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North Korean leader promotes new ideology called Kimjongunism

Kim Jong-un seeks to consolidate his power, and has begun to remove the portraits of his predecessors

Darwin Nexans
4 min read
North Korean leader promotes new ideology called Kimjongunism
The Supreme Leader of North Korea strengthens his power and veneration

Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea since the beginning of this year has been amassing more power. Recall that in January the Korean Labor Party was elected as general secretary, in addition to continuing his title of supreme leader.

But now the North Korean dictator, in an attempt to further promote his power, is working on the creation of kimjongunism, an idea with which he seeks to escape the shadow of his ancestors, since among his first actions is the removal of the portraits of his father Kim Jong-il, and his grandfather Kim Il-sung., who was also the founder of the country.

This new ideology, according to an investigation by the British newspaper Daily Mail, the new idea of kimjongunism is not public yet, and is only being promoted in government circles, apparently his subordinates refer to him as the Great Leader, term that was used to refer to his grandfather Kim Il-sung.

In fact, the people are still not aware of the changes in ideological matters promoted by Kim Jong-un, so it is not known how the citizens will respond to this change; although knowing the supremacy of the dictator, nothing will change, and the safest thing is that the people accept the idea without hesitation.

Although for us Westerners the cult of the person may seem something "strange" and narcissistic, for North Koreans this is nothing new or strange, since the predecessors Kim Jong-un (his father and grandfather), created their own legacy with the veneration of his person, which became the cornerstone of the nation, just as Kim Jong-un does now.

In early October, Kim Jong-un claimed that the Korean Workers' Party ideology was key to tackling the nation's food shortages.

In fact, according to UNICEF figures, some 800,000 children suffer from severe malnutrition in the Asian country, while some 100,000 infants are in danger of dying from malnutrition.

North Korean leader promotes new ideology called Kimjongunism

The crisis in the country is such that the North Korean leader had to order the teachers of the cities to go to the fields in order to increase the labor force for the potato harvest, and in this way circumvent the issue from famine. That is why we may wonder how a new ideology would change the real problems of North Korean society.

Consolidate power

According to the British media, which have followed the news more closely, this new campaign by Kim Jong-un is one more attempt to consolidate his power, facing the tenth anniversary of his rise to power, which took place carried out in December 2011.

Everything indicates that Kim Jong-un, 37, considers that his ancestors should not be venerated as they did before, and therefore promotes his image as that of the Great Leader. With this, as I said at the beginning, the president of North Korea pursues the goal of consolidating his power, imposing his image at the center of his new ideology.

One man, many titles

North Korean leader promotes new ideology called Kimjongunism

Since coming to power in 2011, Kim Jong-un has received a number of titles, including Commander-in -Chief of the North Korean Armed Forces, and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and more recently, the Secretary General of the Labor Party of Korea.

Specialists in North Korean issues have explained that the position that Kim Jong-un received as secretary general of the Korean Labor Party represents another step in his political career, which gives him greater political weight and of course authority in the government system of your country.

The only position that Kim Jong-un has yet to reach is that of President of North Korea, which is exclusively dedicated to his grandfather and founder of the nation Kim Il-sung, who was proclaimed in 1998 after his death., as eternal president of the Republic.

It is a posthumous honorary position, experts on North Korean issues have explained.

It should be noted that being the secretary general of the Korean Labor Party carries quite a lot of weight, since at least 607 of the 687 deputies of the North Korean Parliament belong to that party.

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