Communist Nation

The Juche Tower in the heart of Pyongyang is an interesting, well-known oddity. I did not know much about the history of the monstrosity, but as with everything North Korea, everything has to be bigger. After all, image is everything. Kind of funny considering so few outsiders are able to marvel at them.

After some research on it, I ran into some interesting anecdotes from the wonderfully written book Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley K. Martin. I do not know how much I can quote from the book, but the information in there is very interesting. If the author does find too much is quoted, please let me know, and I will delete the passages.

Before I begin on the passages, one person I would like to talk about is a defector named Chang In Sook. Apparently, she was an engineer in North Korea with an impressive resume attached to her name. According to the DailyNK:

Chang In Sook was born in Chongjin, North Hamgyong province, and majored in bridges and tunnels at the Pyongyang College of Transportation. She worked for 26 years as a designer (equivalent to a position between a vice-minister and a department chief in the Ministry of Construction and Transportation in South Korea), and took part in major construction projects in North Korea. Her works include the 170m Juche Tower, the 8km Street of Liberation and the highway connecting Pyongyang and Nampo.

Impressive indeed. Question is, what made her leave with such a stellar record? It seemed she had a change of heart with a lot of sadness and tinges of regret:

[...]

Looking at this North Korea boom, we North Korean defectors cannot help feeling frustrated. Ideological achievements can always be over-valued or under-valued depending on the spoken or written words used in the evaluation. But you cannot say you are full unless you have eaten, and you cannot say you are warm unless you have winter clothes on your back. Forcing you to say you are full and warm is completely unreasonable, and it makes government puppets out of everyone.

[...]

Throughout the thirty-odd years that I lived in North Korea, I was also a part of many of the events, and I carried out the party’s dictates on several occasions. Whenever delegations from the U.S., Japan, Korea or any other capitalist country came to North Korea, we had to spend the whole night sweeping the streets and cleaning the tiles that cover the outer walls of buildings. Old people and young children were locked up in their homes and everyone else had to be dressed in their Sunday best. We were told to show our pride in the greatness of Kim Il Sung and his son in replying to whatever questions we were asked, and we had a hard time memorizing pre-assigned answers.

Most people would have heard by now of how the North Korean authorities mobilized crowds of people to put on acts along the course that the South Korean dignitaries took during the summit. The listless movements of pale-faced North Korean on-lookers during the Daedong River bank stroll, boat ride, Mt. Moran and Neungra-do sightseeing tour… It was unbearable, as if I was the one being forced to stand there watching the frolic.

[...]

It has been almost three years since I first set foot in South Korea. Living in a country with a system that I was taught to hate, everything is still strange and unfamiliar. News reports are especially confusing, and I do not know what to believe.

The newspapers are full of articles analyzing the social phenomena in North Korea in one way or another. And every time we North Korean defectors come across such articles, we feel insecure and nervous. In particular, we are quite alarmed by the way people who have paid short visits to North Korea say this or that about the country. But Nknet has been commenting on the situation in North Korea – including the human rights situation – with admirable accuracy, for which I am truly grateful.

This is a lot to quote, but this is wonderfully said regarding how North Korea is. A lot of illusions and questions. The more one looks at the reclusive kingdom of Juche, the more questions rise. It is unprecedented. The massive projects (like the Juche Tower) were summed in Martin’s book:

[...] Even given the potency of its propaganda, it was remarkable after so many decades how much the regime had to show (and “show” is the operative word here) for its seemingly anachronistic, circuses-before-bread approach. [...]

I could have not said it better than that. I would say that sums up the grandiose North Korea while it rots away everywhere else. Sooner or later, the facade breaks down, which appears to be happening now. It appears to me, things like the Tower of the Juche Idea may symbolize North Korea’s might and economic marvels, but it only emphasizes the obvious that the Juche Idea is simply an idea and nothing more. Irony is written all over it.

Now what about the Tower of the Juche Idea? This was discussed in an interview with Chang In Sook:

[...]

Chang [In-sook] had a brilliant resume by North Korean standards. having earned multiple degrees in civil engineering, specializing in tunnel and bride construction, she had worked for twenty-six years as an architect in the Pyongyang city planning department. Considered one of the top three female architects in the country, she had participated in the construction of about thirty bridges and the Juche Tower, a monument lighting the night sky with a huge flame representing the juche ideal. She had received nine awards, several of them from Kim Il-sung or Kim Jong-il. She had been photographed three times with Kim Il-sung, and on the last of those occasions Kim Jong-il also had been in the picture.She was Worker’s Party secretary for her unit.

That is indeed very impressive. The questions ensued:

Q. What did you do on the Juche Tower?

A. ” I was in charge of the structure of the tower. As party secretary, I led weekly meetings and designed the structure.”

Q. Tell me about the national construction policy.

A. “The policy can be summarized as showing the world North Korea’s pride. Construction is to give pleasure to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. This is to show the juche spirit to the world. The Juche Tower and the memorial tower commemorating the of the party are examples – as also the West Sea Barrage.  Lots of money and manpower went into that. It was big propaganda. But in fact its practical effect was very small. They just wanted it to show the power of socialism and the party. Even in Pyongyang there are so many buildings but you can’t operate them so they remain empty: the new tall hotel, for example, the world’s widest road and so on. They shouldn’t have built the hotel. The Koryo isn’t even full yet.  Also, they are building a dining hall for 10,000 people. Nonsense!” (pages 625 and 626)

One can sense her practical mind, something that does not exist in North Korea’s leadership, when it is all about being big. The one-up game is something that is central to the regime, such as the tallest flag pole in the DMZ.

Even with all the medals, accomplishments and rubbing elbows with both leaders, the actions of somebody else ruined it in an instant. Her son defected, and as a result, was banished to the countryside. While her past accomplishments kept some of her perks even away from Pyongyang, she also was spared the concentration camp because it was full. Apparently, her son knew about the situation of overcrowding in the camps.

According to the book, she felt betrayed by her son, but after some consideration, defected as well:

[...]

“Our first direct news from him came November 6. 1996. From then he wanted the family to move to South Korea. I was afraid, but considered it for eight months and finally made the decision. [...]

The rest of the story in the book is pretty interesting, but for the sake of copyrights, I will just highlight what I thought was important. In all its glory, indeed, the Juche Tower along with other things dotting North Korea, especially in Pyongyang shows the leadership’s unending need to impress the world and its people, but domestically and internationally, the attempts at showing the glory of an ideology rotting away at the core seems futile. North Korean people may be brainwashed, but they are not dumb. Sure, they may think better times may be ahead, but it appears those numbers are dwindling fast when there is no food to fill the stomach, industry falling apart, and misery at every step, and increases in intensity as the family background is less favorable to the regime.

Even so, Kim worship is alive and well in North Korea, and the Juche Tower is one of the many places symbolizing that worship. A block for every day Kim Il Sung was alive, to the symbolism showing that the Kims are firmly in control where dissent is not tolerated. Guides will recite the party line, and if one strays too far from it, results in the fate like that of the architect of the Juche Tower or much, much worse.

Here is a video:

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Tags: North Korean Oddities, Video