I cannot reproduce the articles in full, but I am now able to gain more insight to the past North Korea than before. The first I grabbed was a July 24, 1980 article on when Kim Jong Il was named the successor. An interesting part of the article was this part:
“I bought this picture last year” Mrs. Pak said.
…
The addition of this relatively new dual portrait to probably hundreds of thousands of homes across this country
According to this, it seems to me Kim Jong Il’s cult of personality started before he was officially named the successor if this citizen bought this portrait the year before. Since this is how the shift in power Kim Il Sung did things, it seems to me Kim Jong Il is really slow on naming the next successor which is mired in speculation. Yes, it has been rumored Kim Jong Il has forbidden the talk of the next successor, but if it does not happen soon, the shift of power will not happen slow enough, and therefore, the time for the shift of adoration may not work as well as the last succession from Kim Il Sung to kim Jong Il.
What is also interesting is the official that was unnamed did not like the idea of calling it a “dynasty” in which in all common sense was. With the neo-Confucianism overlaid with communism, it is very obvious that it was so. Also, Hwang Jang Yop suggested about the feudal type of government, which is mocked at here:
…”began to write his rise is a sign of feudalism in our state.”
No kidding? I have no idea who he was trying to convince, the reader or the person asking the silly question. This type of spin, denial and downright silliness is very typical of Pyongyang. Nothing has changed at all, and day in and day out have to deal with the murkiness of the Juche regime.
In any case, I will contact the New York Times how much I can reproduce or what they consider fair use, and will share with you good readers on the history of Korea. This should get very interesting indeed.
Update: Looks like I can use 25 words or less on a blog posting. If i want more, I am going to have to get written permission.
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“I bought this picture last year” Mrs. Pak said.
Mrs. Pak’s statement is very interesting. Although not relevant to this discussion, I was under the impression that in the “good old days” the sale of the images of either Kim was illegal, and that any portraits (including the ubiquitous lapel pins) were given to citizens by local party offices.
Good research, by the way. Keep digging!
Could you provide us with the names of the news stories you find interesting? As a Finnish university student I have free access to the electronical archive of New York Times.
I will keep that in mind next time.