Some commenters have questioned the wisdom of the general belief by those at The Korea Liberator that information from and of the outside world is crucial to eroding the Kim family cult in North Korea. The main point of the dissenters is that cults are composed of those who voluntarily join and that no amount of conflicting information – or reality – is apt to dislodge their beliefs. The reliability of defector information on this topic has also been called into question, as has the notion that North Koreans have “basic human aspirations similar to Western peoples.” This post will address those concerns.

What is a cult?

Cults are usually understood and defined in the context of religion. Some definitions include (paraphrased and abridged):

• A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
• A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
• A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
• Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
• An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.
• Adherents of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices.

Obviously several parts of the above definition can be applied to North Korea and the Kim family cult. Some related terms are; creed, denomination, devotion, doctrine, faith, idolization, order, reverence, veneration, and worship. It is important to note that:

Although the majority of groups to which the word “cult” is applied are religious in nature, a significant number are non-religious. These may include political, psychotherapeutic or marketing oriented cults that are organized in a manner very similar to their religious counterparts.

[…]

Although most political cults involve a “cult of personality”, the latter concept is a broader one. It has its origins in the excessive adulation said to have surrounded Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. It has also been applied to several other despotic heads of state.

[…]

Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leadership’s demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious dependency on the group and its leaders.

Generally we all understand what a cult is, but it is useful to review these definitions before moving on.

What type of cult exists in North Korea?

There are many variations of cults, so the question soon becomes; what sort of cult is the North Korean one? The reality is that North Korea does not fit perfectly any of the standard definitions of cults, but draws from elements of many different types.

In broad terms, North Korea can be defined as a political cult – on steroids. It was started as a type of “hero cult” based upon the anti-Japanese exploits of Kim Il-sung, and gradually morphed into a “cult of personality,” which, over time, has taken on many characteristics of religious cults, and has been passed on to Kim’s son, Kim Jong-il.

In North Korea the population is indoctrinated with a complete belief system, including an ideology called “Juche,” (from the late 1950s to present) loosely translated as “self reliance” or “independence,” and an entire alternate history. Education in the form of communist indoctrination and the study of Kim Il Sung is the primary method of social control;

In reading, students read about Kim’s guerrilla exploits; in math, the learn to count by counting the number of American soldiers killed or the number of tanks destroyed in the Korea War; in history, they study the Communist revolution in Korea; in music, they sing Kim’s marching songs; and in drama, the reenact his life story. The emphasis on the political never diminishes. (Hunter, 1999: 214)

So the hero cult has become a hereditary quasi-religious political cult of personality! Education, including for adults, is often and extensive. North Koreans are taught that everything they have comes from Kim Il-sung (even after his death), and Kim Jong-il. Simply put, from cradle to grave, North Koreans are thoroughly brainwashed.

The difference between North Korea and other cults

This may be taken for granted by long-time Korea-watchers and completely overlooked by those unfamiliar with North Korea, but the defining difference between the cult in North Korea and the majority of other cults is choice; North Koreans have virtually none.

While many of the characteristics are shared with other cults, those indoctrinating North Koreans do not need to worry about recruitment as they have, literally, a captive audience, are operating under the mandate of the government, and have not until recently needed to be much concerned with outside information as the society was nearly completely isolated from outside information and influence.

It is a common, although perhaps misguided, perception that those who join cults have many undesirable traits, including dependency, unassertiveness, gullibility, cultural disillusionment, and naive idealism. That is, the belief that those who either seek out cults are allow themselves to be recruited are attempting to avoid reality. Whether that is true or not, in North Korea the population, ironically, would be considered “cultish” if they tended to believe positive rumors of the outside world. That is until the deviance was detected and they were sent for “reeducation” at one of the many gulags for political misfits.

It comes down to this; in most cults, members join or are recruited despite and in rejection of reality, while in North Korea the entire population is indoctrinated in the absence of reality.

Why information matters in North Korea

Although this may seem obvious to many, it should be explained.

Because the entire cult is premised on a fabricated history, as well as the fable that North Korea is a superior “workers paradise,” credible information to the contrary (i.e., the fact that North Korea is one of the poorest nations in the world) is especially dangerous to the stability regime. Unlike those who seek cults to avoid reality, North Koreans were raised in the cult and do no necessarily display the unflattering traits associated of the former.

Therefore maintaining strict isolation, especially the prevention of outside information coming in, is of the utmost importance to the regime. For this reason North Korean radios are soldered to the frequency of official stations, their televisions are not compatible with other systems, and all travel was extremely restrictive – a permit was required even to travel to the next village, and if workers were not at their work sites or “education” meetings, they were reported.

The North Korean government is well aware of this and continues to fight to stem the flow of information where it can, although the ability to do so has been diminished in recent years, particularly since the famine that killed (at least) hundreds of thousands of North Koreans in the mid-to-late 1990s, especially in provinces bordering China. In these regions information has flowed in, and change is occurring. The North Korean people, however, are still controlled by the regime, which continues to invest in the “military first” policy.

Information of the outside world will not work magic and transform North Korea overnight. At first “rumors” are likely to be seen as just that – rumor. But over time, and with the continued flow of credible information from those who have lived in China (mostly from the northern provinces of the DPRK), begins to be accepted as valid,

Defectors on this topic

Some question the reliability of defector information about North Korea, and no doubt some defectors do have ulterior motives in providing data. However the fact is that over time the same story has emerged repeatedly; the famine, the gulags, border crossings, living conditions, indoctrination, etc.

Intelligence analysts have built up a sophisticated battery of questions to weed out those who have not lived in North Korea (i.e., ethnic Koreans living in China attempting to immigrate to South Korea and claim defector benefits). The “big picture” of North Korea is obtained by synthesizing the information that is confirmed and discarding unsubstantiated or questionable claims. Simply dismissing all defector claims, especially the credible body of evidence built up over many years, is irresponsible and rather simplistic.

What do defectors want? To bring down the Northern regime, to live free, to be with their families – sound familiar?

• Defectors Want to Pry Open North Korea
• N. Korea defector seeks help from Bush
• North Korean defector calls for ‘regime change’ in Pyongyang
• Defectors in Seoul Skeptical of NK Exile Government
• Defectors Know Not All Will Survive 8,000km Trek
• Defectors Provide a Look Inside North Korea
• A Well-founded Fear: Punishment and Labor Camps in North Korea

Logic determines and defectors confirm that information is the bane of Kim Jong-il’s cult regime. Those who claim that North Korean will reject reality for the cult forced upon them, are ironically, rejecting reality and reason.
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