“The Secret History of Kim Jong Il,” A Tutor’s Memoir
by Richardson ~ September 3rd, 2008. Filed under: Axis of Evil, History, Kim Jong-il, Korean Politics, North Korea.Tutor to young Kim Jong-il from 1959, Kim Hyun-sik (76) defected in 1991 and is now a research professor at George Mason University in Virginia. After his defection, Prof. Kim’s entire family was executed via the gulag.
Prof. Kim’s memoir published in South Korea last year, “A 21st Century Ideological Nomad” (Korean), is the basis for an article in the latest edition of Foreign Policy, “The Secret History of Kim Jong Il” (subscription required).
“So many times I’ve imagined killing him and then killing myself,” [Kim Hyun-sik] writes of his former student in a powerful new memoir in Foreign Policy magazine which pulls back the curtain on the Supreme Leader’s background.
[…]
But Professor Kim says he has just one wish: that Kim Jong-il open the country’s doors to the freedom and abundance the rest of the world enjoys. Until then, he is determined to tell everyone what he has seen: “A young, innocent boy who turned into a monster, and a country so full of promise transformed into a concentration camp.”
[…]
He describes Kim Jong-il as a “rather ordinary student” who excelled at nothing and made few friends.
As I’ve long noted, the Bush administration’s shift in policy toward North Korea is a monumental mistake:
…Professor Kim suggests that the US about-turn is a triumph for the Dear Leader, who concluded in the 1990s that his country, further isolated by the collapse of its sponsor, the Soviet Union, could box above its weight internationally if it prioritised military power. “Today, just as he hoped, Kim Jong-il’s vision has been realised,” he writes. “[He] has managed to extract resources from wealthier and stronger states by manufacturing crises and generating international instability. His brand of nuclear blackmail is a virtual guarantor of bottomless international aid for the world’s most militarised society.”
This sounds like a must-read article, and I will be purchasing it.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Richardson: Thanks for the heads up. I bought the latest issue of FP this afternoon and read the article on the way home. A very good, fast read. It was very interesting to read about the situation in which Kim Il Sung gave command of the Korean Peoples Army to his son.
I hope that Prof. Kim’s memoir will be completely translated into English in the near future. On the other hand, it gives me another reason to study Korean more diligently.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
And all my dad ever game me was some land and old rifles!
I’m also hoping for a swift translation; I’ll never get to the level of being able to read it in Korean, I know.
September 6th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Richardson,
I have a copy of Professor Kim’s book in Hangul. It was easy reading. Amazing story about his life in DPRK and his defection.
He was a private tutor to Song HaeRim’s Niece and Nephew. And one of the top Russian lagnuage professor at Pyongyang Foreign Language Institute.
Due to his speech that he gave at the KASCON Conference, LINK was established by Korean-American College students who heard his lectures.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:33 am
[...] Asia | A former tutor of Kim Jong Il (now reportedly a stroke victim) says the Dear Leader’s idea of “Paradise on Earth” didn’t include North Korea’s shortest people. A doctor told him he duped the diminutive into death on uninhabited islands by promising a “cure.” Kim, a “young, innocent boy” turned “monster.” [Foreign Policy, subscription required, DPRK Studies] [...]
September 13th, 2008 at 1:48 am
Prof. Kim is a personal friend and a man I respect dearly. I met him some time after he defected in Moscow. I am happy now to see some of his work published in Foreign Policy and of course I cherish my autographed copy of his book. His story and insights are of course helpful to all who watch North Korea, but the more interesting story in my opinion is his conversion to Christianity. He has encouraged me personally and professionally. I have also sat with him as he remembered his family and began to wail loudly with many tears for their fate. I can never forget that cry.
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:03 am
Uri,
I also have his autographed book. I also met him during one of the Sejong Society meeting when gave a speech on North Korea. It was a honor to meet him.