By Robert Karniol, Defence Writer
'Reflecting Juche's shamanist roots, suffering amounts to preparation or purification for the task of building paradise,' he states. And if that is indeed the case, much of North Korea has been diligent in this effort.
Juche is literally translated to mean 'main subject' but it is normally characterised as an ideology emphasising self-reliance. The concept was introduced in 1955 by the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, and a decade later he outlined its three fundamental principles as chaju, charip and chawi.
Chaju, as defined by one source, refers to independence in political work. Charip is seen as self-sustenance in economic endeavours and chawi as self-reliance in national defence.
'The precise religious status of Kim Il Sung is difficult to determine,' the briefing paper notes. 'His birthday is celebrated as the Day of the Sun, indicating some sort of relationship - or even identity - with a Ural-Altaic shamanist sun god. Also plausible is devotion to Kim Il Sung as a shaman, a conduit between the profane and the divine.
'(Current leader) Kim Jong Il's religious role and status is more opaque, but that he occupies a special status and is personally 'precious' to adherents of Juche there should be no doubt.'
Elsewhere, the writer evokes the Christian trinity. In the North Korean context this involves Mr Kim Il Sung, Mr Kim Jong Il and Ms Kim Jong Suk - the last of these being Kim Il Sung's late first wife and Kim Jong Il's mother.
'Where any of the North Korean trinity has appeared to give 'on-the-spot advice' an elaborate billboard is erected to mark the 'sacred' event and to provide a place for devotions,' the study notes. 'Often, as well, a museum of sorts is established close by.'
A more expansive promotion of religious sites, beginning in the early 1970s, includes the transformation of Mr Kim Il Sung's reputed birthplace at Mangyondae into some sort of revolutionary Bethlehem. This is paralleled by miraculous discoveries of the 'Secret Guerilla Camp' and Mr Kim Jong Il's reputed birthplace, the latter a log cabin nestled at a site of aching beauty.
'Students make pilgrimages on foot to these northern shrines as part of their rites of passage, and all North Koreans are expected to visit them,' the diplomat notes.
This modern construct is reinforced by linkages to Korea's mythical origins - most notably through association with Tangun, purported founder of the Korean state some 4,500 years ago, whose tomb is said to have been found near Pyongyang. The supposed discovery led to the construction of an elaborate new tomb incorporating numerological and feng shui principles.
Indeed, the author adds, Pyongyang may have been rebuilt after the Korean War in conformity with feng shui, and national monuments seem to have been constructed in accordance with numerological principles.
'Purity of race, the unique genesis of Koreans and the divinely inspired task of constructing paradise on earth are among the beliefs that intensify North Korean nationalism beyond patriotism and into the realm of passionate fanaticism,' the study states.
The influence of Confucianism is also evident, with North Korean society divided into some 54 classes. Genetic origin appears significant in determining class, and any punishment for transgressions committed by an individual falls on the whole family.
The combined result, the writer argues, is that the leader's will is seen as identical with the will of all and not merely a reflection or expression of popular consciousness.
'Failure to reflect his will, his thought, his purpose is - in Juche - a denial of one's very humanity and freedom. Full subjugation of the individual to the leader is required, paradoxically, for the fullest possible expression of the individual's personal freedom,' the diplomat explains. 'This is a state achieved when the individual's thoughts and beliefs are identical with those of the leader.'
Beginning in the mid-1960s, Mr Kim Jong Il started Juche's transformation from an ideology rooted in nationalism and Marxism into a new system of beliefs. All forms of art and all means of mass communication were to provide coherently coordinated messaging aimed at producing a state of affairs where everyone's thinking reflects that of the leader.
Today's overriding challenge centres on transferring this religious reverence to the current leader's heir apparent, his youngest son Kim Jong Un.
And if all this seems a tad strange, consider Thailand. There, the royalist elite, with decades invested in establishing the semi-divine stature of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is faced with the dilemma of transferring the fervent respect he enjoys to unpopular Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn.
rkarniol@sph.com.sg
