1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:12,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: a show for those interested in the big and small 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: moments of history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: we're reflecting on the death of Kim Il Sum, the 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: not so dear leader who helped split the Korean peninsula 7 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: into two rival nations and then used that upset to 8 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: secure enduring power for himself and his family. The day 9 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: was July eight. Communist dictator and founder of North Korea, 10 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: Kim Il Sum died of a heart attack. He was 11 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: eighty two years old and had remained in power since 12 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: the country's establishment in nineteen Under his oppressive and isolating regime, 13 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: the North Korean people were subjected to one hardship after another, 14 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: national food shortages and power outages, military conscription, brainwashing, and 15 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: even slave labor camps. Unfortunately, even after his death, Kim 16 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: Il sung exercised great power over the lives of North Koreans. 17 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: He was deified by the government he had built, and 18 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: his tyrannical policies were carried on both by his son 19 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: Kim Jong il and later by his grandson Kim Jong um. 20 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: Korea had been called the Hermit Kingdom as far back 21 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: as the eighteen eighties, long before the nation split into 22 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: a North and south. At the time, Korea still had 23 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: some interaction with its closest neighbors, China and Japan, but 24 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: otherwise the country kept to itself for the better part 25 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: of a thousand years. That really only started to change 26 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: towards the end of the nineteenth century. In eighteen ninety five, 27 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: Japan invaded Korea and brutally took control of the entire peninsula. 28 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: It continued to subjugate Korea all the way through World 29 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: War Two. Once the war was over and the Japanese 30 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: were expelled, Korea found itself occupied by both the United 31 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: States and the Soviet Union. The US pushed hard for 32 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: the entire Korean peninsula to become a democracy, but the 33 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: Soviets strongly opposed the idea, believing it would reduce their 34 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: influence in the region. To satisfy these competing interests, Korea 35 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: was split into two countries, just as Germany had been 36 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: before it. The northern half of the Korean Peninsula fell 37 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: under communist rule, while the southern half became a democracy. 38 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty eight, South Korea elected its first president, 39 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: while something very different was taking place in North Korea 40 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: that same year. In instead of a freely elected president, 41 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: the former monarchy got its first totalitarian dictator. His name 42 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: was Kim ill Soon, and he was a Korean communist 43 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: with strong ties to the Soviet Union. During the build 44 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: up to World War Two, Kim had worked closely with 45 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: the Soviets to wage guerrilla warfare against the Japanese forces 46 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: that occupied his country. Once the war was over, the 47 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: Soviets knew they would need to install a puppet leader 48 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: to uphold their interests in the newly formed North Korea. 49 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: Their old friend, Kim ill Soon seemed like the perfect choice. 50 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: He was already a proponent of communism, and his military 51 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: service made it easy to portray him as a kind 52 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: of national hero. Once the Soviets handed Kim the reigns 53 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: of power, he sets a work building a ruling political 54 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: party as well as a standing army, with all his 55 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: old guerrilla comrades in senior leadership roles. But it wasn't 56 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: enough to control the country's political and mill terry might. 57 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: Kim wanted to control its culture as well. To that end, 58 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: he created what was maybe the lynchpin of his power 59 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: the North Korean Federation of Literature and Art. Through this 60 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: institution's steady output of state controlled media and art, Kim 61 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 1: began to foster a cult of personality among the North 62 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: Korean people. This propaganda portrayed him as a godlike figure 63 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: who was destined to transform the abused nation into a 64 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: socialist utopia. Of course, in reality, Kim was doing just 65 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: the opposite. Backed by Stalin and his Soviet forces, Kim 66 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: ill soon invaded South Korea in nineteen fifty in an 67 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: attempt to forcibly unify the two Koreas and rule them 68 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: both himself. This conflict quickly spiraled into the Korean War, 69 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,359 Speaker 1: with the US joining the fight on South Korea's behalf 70 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: and China lending a hand to their fellow communists in 71 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: the north. A blood war ensued, claiming the lives of 72 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: roughly five million soldiers and civilians over the course of 73 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: four long years. When the fighting finally ceased in nineteen 74 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: fifty three, there was no exchange of territory and no 75 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: clear victor. Instead, the two Koreas signed an armist disagreement 76 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: and established a demilitarized zone between their borders. Since this 77 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: basically amounted to a truce, and there was no formal 78 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: peace treaty between the nations. North and South Korea are 79 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: technically still at war with each other to this day. 80 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 1: Not only has North Korea held on to that same 81 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: grudge for nearly seventy years, it's kept the same president 82 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: as well. To be clear, Kim ill Soon did die 83 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: in nine which was when his son Kim Jong il 84 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 1: took over. But after Kim ill Soon died in the 85 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, the North Korean constitution was actually amended so 86 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: that he could be declared the country's eternal president. The 87 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: same thing happened again after Kim Jong ill passed away. 88 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: Inn Now both men are considered the eternal leaders of 89 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: North Korea, whereas the country's current figurehead, Kim Jong oon, 90 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: has to settle for being the first secretary. There's actually 91 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: a term for this unusual arrangement. It's called a necrocracy, 92 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,280 Speaker 1: which is when a country still operates under the rules 93 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: of a dead leader. As you might guess, North Korea 94 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: is the only one of those in the world. Thankfully, 95 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: and if the idea of eternal presidents sounds too ridiculous 96 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: to believe, the good news is that many North Koreans agree. 97 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: It's tough to say how many exactly, since most North 98 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: Koreans don't have access to journalists and likely wouldn't feel 99 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: safe enough to speak freely even if they did. But 100 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: we do have some estimates from North Korean defectors, and 101 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: they claim that only around twenty tot of the and 102 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: population actually believes what the regime tells them. There are 103 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: no quick fixes for North Korea's struggles, but pulling away 104 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: from the central government and sharing information on an individual 105 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: level seems like a good place for a revolution to start. 106 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: Either way, it's one of the most encouraging pieces of 107 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: news out of North Korea in a long time, and 108 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: the fact that Kim ill Soon would have hated it 109 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: only makes it that much better. I'm Gay Bluesier and 110 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 111 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you have a second and 112 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: you're so inclined, you can follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, 113 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show. You can 114 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: also rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or 115 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: you can write to me directly at this day at 116 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: I heeart media dot com. Thanks as always, The Chandler 117 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 118 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again soon for another day 119 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: in history class.