Under the loving care of the fatherly leader : North Korea and the Kim Dynasty / Bradley K. Martin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Martin, Bradley K.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kim, Chŏng-il, 1942-2011.

Kim, Chŏng-il.

Kim, Il-sŏng, 1912-1994.

Kim, Il-sŏng.

Heads of state--Korea (North)--Biography.

Heads of state.

Korea (North).

Kim family.

Korea (North)--Politics and government.

Politics and government.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 868 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Thomas Dunne Books, 2004.

Summary:

Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader offers in-depth portraits of North Korea's ruthless and bizarrely Orwellian leaders, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. Lifting Pyongyang's curtain of self-imposed isolation, this book takes readers inside a society that to a Westerner may appear to be from another planet. Subsisting on a diet short on food grains and long on lies, North Koreans have been indoctrinated from infancy to follow unquestioningly a father-son team of despots. To North Koreans, the Kims have been more than just leaders. As a youthful church organist Kim Il-sung learned the tricks that would elevate him, decades later, to deity status. The god-king's perks include a harem. When Kim Jong-il's concubines reach their early twenties, they retire and are given husbands who may not know about the women's pasts. Kim is reported to play the go-between role himself in arranging some of their marriages; whoever complains goes to prison.

This fascinating, comprehensive work of history and reportage takes advantage of source material that has only recently become available (some from archives in Moscow and Beijing) to bring the reader up to date on the tensions of today. The regime that the Kim dynasty built remains technically at war with the United States - and an "Axis of Evil" member - more than half a century after the Korean War armistice. Defectors say Kim Jong-il has, besides nuclear bombs, enough chemical weapons to wipe out the entire population of South Korea. Under the circumstances, the author cautions, negotiation is far more promising than the highly risky alternative of forcible regime change. More than a decade in the making, Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader for years to come will define a Spartan, stubbornly enigmatic society.

Contents:

To the city of the God-King

Fighters and Psalmists

On long marches through blizzards

Heaven and earth the wise leader tamed

Iron-willed brilliant commander

With the leader who unfolded paradise

When he hugged us still damp from the sea

Flowers of his great love are blooming

He gave us water and sent us machines

Let's spread the pollen of love

Yura

Growing pains

Take the lead in world conjuring

Eyes and ears

From generation to generation

Our earthly paradise free from oppression

Two women

Dazzling ray of guidance

A story to tell to the nations

Wherever you go in my homeland

If your brain is properly oiled

Logging in and logging out

Do you remember that time?

Pickled plum in a lunch box

I die, you die

Yen for the motherland

Winds of temptation may blow

Sea of fire

Without you there is no country

We will become bullets and bombs

Neither land nor people at peace

In a ruined country

Even the traitors who live in luxury

Though alive, worse than gutter dogs

Sun of the twenty-first century

Fear and loathing

Sing of our leader's favors for thousands of years.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 715-847) and index.

ISBN:

0312322216

OCLC:

56198837