As one ruler falls, another comes into his place. However, new leadership does not mean new traditions and a much needed new way of life for North Korea. Kim Jong-il has passed away but his way of government is here to stay, kept alive by his son, Kim Jong-un - proclaimed by Kim Jong-il himself as ¡°a splitting image¡± of his father in not only appearance but personality and leadership as well.
On the date of his birthday (January 8th), Kim Jong-un released a propaganda film to promote his rise into leadership. The film painted a picture of North Korea¡¯s recent successor as being a ¡®genius among the geniuses¡¯, specifically in the area of military strategy. The film even went as far as to claim that Kim Jong-un wrote his first thesis on military strategy at the age of sixteen.
Such self endorsement is reminiscent of Kim Jong-un¡¯s late father¡¯s (recently deceased Kim Jong-il) strategies of persuasion over the population; influencing citizens into putting all faith and belief into their dictator and the regime¡¯s ¡°Songun¡± ideology. In fact, while Kim Jong-il was still in power, propaganda films such as this were not uncommon and it is expected that this film is to be one of many to come for Kim Jong-un.
The citizens of North Korea, unfortunately, do not have much choice in what they are able to watch and view. Since the death of Kim Jong-il, North Korea¡¯s normally reclusive media has been bombarding the public with campaigns that idolise Kim Jong-un in much the same way that it did for his father. The campaigns and propaganda has all been very one sided and it does not look to be changing anytime soon.
These strategies of delusion of grandeur and myth making have carried on from Kim Jong-un¡¯s father. And this only seems like the tip of the iceberg. More than controlling how people think, it would seem that the citizens of North Korea are to continue to live by the ¡°Songun¡± policy; a policy that has seen to the death of thousands of people through starvation by diverting resources to North Korea¡¯s military forces. Kim Jong-un¡¯s habit of self promotion is only the beginning of what he has carried over from his father it would seem.
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