reaction of the IAWM? Oh, they simply kept prattling on about why George Bush and Tony Blair are the greatest threats to world security. Pathetic, but not surprising.

The IWM is directly linked to the Socialist Workers Party in Ireland (SWP). Both their web sites are dedicated to showing why “Israel is the terrorist,” why Iran is justified in its nuclear pursuit, and why Venezuela’s dictator Hugo Chavez, is an anti-American icon. No mention, however, of Sudan’s genocidal war against the people of Darfur. Nor is there any reference to Robert Mugabe’s assault on the wretched of Zimbabwe, and not a jot about North Korea’s thoroughly evil regime.

Why? Because in the twisted brains of these people anyone who stands up to America and Britain is considered heroic, irrespective of how murderous they may be. Hence the reason for George Galloway’s recent burst of flatulence in honour of Fidel Castro, and why he has spent a

lifetime licking the rear-end of every Third World toe rag from Chavez to Saddam.

Put simply, the IAWM and the SWP are anti-war when conflict involves Western nations. But they couldn’t care less how many are shovelled into mass graves in Sudan, Iran, Cuba, or North Korea. They want the disarmament of American and British nukes, but believe that the deranged despots of Iran and North Korea are entitled to a nuclear deterrent.

And when you point out the lunacy of permitting nutcases to possess weapons of mass destruction, people like the IAWM’s chairman Richard Boyd Barrett, insist that they would not need them except for the threat posed by…? Yes, you guessed it - America!

That is why you won’t see any rallies through Dublin protesting against North Korea’s atomic test. Yes, you can expect demonstrations all over Ireland against Bertie Ahern for allowing the US use of Shannon. But when a serial crackpot like Kim sets off a five kiloton bomb, all we get from the moral hypocrites in the IAWM is a sinister silence.

But thus it has always been. Back in 1945, George Orwell wrote that pacifists “do not as a rule condemn violence as such, but only violence used in defence of Western countries. The Russians, unlike the British, are not blamed for defending themselves by warlike means, and indeed all pacifist propaganda of this type avoids mention of Russia and China.” He concluded that “there is no limit to the follies that can be swallowed if one is under the influence of feelings of this kind.”

What repulsed Orwell were the feeble excuses made on behalf of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao by leftists posing as peace-lovers. But there is no difference between those who stayed silent about Stalin then, and those who refuse to condemn North Korea now. As I have said many times publicly, they are nothing but a bunch of fools without any moral compass.

For only a fool could look upon Kim’s slave state and seek justification. Only a fool could respond coldly to the torture, abuse, and starvation of his citizens. And only a fool would believe that the Dear Leader is not crazy enough to place a nuke in the wrong hands.

The simple truth is that North Korea is the most terrifying tyranny on the face of our planet. Unlike Saddam’s Iraq, where people had a certain amount of liberty, the North Koreans are without basic rights or essential amenities. Their days are spent working for nothing and proclaiming the greatness of their despotic overlord. They drink from the sewers, eat rats, and, in some cases, are even forced to consume the corpses scattered in the gutters.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country fell into a widespread famine resulting in the deaths of 3 million people, or ten percent of North Korea’s population. But that didn’t stop Kim from wasting most of his budget on defence. As his people perished, he spent billions on arms production and nuclear technology.

Kim Jong Il is as merciless as Idi Amin, and as soulless as Pol Pot. His killing fields are littered with thousands of Christians, whom he believes to be the most potent threat to his power. His concentration

camps are death factories from which few emerge alive. And his borders are so securely sealed that only a handful of defectors have ever managed to successfully escape.

One of those who was fortunate enough to make it out alive is Kwon Hyuk. For a time, Kwon was the Chief of Management at Camp 22, Kim’s largest and most notorious camp. It is currently home to 50,000 inmates, most of whom are imprisoned because Kim believes that entire families should suffer for the sins of suspected opponents.

Kwon has revealed that Camp 22 is nothing less than a latter-day Auschwitz. It contains numerous gas chambers in which chemical experiments are routinely carried out on thousands of unfortunates. Kwon says he “witnessed a whole family being tested on and dying in the gas chamber. The parents were vomiting and dying, but till the very last moment they tried to save kids by doing mouth-to-mouth breathing.”

That evidence is backed up by a document smuggled out of North Korea in 2002. Bearing the regime’s official stamp, it reads: “The above person is transferred from camp number 22 for the purpose of human experimentation of liquid gas for chemical weapons.”

That, my friends, is the true nature of the filthy regime that the IAWM does not mention in their list of aggressors. For them, the camp at Guantanamo Bay embodies greater evil than Camp 22. And that is why no sane person should take either the IAWM or the SWP seriously. They are both driven by a dangerous anti-Western agenda that champions the cause of mindless murderers over that of their victims.

And let there be no doubt, Kim Jong Il is a mindless murderer devoid of conscience and contrition. Like all tin-pot tyrants, he is a diminutive brandy-guzzling lunatic. But yesterday we saw just what he is capable of, and the lengths to which he will go to retain power and bribe the world.

No, his nukes cannot reach us, and he is unlikely to risk a nuclear conflict with the United States. But how long will it be before the Dear Leader sells a dirty bomb to a Jihadi intent on wiping out New York, London, or a “soft target” like Dublin? We know, for example, that his goons tried to get weapons to Saddam just before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and that he has been dealing in small devices on the black market for years. So what is to stop him hitting us through some fanatical proxies?

That is the real and present danger we face from Kim Jong Il. Which is why, if the IAWM were at all sincere, they would march on the Chinese Embassy today, demanding that Kim be tamed once and for all. For without China’s aid and support, the North Korean regime would collapse tomorrow.

But you and I both know there will be no such march against Kim today. Instead, the IAWM is scheduled to hold a public meeting tonight on “Bush, Blair, and the truth behind the War on Terror.”

I'll say it again: fools, one and all.

Kim Jong Il Distorts N.Korea RealityBy CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA.The Associated Press, October 28, 20000

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - First, there is a garage with marble walls andpillars. At the entrance steps, a carpet with a purple flower design yieldsto a foyer with a pair of towering vases and high ceilings. Down the hall isa vast, hexagonal room with a parquet floor.

This is Magnolia Hall, where North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and U.S.Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had dinner earlier this week andtalked reconciliation after 50 years of hot and cold war.

Now switch to University Hospital, where a walk up a short flight of stepsleads to a dark, clammy corridor. Electrical cables stretch across the wetfloor of a dirty bathroom. A few X-ray machines sit idle, with noelectricity to run them.

And this is one of the capital's better medical facilities.

Magnolia Hall, on the other hand, is so brightly lit that there is not apatch of shadow anywhere, as though the building has sucked up most ofPyongyang's electricity supply.

Dominating this bizarre reality is the overpowering personality cult aroundthe late Kim Il Sung, "Great Leader" and founder of the communist state, andhis son and successor, the "Dear Leader" and Albright's host, Kim Jong Il.

Whether driven by devotion or fear of retribution, most North Koreans areactors on Kim Jong Il's theater stage. They extol his virtues in massiveparades and stadium performances at which he is essentially the onlyspectator.

"I cannot imagine a world without our Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il," Ryu RongJin, a North Korean government guide, said gravely over dinner with a pairof Western reporters who were among those allowed into North Korea forAlbright's visit.

Colorful murals all over Pyongyang show rosy-cheeked women and workers andsoldiers clutching guns, flags and farm implements, their square-jawed facesradiating conviction.

The daily truth is that much of the population has a weary, subdueddemeanor. Despite outside food aid, there is so little to eat that manychildren are growing up smaller than their healthy peers in wealthy SouthKorea.

Shoddy clothes and crockery, and cheap alcohol, line the shelves of a fewdingy shops. In the toy section of a department store, there are inflatableplastic ducks, a Lego display and spark pistols. Even a bunny with cymbalsand remote-controlled tanks, but no batteries to run them. And no sign ofbuyers.

Several Western aid workers in Pyongyang say they have never heard criticismof the government, and that sensitive political discussions with NorthKoreans are off-limits.

Norbert Vollertsen, a German physician in Pyongyang, said he once detected ahint of irony from a foreign ministry official.

The official was updating a group of foreign aid workers on flooding thathad damaged crops and said: "The natural disaster continues." At thatmoment, Vollertsen said, the North Korean glanced above his head at framedpictures of Kim Sr. and Jr.

Over the years, there have been high-profile defections of North Koreangovernment officials. Tens of thousands of people have given up on the stateand illegally crossed the border into China to search for food.

But there is no evidence of direct challenges to the insulated rule of KimJong Il, who is confident enough to risk limited exposure to the outsideworld as he pursues reconciliation with Seoul, Washington and othergovernments.

Indeed, U.S. officials and Western pundits had predicted the collapse ofNorth Korea's political system on the death of the elder Kim in 1994 at age82. But his son, whom he had been grooming as his heir, emerged after threeyears of official mourning with his power intact.

Now Kim Jong Il appears to be taking a practical approach, recognizing thathe needs more international aid and investment and possibly limited economicreform in order to survive.

But maintaining the myth of his infallibity - by blaming North Korea'seconomic disaster on natural disasters and the effect of U.S. sanctions overhalf a century - is crucial to his survival. Washington lifted somesanctions this year, so that argument may fade.

Kim Jong Il's show never seems to stop. Flip on the television late atnight, and there's a rerun of soldiers goosestepping like wind-up dolls pasttheir leader at Oct. 10 celebrations of the 55th anniversary of the rulingWorkers' Party.

The airwaves, and a few vehicles rigged with loudspeakers that cruisePyongyang, blare rousing martial songs such as "Dear Leader, Just Give UsYour Order." Though one radio station veered briefly from the usual fare,playing an instrumental version of "Raindrops keep falling on my head."

The artifice is crude sometimes: the fountain in Pyongyang's best hotel, theKoryo, was still for most of Albright's visit. But shortly before shearrived at the hotel for a news conference, somebody switched it on.

AP-NY-10-28-00 0335EDT