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ACTS Journal of Theology. Seoul: Asian Center for Theological Studies and Mission, 1997.
Area Studies for Mission:
The Religious Nature of North Korean Politics
and Its Implications for Mission Strategies
Junhui Joo (Professor, Asian Studies)
I. Introduction
There is an urgent need for today's missiology to be accompanied by the area studies based on evangelical perspectives in order to provide effective strategies for mission. For the effective witness of Jesus Christ to different cultures, interdisciplinary studies of theology, missiology, and area studies should be carried out. It is important that the politics, economics, society, history, and culture of the area be examined in the context of God's plan for salvation. And it requires a new kind of area studies not easily found in the Western tradition of Social Science.
In understanding the political reality of the area to be evangelized, the existing political science would not prove to be sufficient. In Western Political Science there is a tendency to assume that politics is a field that can be separated from religion, and that it is even desirable to keep politics separated from religion. The Western societies have undergone the process of secularization as a part of the modernization process, where political power has been separated from religious authorities. But in most non-Western societies, politics and religion always maintained a close relationship. Therefore it is necessary to examine the spiritual background of the political phenomena.
This paper is an attempt to develop an area study on North Korean politics for the purpose of mission. It focused on the relationship between religion and politics because it
can provide insights into the spiritual nature of the polity and how to approach it for mission.
The paper finds strong anti-Christian spiritual background in the deification of Kim Il Sung and actually of the whole political system in North Korea. The deification process which has been going on in North Korea for decades is not only political but also deeply religious, based on the Shamanistic tradition of imposing supernatural qualities to extraordinary heroes and leaders in ancient Korea.
For the evangelization of North Korea it suggests that the politics of human rights, religious freedom, rational authority and secularization should be considered as important strategies to provide favorable environment for mission.
Not only North Korea, but in order to break through such areas as other Communist nations and Islamic countries, it is necessary to develop comprehensive mission strategies that encompass not only church activities but also political, economic, social and cultural strategies. Bearing in mind that the most important of mission strategies is to witness the gospel of Jesus Christ, efforts need to be made to create favorable environments for opening up closed areas.
II. Theoretical Framework: Religion and Politics
In order to approach the relationship between religion and politics, it seems appropriate to start from a typology of the relationship in traditional society. We can distinguish among three different systems according to the relationship between religion and politics in traditional societies: a deified ruler system, a priest-ruler system, and a church system.
Firstly, a deified ruler system is usually found in a culture where there is no clear distinction between god and man, for example in Shamanistic cultures. In Egypt in ancient times King Pharaoh was considered to be the god incarnate. Alexander the Great and Caeser were also deified. Secondly, a priet-ruler system is found mostly in Islam, Hindu, Confucian and Shinto cultures. Here the political leader is a high priest at the same time. In the Caste system in India, Braman is a ruling class and a priest class . Kaliph of Islam is a priet-ruler also. The Emperor of Japan is a chief Shinto priest. In the Confucian China, the emperor was a priest who conducted worship services to Heaven (天).
Thirdly, in the church system, political leaders and religious leaders are separated and carry out complementary roles. Religion develops its own distinctive system, for example as in Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist cultures. Kings in Israel were considered ordinary human beings with secular functions only. There is a clear distinction between what makes god and what makes man.
In North Korean case, Confucianism was the religion of the ruling elites and the king was a priest-ruler. Among the mass Shamanism had a significant influence, with the mixed influence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoisim. In Shamanism, the rulers tended to be deified.
The process of modernization in various parts of the world has been accompanied by the process of secularization, whereby the political authority became separated from religious authority. It is possible to distinguish among three types of political systems according to the different process of secularization: a religion-dominant political system, a religion-neutral political system, and an anti-religion political system. In the religion-dominant political system, religion still plays an important role, although not as strong as before in the priest-ruler or church systems. The source of political authority is still religion and the ruler even promotes a certain kind of religion as a national faith. Examples can be found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Middle East countries, Thailand, Miyanmar, and the Philippines in modern times. Secondly in the religion-neutral system, religion no longer plays the role as the source of legitimacy, as a result of successful secularization of politics. Korea and Taiwan provide good examples.
Thirdly, in the anti-religion political system, which is the extreme form of a secularized state, the political power actively suppresses religion usually based on anti-religion ideology. Communisy systems are good examples.
North Korea claimed to be an anti-religion system which was one of the most successful in suppressing religion. But although it claims to be a kind of Marxist Leninist
state, in fact the deification tradition of the Shamanistic culture continues in the political culture, and the political power seems to have intentionally utilized the religious tendency of the people for the deification of a political ruler. Therefore, it is not too much to say that North Korea is a religion-dominant system which is not yet fully secularized, the religion being the cult of Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jung Il.
III. Religion in Traditional Society and Their Impact on Political Culture
One year after the death of Kim Il Sung, the North Korean government distributed the stories fo miracles to the outside world. The main point was that the miracles have
been witnessed since the death of Kim Il Sung. For example: "It was raining hard with thunderstorms in Kum Su San, which is the sacred place for Juche ideology, but as soon as Kim Jung Il appeared the rain suddenly stopped and bright sun shined through. Many
Durumi's (which are sacred birds in Korea), danced around Kim Jung Il as if to show that he was from the heaven. A sparrow with white wings sat down before the portrait of Kim Il Sung for four hours and then flew away. The image of Kim Il Sung appeared in the sky of Haeju and Sariwon. A revolutionary myth is spreading throughout the country that Kim Il Sung went up to the sky through clouds. A white cloud in the shape of the Korean peninsula appeared , which shined like a star for two minutes and got bigger and shined like a sun for six minutes. It goes on and on.
Stories like these would sound ridiculous to foreigners. But Koreans at least over 40 years of age remember the similar kind of stories in the old days in the age old fairy tales and myths. The story shows the influence of folk religion, or Shamanism, which was the religion of the mass in the traditional Korean society. Korean traditinal culture was under the mixed influence of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism as well as Shamanistic faith.
1. Shamanism and the Legacy of Deification
(1)The Difference Between Shamanism in the North and the South
It is interesting to note the differences between the Shamanism of North and South in traditional Korea. In North, a Shaman was ordained by many spirits, and emphasized spritual power of healing and fortune-telling. In the North the Shaman had to deify himself/herself, and had 12-20 kinds of clothes for ceremonies. The music used during worship was played by Jing and Goengari , the fast sound of which would excite the Shaman and facilitate the process of ecstacy and possession. In the traditional North Korean society, it was not rare that Shaman would be deified. And a Shaman had an absolute power in the decision making of a community. We find the impact of such a legacy in the deification of Kim Il Sung.
Shamanism in the South was a little different. The job was inherited through the family tree, and the shaman did not have to deify herself/himself, since she/he was just a
priest. She/he had only 2 or 3 kinds of clothes for ceremonies. The musical instruments used were Piri and Kayakum, which was a lot slower and smoother than those used in the North.
(2)God and Man in Shamanism
There are about 273 kinds of gods in Korean shamanism. 63.6% are nature gods and 33.3% are human gods, while 3.1% are others. There was a strict hierarchy among gods, which corresponded to the hierarchy in human society. There is no clear distinction between humanness and godliness.
Among the nature gods, there were heaven god, sun god, moon god, star god, universe god, earth god, and so on. This is important in understanding how North Korean people worship Kim Il Sung as "sun" and "star". They also worshipped mountains, trees, river, and sea. Flowers were believed to have spirits.
Among the human gods there were: the founder of a nation, king(queen and princess),
amdirals (wife, daughter), noble, nobless, and so on. People were believed to become either good gods or evil spirits after death. Those people who were respected and of high status in life would become guardian godd of the state or local communities.
It is to be noted that a founder of a nation would always be deified with myths. In Dankun faith, the founder of the first Korean nation state was a son of god and was a god himself. In all the founding myths of ancient states, we find that the founders were considered to be the sons of gods and were worshipped after death. Examples are Haemosu of North Buyo, Jumong of Kokuryo, Hyok ko se of Silla, and Wanggon of the ancient Koryo kingdom.
There also were sacred mother godesses, who were noble ladies, the mother of the founder of a nation , or wives of heroes who did great things for the king or the state. This fact is important in understanding the cult of Kang Ban Suk, Kim Il Sung's mother, and Kim Jung Sook, Kim Jung Il's mother.
3) Impact on Politics
Shamanism as such has had a significant impact on the political culture of North Korean people. Firstly, it left the legacy of deifying political authority. The leaders were believed to be "from heaven" and were godlike people. Political legitimacy was based upon the supernatural power and deity of the ruler. Myths played an important part in cosolidating political power.
Secondly, the religion legitimized the strict hierarchy among people and imputed the priviledged with supersnatural qualities.
Thirdly, the religion contributed to the emergence of tyrannical rulers. A shaman used to have absolute power in the decision making of a village.
2. The Impact of Confucianism on Korean Political Culture
(1) Differences between the Chinese and the Korean Confucianism
There are certain differences between the Chinese Confucianism and the Korean Confucianism. In China, the emperor was a priest who conducted a worship service to Chon (天). The noble conducted worship services to lesser gods, and among the common people the patriarchal head of the family conducted worship services to ancestor spirits. There is a rather clear distinction between god and man in China. Therefore the emperor was not Chon itself but just a priest acting on the basis of the Heavenly Mandate (天命). But in Korea, gods and people are connected and supplement each other. The impact of Shamanism has made Confucianism more secular and human-centered in Korea.
(2) Legitimacy of Political Power
In the Confucian Korea, the legitimacy of political power was based upon Wang Do (王道: King's Way), which is composed of loyal inheritance, wisdom to harmonize godliness and humanness, knowledge gained from learning, and morality. Political legitimacy required not only power but also moral justification. A ruler was to be a model for the people in
conducting ethics. A Confucian state is a political community and moral community at the same time. It explains why Kim Jung Il emphasizes that he is the son and the rightful successor of Kim Il Song, the wise interpreter of Juche Ideology, and an excellent philosopher and a writer. It is because such qualities were required of a ruler in the Confucian Korea.
The ideal form of exercising political power was Duk Chi (德治: virtuous governance), where the patriarchal figure exercises power like a father in a family. However because of the lack of institutions that can check the abuse of power of the ruler, in reality they always ended up with some kind of Oriental Despotism. Confucianism which emphasizes hierarchal relations among people also contributed to the development of authoritarianism and the lack of political opposition in East Asia.
The relationship between political power and the mass of people was like those of family members. The family is the community of affection, and the hierarchical order in Confucian human relations always accompany affective relations. An individual obeys the hierarchical order in a group called the family, and was bound by strict norms required by the community.
(3)Kim Il Sung's Use of Confucianism
Kim Il Sung used the cultural tradition of Confucianism in consolidating his power as follows:
Firstly, his image was portrayed as that of a father of the state. In that way, whether he was good or bad or whether he abused his power or not, people would not dare challenge his authority because that would be considered as immoral as rebelling against a father.
Secondly, he emphasized that the society was a family with himself as a father, which reinforced the collective nature of North Korean political system.
Thirdly, Confucianism was used to legitimize the succession of power to his son Kim Jung Il which would be difficult to be accepted in other socialist countries. Such tactics of utilizing the traditional culture to conslidate communist control can be found also in China and Vietnam.
3. Japanese Colonialism and Shinto Worship
During the 36 years of Japanese colonialism in Korea, Japan made attempts to turn Koreans into Japanese citizens by forcing Japanese language, education and culture upon them and even forcing Koreans to change their surnames into the Japanese names. During this
period, the existing religious groups were severely oppressed especially when they were suspected to be nationalistic.
There was a strong tradition of Chrstianity in North Korea at the time of colonization. Christianity was introduced to Korea for the first time in 1884 by Henry G. Appenzeller and spread rapidly throughout North Korea. About two thirds of Christians were concentrated in Northwest areas of the Korean peninsula. After Japan colonized Korea, it started persecuting Christians. 16 out of 33 national leaders who signed the Declaration of Independence were Christians. After the Manchurian incident in 1931, Japan started forcing its national religion Shinto upon Korean people. More than 3,000 national church leaders were put into prison and 52 pastors and evangelists died in prison under Japanese colonialism.
Japanese colonialism did not contribute to the secularization of political power. Rather, it strengthened the legacy of the deification of a political leader. Japan was an extreme example of how political elites utilize religion to consolidate and legitimize their power.
In short, North Korean people who lived in the traditional culture of myths and shamanism came under the Japanese rule which emphasized the authority of the deified ruler, and then had to live with Kim Il Sung who became for them another Shaman and a Shinto Emperor. The deification of a political leader was something they had been accustomed to , and a secularized political power is something they had never experienced.
IV. Development of an Anti-Religious System in North Korea Since World War II
As of August 15, 1945, there were 2000 Christian churches with more than 300,000 Christians in North Korea. There were also 50,000 Catholics and 50,000 Bhuddists. Among the 2.8 million members of Chun Do Kyo (Way of Heaven ), 1.69 million were in North
Korea.
After 50 years of Kim Il Sung's rule, as of 1995, the Chosun Christian Association
claims to have about 10,000 members with 500 home churches, 20 pastors and a 3 - year Choson Theological Seminary. The Chosun Catholic Association claims to have 3000 members, while Chosun Buddhist Association to have 10,000 members, 300 monks and 45 temples. Now there are about 10,000 Buddhists. It is reported that Chon Do Kyo has the largest number of followers in North Korea, since Kim Il Sung was rather benevolent toward it which originated in Korea and whose members are mostly poor farmers. But the exact numbers are unknown.
The reason for such a drastic reduction in religion is of course the doctrine of Marxism which is explicitly anti-religious. Marx was deeply influenced by Feuerbach who thought that God was created in the image of people, and wrote in 1843 that people do not need God as the lord and need to be liberated from God. In an article in 1844 on the legal philosophy of Hegel, he said that the criticism of religion is the presmise of every criticism and that "religion is the opium of people". After destroying religion, Marx said, people will stop spinning around the illusive sun of God and start spinning around the true self. And almost all the communist systems ever established on the basis of Marxism have brutally suppressed religion. In Russia, China, Vietnam , and North Korea, Christians were severely persecuted.
1. Attitudes of Kim Il Sung Towards Religion
Kim Il Sung, who grew up in a Christian family where his mother's family was Christian, adopted the Marxist doctrine of religion rather faithfully. He said; "Religion is a reactive and unscientific world view. When people have religion their class consciousness is numbed and they lose a will for revolution. Therefore religion is like opium".
Calling Buddhism illusive and Confucianism conservative and reactionary, Kim called Christianity superstitious arguing that in the 19th Century Korea Christian missionaries acted as spies for imperialists, spreading slave-like pro-American attitudes among people.
2. Trends in North Korean Policies Towards Religion
Between 1945 and early 60's massive efforts were made by North Korean communists
to eliminate religion and religion seemed to have disappeared on the surface. Most people with religion gave up their faith, or were persecuted, or hid underground. Article 258 of the DPRK Criminal Code provides "those who are involved in administration in religious organizations will be subject to labor for one year or less."
In the 1970's, the Juche ideology was suggested as an alternative to fill the spiritual vacuum of North Korean people after all forms of religion had been eliminated. The Article 54 of the New Constitution in 1972 provided for "the freedom to advocate anti-religion". Some religious organizations were revived to show the outward appearance that there are
religions in North Korea. The Chosun Christian Association which was in existence between 1946-1959 and disappeared in the 60's renewed its activities in 1972. It applied for membership in W.C.C. in 1974 but was denied, and participated in international conferences in India (1975) and Austria (1981) to carry out anti-Korean propaganda.
Between 1980 and 1991, North Korea started advertising internationally the existence of religion while continuing to suppress religious activities dometically. In 1981, it opened the door to Western religious leaders and organizations, and allowed Korean pastors living abroad to visit North Korea. Between 1983-84 the bible was translated and published. It tried to get in touch with South Korean Christians through W.C.C. and Vatican. In 1988, Bong Soo Church and Jang Chung Cathedral were built. Kim Il Sung's attitudes towards religion seemed to have changed a bit. In August 1991, Kim Il Sung said "we cannot blame religious people, because they have to resignate before pains and unhappiness in life as fatal but cannot give up the hope they can have it better in the next world after death."
Since 1992, religion started growing at least in appearance. In the Constitution adopted in April 1992 North Korea eliminated the provision on "the freedom to advocate anti-religion" and in Article 68 provided as following; "Citizens have freedom of religion. They can build religious buildings and conduct ceremonies. Nobody can use religion to invite outside intervention or to threaten social order." In Korean Dictionary, religion is explained in rather neutral terms. In May 1992, Billy Graham visited North Korea and delivered a message at Bong Soo Church. In November 1992, Ban Suk Church was built after the name of Kim Il Sung's mother Kang Ban Suk.
V. Use of Religion in the Deification of Kim Il Sung
After destroying all the existing religions, Kim Il Sung became a god himself, and Kim Jung Il played an important part in the deification process from which he benefited and which he consciously utilized for the consolidation of his own status.
1. Juche Ideology and Su Ryong (Boss) Theory
Juche ideology has the function like a religious doctrine in the deification process.
The Article 3 of the DPRK Socialist Constitution provides that "DPRK takes Juche Ideology as its guiding principle of activities, which is a human-centered world view and a revolutionary ideology to realize the self-reliance of the mass."
At the center of Juche ideology is the concept of Su Ryong. Juche ideology is the ideology of Su Ryong which reflects the thoughts, behaviors, and guiding principles of Su Ryong. Su Ryong is not simply a political leader but the top brain and the center of unity and solidarity. He is "the top leader who commands the revolution of working people with extraordinary wisdom, high communist virtues, infinite tolerance, and excellent leadership."
It is believed that "the fate of the nation is determined by an excellent Su Ryong."
To be noted here is the way how the leader is perceived in religious ways.
Su Ryong is "the source of life" who gives political life, and furthermore he is the source of eternal life. This is the point where Juche ideology stops being a political ideology and turns into a religion.
2. Deification Process
The concept of Su Ryong is first seen on December 15 1952 at the fifth meeting of the Central Committee of the Party. After Kim's speech, the party members responded by shouting "glory to Comrade Kim Il Sung who is our respected Su Ryong". However in the earlier years due to the pressure from the Soviet Union which objected to deification there was no serious attempts at deification.
After Stalin's death, Kim was successful in purging his political opponents between 1958 and 1960. Between 1961 and 1966 the deification process started, distorting the history and enforcing Kim's portraits and sculptures on people as objects of worship. A massive purge was carried out against those who objected to Kim.
Between 1962 and 1972, Kim Il Sung One and Only Thought was consolidated. From July 1967, Kim Il Sung began to be called formally a Great Leader. Su Ryong came to be defined as a concept which means the brain and the center of unification and solidarity.
In 1972, a constitutional reform was carried out where the President (主席) system was newly introduced, and Kim started consolidating its power spritually and institutionally. In 1972 Three Revolutionary Small Groups were formed, and started emphasizing that "revoution should be carried out by the son. In September 1973, Kim Jong Il became Secretary in Charge of Publicity and Mobilization and emerged as a successor to inherit the throne. Since then, Kim Jong Il became deified along with his father. Kim Jong Il came to be called "the Party Center".
The following ten principles delivered to people in February 1974 to observe show the efforts by the Party to deify political leaders.
(1) Thou shalt devote thou life in the struggle to dominate the whole society with the revoutionary thought of the Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung.
(2) Thou shalt worship the Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Song with all his/her heart.
1) Thou shalt regard it as the ultimate happiness and honor to serve the Great Comrade Kim Il Song as Su Royong, the one who is the genius of revoution, the sun of nation, and a mythical hero, and should pay infinite respect, love, and forever worship Su Ryong.
2) Thou shalt engrave in thou heart that thou shalt live only for Su Ryong even for a minute, willingly sacrifice youth and life for Su Ryong, and maintain loyalty to Su Ryong under whatever circumstances.
(3)Thou shalt absolutize the authority of the Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung.
1) Thou shalt maintain firm position and perspective that you do not care anyone anywhere except the Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung.
2) Thou shalt consider it an emergent issue and carry out struggles uncompromisingly when the authority of Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung is challenged no matter how trivial it might seem.
3) Proper respect should be paid to the portraits, pictures and statues of Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung, all the publications that contain the portrait of Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung, and party slogans.
4) Revolutionary historical sites of Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung and the research institutes on the revolutionary thoughts of Kim Il Sung should be dignified, properly maintained and protected.
(4)Thou shalt accept the revolutionary thoughts of Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung as thou personal belief and make the teachings of Su Royong as thou creed.
1) Thou shalt receive the teachings of Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung unconditionally, review everything using the teachings as a measure, and think and act according to the thoughts and will of the Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung.
2) Thou shalt study the thoughts of Kim Il Sung for more than two hours a day.
3) The teachings of Su Royong should be cited with respect in reports, discussions, lectures and in publications, whose contents should be developed on the teachings without distortion.
(5) The principle of unconditionality should be applied to the implementation of the teachings of Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung.
(6) The Unification in thoughts and wills and the revolutionary consolidarity of the party should be strengthened centered around Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung.
(7) Thou shalt be equipped with communist personality, revolutionary working methods, and people's working culture.
(8) Thou shalt keep preciously thou political life endowed from Great Su Ryong Comrade Kim Il Sung and pay for the great political trust and consideration of Su Ryong with loyalty based on high political self-awareness and skills.
(10) The great task of revolution should be succeeded and completed through generation to the end.
Based on such obvious efforts at social control, the deification of Kim Il Sung was carried out through manipulating and distorting the history to make him as the leader of anti-Japanese guerrillar movement . The deification of the whole family tree was carried out to pretend that the revolutionary thoughts of Kim Il Sung was from the tradition of his
family. His great grand father was turned into a revoutionary leader against American imperialists, and his grand father a leader promoting anti-Japan revolutionary thoughts. His
father was an anti-Japan revolutionary fighter, a great leader of the natinal liberation movement, a patriot and an educator. His mother Kang Ban Sok was an anti-Japan revolutionary fighter who led the social emancipation of women and who encouraged women's participation in revolutionary activities..... the list goes on to his uncle, brother, cousin,... who were all great revolutionary fighters. Of course there is no historical evidence to support such claims.
The deification of Kim Jong Il starts accelerating since 1986 when Kim Jong Il systematized the theory of socio-political life in his article "On A Few Problems of Teaching Juche Ideology". The theory was first suggested in his article "On Juche Thought" (1982). It is the core of the deification of the Kims, which suggests that Su Ryong, the Party and the people constitute one socio-political living body where Su Ryong is the brain of the body. The Department of Revolutionary History in Kim Il Sung Comprehensive University is divided into the Department of Kim Il Sung Studies and the Department of Kim Jong Il Studies. Various symbols are being used to deify Kim Jong Il, such as developing revolutionary historical sites, making slogan trees, publishing myths, promoting Kim Jong Il flower which is the flower of everlasting life, and writing the name and teachings of Kim Jong Il in famous mountains such as Kum Kang Mountain.
3. The Use of Religious Elements in the Deification Process
(1) Shamanistic Elements
As was discussed above, it is the general tendency of Shamanism to deify extraordinary human beings. In the deification of Kim Il Sung, Kim is worshipped as sun god,
star god, and mountain god. Kim has the same status as the national hero gods who founded ancient kingdoms.
The birth of Kim Il Sung is explained in terms of myths just like the national heroes.
For example, the leader of Chon Do (Heavenly Way) Religion Choi Duk Sin describes the myth as follows in his book Kim Il Sung He is God (1988).
Early in the morning a rainbow arose to remain on the roof of a small
straw roof house, and all of a sudden the Sun rose above Man Kyong
Mountain riding upon the rainbow.
The Sun laughed shining all over he universe, took a bunch of pilled
hemp stalks from the yard of the small straw-roof-house and threw it
over Dae Dong river. Then the river started boiling over, and admist
thunder and lightening, from somewhere came the sound of trumphet
and many soldiers appeared to line up.
The Sun hopped on the silver white horse with wings, shaking his gold whip,
and flew toward Baek Du Mountain. Thousands of soldiers followed.
Many people watched the sight, shouting "A generalissimo is born", "A generalissimo descended from the Heaven of Choson!"
It is not difficult to find a similar kind of myth about the birth of Kim Jong Il which is taught to children. Kim Jong Il was born on February 15, 1942 at Watko near Amur River in Siberia. But a story is made up that he was born in Baek Du Mountain, and that the spirit of Baek Du Mountain is put into him at birth. "The Myth of Baek Du Bright Star"
in Children's Literature describes as follows.
There was a blind boy named Kumdong. In mid-February, 1942 (when Kim
Jung Il was born ) his girl friend looked up in the sky and found a major star.
Next to the major star was a small baby star which was not seen before.
The star was getting bigger and the starlight shone on a fountain water... she
took a cup of water and gave to Kumdong.... and he was able to see again.
A grandfather who listened to the story said; "it means another hero was born in
Korea. The light of the new star touched the fountain and gave you light, now his virtue is poured upon Myo Hyang Mountain. This Myo Hyang Mountain
which received his spirit will be the great mountain that will shine upon the whole world someday.
In the following description of Kim Jong Il, it is not difficult to find Shamanistic and traditional religious sentiment.
- A great leader who succeeds the great task of the sun as a sun (sun worship)
- The sun of the human race
- The Hyang Do Star of the nation (star worship)
- General Kim Il Sung The Star of the Nation, Baek Ku Bright Star Who will
succeed the sunlight
- The eternal fate of the nation
- Extraordinary qualities;
- shining intelligence, perceptiveness, foresights, iron will and creed,
equipped with the traditional virtues of literature, martial arts, loyalty,
and filial piety (shows combination of hero worship of Shamanism and
King's Way of Confucianism)
- extraordinary thinking ability
" The Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il is a sacred man sent down from
the Heaven and his thinking ability is outstanding that finds no matches
in the human history of East and West".
- the hero of the century; genius of thoughts and theories
- the general of the generals equipped with the virtues of intellectuality, virtue,
and courage (general worship)
- the spiritual leader of the Dan Kun nation from the Heaven (Dan Kun worship).
One can also find the remnants of the Sacred Mother worship in the deification of Kang Ban Suk, Kim Il Sung's mother, and Kim Jung Sook, Kim Jung Il's mother. It is argued that Kim Jung Sook, invincible revolutionary fighter, has eternal life, and to learn from her is to receive eternal life from her.
(2) Confucian Elements
It is easy to detect Confucian elements in how the Kim's are called the parents of the nation, and how the nation is symbolized as a big family where Su Ryong is the father and the Party is the mother. Succession of power to the son is also easily accomodated in a Confucian culture based on patriarchal ideologies.
When Kim Jong Il's super intellectual capacity is emphasized, one can detect the tradition of the King's Way in Confucian culture. The ruler is expected to be equipped with certain virtues. Consider the following statements about Kim.
- Extraordinary perceptiveness
" Great Leader Kim Jong Il is equipped with intelligence which can see one thousand miles, and he is the sun of the human race which shines upon the way of the age with extraordinary perceptiveness."
- Excellent writing capacity, immortal achievements, a hero of thoughts and theories
" The writing of Kim Jong Il has reached the ultimate stage incomparable to all the writings of all the great men in the world, and he can theorize and write on any complex
issues with ease, with almighty and encyclopediac writing power."
- Embodies the personalities and qualities of a leader at the utmost level
- Authoritative thinker, theorizer
- The Great Parent of the Nation
- Succeeded the noble characters of the Great Leader (emphasis on family succession)
Loyal to the great tasks of the Great Leader endlessly, etc.
(3) Christian Elements
Of great concern to us is the Christian elements that Kim Il Sung was able to utilize in making himself the god of the nation. It seems that Kim was quite conscious of what he was doing when he said, "if you are going to believe in god, why should you believe in American god instead of Korean god?" There are many evidences that Kim consciously made himself Korean god, after eliminating all the other religions and enforcing himself as hero god who created a nation. Christian elements were consciously utilized throughout the
procedure.
A. Eternal Life
It is the core of Christian belief that God sent His only begotten Son so that those who believe in Him might have eternal life.
Eternality is a central concept in Christian faith. Man, created in the image of God, has immortal soul which is doomed to sentence in the last day. And Juche ideology introduced the concept of eternity to add a character of religion to its ideology.
Su Ryong is the fountain of sociopolitical life and eternal life. Collective sociopolitical life is more precious than individual physical life.
The sociopolitical life is contained in the unified body of Su Ryong, Party, and the Mass. Su Ryong is the brain of the body, commanding the activities of the sociopolitical party.
Each individual can have eternal sociopolitical life when he/she is connected to Su Ryong through party organization and gets unified in organization and thoughts. The relationship between Su Ryong and each individual is based on blood -- physical life is given by the parent (Confucian understanding of origin of life), but sociopolitical life is given by the Su Ryong. Su Ryong takes care of the members with the love of the parent, and is the patron of sociopolitical life. Therefore, you can have eternal sociopolitical life only when you are unified with Su Ryong in terms of organization and thoughts as comrades.
B. Love
In Christian faith, God is love, and those who are saved through faith in Jesus Christ have the commandment that they should love God and love neighbors as themselves. Kim Il Sung took the concept of love and fabricated it to mean someting entirely different.
It is argued that Juche ideology has scientifically explained the concept of love.
Love is "the attitude of considering the object as precious and caring about it. The most noble of many kinds of love is revolutionary comradely love. Love is the natural emotion of social man, the inherent physiology of a social organization. Therefore mutual love is the basis of organization formation and unity of humanbeings... true love is expressed and practiced when a social man unites his/her life with the life of an organization and carries out activities for the organization. Therefore a true love is to respect and promote the self
reliance of a man, and lead people collectively to live according to their self reliant nature."
"The infinitely broad and eternal love that the world sees for the first time, the love which is infinite in space and eternal in space like universe can blossom only under the light of the Great Su Ryong and the glorious Party Central." It is argued that the love of the great Su Ryong is such that its width and depth cannot be known, which echoes the Christian understanding of God's love.
C. Positive Thinking/ Praise and Thanksgiving
One of the characteristics of a mature Christian is positive thinking, rejoicing and thanksgiving in everything. Kim used it to consolidate his power.
North Korean people are socialized into giving thanks to Kim Il Sung for everything they have in life. Kim argued that "the success of anything depends upon the attitudes of the people in charge of the task", emphasized the power of positive thinking about himself, communist sytem, and the party, and people are allowed to use only praises and thanksgiving to political objects. It is prohibited to criticize or have negative attitudes about the system.
D. Heaven
North Korean people are taught by the system that their society is the most superior paradise on earth, thaty they enjoy perfect political freedom and rights and rich cultural life. Further, it is a utopia which guarantees a solid future for the human race.
Consider the following poem.
Our nation is the first in the world
where human desire for freedom has
the most beautifully blossomed.
The paradise of Jeche,
the paradise of people,
the paradise of happiness.
The great Su Ryong is our sun
We people are the stars reflecting His light
Oh, we prefer
to live this way
for ever....and ever....
(4) Religious Syncretism
In the 1990's, a tendency of religious syncretism, that is of mixing various elements of religion, becomes very obvious in Juche ideology. Kim Jong Il attempts at sycretizing various
religious doctrines and argues that Juche ideology is the combination of the core truth of all the religions.
The leader of Chondo (Heavenly Ways) published in 1988 a book entitled "Kim Il Sung He is Hanwool (god)", where he argues that Kim is the Chondo god incarnated ;
"He is almighty Hanwool, born from our nation and among our people...He is the incarnation of all the wisdom, power, and hope that a man can possible have, he is the heart and brain of human race who are born with those qualities. When he smiles the universe is at peace, and when he is mad even sun and moon would vow down."
It is also publicized that the leaders of other religions kneeled down before Juche ideology which is a higher form of "religious truth". It is said that Munis Rajah, Vice President of Delhi University, India said that "the time is over when Buddha was respected and now the time has come when the whole human race will love Kim Il Sung and follow him". A Catholic priest and a Foreign Minister of Nicaragua is said to have said "we shouldn't believe in God but the Great Comrade Kim Il Sung."
Park Tae Ho, Chairperson of the DPRK Buddhist Association said "Buddhism has something in common with Juche Ideology in that it proclaims love and mercy... Juche ideology contains religious truth."
Efforts are also made to argue that Juche ideology is the ultimate consumation of such traditional thoughts as Seon and Ki.
And it is argued by Kim Il Sung that there is no contradiction between his thoughts and Christianity. Pastor Koh Ki Jun, Chairperson of the DPRK Christian Association, argued that Juche ideology and Christianity are the same and Christian spirit came to be completed in the North Korean political system.
In the 1990's, there is a new trend in Kim Jong Il's effort to bring in sprituality to support his power. On July 15, 1986 Kim Jong Il put forth "Chosun Nation Best-ism", through which he started emphasizing the traditional culture and religion of the nation.
In the 1990's, efforts are made to recover national culture. In May 1992, Kim recovered the tomb of Wang Kun, who founded Korea dynasty which was the first unified nation in Korean history, and ordered to rebuild the tomb. Between 1992 and 1993, he rebuilt many tombs of kings, Confucian temples, and Buddhist temples.
Most remarkable is the recovery of the tomb of Dan Kun, who is believed to have established the ancient kingdon of Ko Cho Sun for the first time in Korea 5000 years ago.
In October 1993, the Social Science Institute of DPRK announced that the bones of Dankun and his wife was found in a tomb. Kim recontructed the tomb of Dan Kun and conducted a worship service to the spirit. It is a symbolic gesture to argue that Pyong Yang is the origin of Korean nation and that Kim Jong Il is the legitimate subject of national unification.
On October 4, 1993, Labor News reported that Pyong Yang is the origin of Korean nation, which is a lie.
VI. Concusion and Suggestions for Mission Strategies
Marx once said that religion is a means of the previleged to exploit the underprivileged insociety and is like an opium of the people. It is a very biased understanding of religion, but is an accurate description of the role of religion in North Korean society.
This study looked into the spiritual nature of North Korean politics and affirmed that North Korean politics is not separated from religion and in reality is not secularized realm. In this paper, we distinguished among a deified ruler system, a priest ruler system, and a church syste according to the relationship between religion and politics in the traditional society, and then discussed a religion dominant system, a religion neutral system, and an anti-religion system of modern societies according to the degree of secularization.
In Korean traditional culture, there was the tradition of a priest ruler system based on Confucianism at the elite level, while the tradition of a deified ruler system continued at the lvevel of the mass with strong influence of Shamanism. North Korean political system today is anti-religion in appearance but in content is a deified ruler system which has not experienced the process of secularization. There is a strong influence of Shamanism which deified extraordinary heroes and rulers. The 36 years of Japanese rule tended to reinforce the nature of a deified ruler system, with Japan's own deification of the Emperor as the head of Shinto religion.
The process of the deification of Kim and his family was intentional and well planned. Such religious symbols of Shamanism as sun, stars, river, and dragons were manipulated to create religious myths. Confucian virtue of fillial piety was emphasized to maintain people's loyalty. The Christian concepts of eternal life, immortality, love, and heaven are reformed and manipulated to reinforce Juche ideology. In the 1990's, national history, culture, and myths are manipulated to give legitimacy to Kim's rule, including the Heavenly Way religion, Buddhism, Taoism, and so on. One find one thing common in North Korean manipulation of religions: they were all used to consolidate Kim's power.
Such attempts at manipulating religion to create a deified ruler system were made to consolidate Kim's power. In this system, religion plays the role of an opium which blinds people from seeing the corruption, abuse of power, and ineffectiveness of the system under which they are abused and oppressed.
Based on the findings, the following mission strategies are suggested.
1. Missionaries need to understand the spiritual nature of the system in North Korea.
It is wrong to assume that politics and religion are separate fields to be dealt with separately. They are closely intertwined in North Korea.
2. Missionaries need to be trained to develop in-depth understanding of North Korean reality from evangelical perspectives.
Politics, economics, society and culture should be understood from Christian perspective in the context of God's salvation in Jesus Christ.
3. There is a need to develop Christian apologetics against Juche ideology and what it argues about religion and Christianity; against Su Ryong theory, concept of eternal life, love, and heaven, the deification of a leader, syncretism, and many more.
(1) On the deification of Kim and his family
Kim made conscius efforts to put himself in the position of god and went further to deify his entire family. It has to be made clear that this is the kind of conduct that God abhores the most. It is Satanic to endeavor to put oneself in the position of God. The First Commandment reads: "You shall have no other gods before me". It is followed by the Second Commandment : "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them."(Exodus 20:3-7).
Kim was born in a Christian family, where his grandfather Kang Hyong Uk was an elder and mother Kang Ban Suk was a church going Christian. He knew about Christianity and Christian doctrine. But he committed the sin of deifying himself, for which God said He will give punishments for three to four generations.
It is the primary characteristics of a Satan to try to occupy the status of God. Why would a common man attempt to be the object of worship? He/she is either used by Satan or is using people's religious inclinations to consolidate power.
(2) On Juche Ideology
The central thought of Juche ideology is that "people are the subjects of everything and determines everything". Our first criticism of the assertion is that it is based on the misunderstanding of finite and mortal human nature. It is to deny the existence of God who is the subject of history and put unqualified confidence in the capacity of humanbeings to shape their fate and history. It is to directly deny and challenge God who is the lord of the universe. The absolute sovereignty belongs to God. The only absolute Juche is God.
People are created by God and there are definite limits to what they can determine in their lives. People do not determine whether to born or to die, whether to get sick or health, who to marry and who to give birth to. Even their own behaviors are not always under their control. People are subject to their sinful nature.
However Juche ideology insists on the rationality of reforming human beings, believing that they can create a Juche man through education. However only God can reform human beings, through his only begotten son Jesus Christ and salvation through faith in Him. The only way to reform a man is for God to save him/her to be born again to recover the Image of God in which he/she was created in the beginning.
Secondly, Juche ideology insists that self-reliance is the life of a man. However self-reliance cannot be produced and maintained in a totalistic society where the individual is annihilated and subjected totally to the leader. True self-reliance is possible only in Jesus Christ. "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32) It is the same with creativity and consciousness which are emphasized by Jeche ideology as the basic characteristics of a man. These are the manifestations of Imago Dei. Although people have sinned and corrupted a part of the image of God from which they were created remains in the form of reason, conscience, creativity, consciousness and self-reliance. However Juche ideology does not provide an answer to the question how self-reliant, creative, and conscious parts of human nature develop from a man made from materials. The ideology explains the manifest Imago Dei in terms of the image of Su Ryong.
It is only when a sinner accepts the lord Jesus Christ and be saved, that his Imago Dei starts getting recovered, along with his/her self-reliance, creativity, and consciousness. And the process is at the individual level. No collectivity such as a party or society can provide the salvation. Eternal life is given by God as gift to those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Thirdly, Juche idelogy insists that it is the thoughts of a man which determines the behavior of a man. It is also based on unrealistic understanding of human nature. It is also false even in terms of Marxism which argues for the economic basis of human thoughts.
In short, Juche ideology was based on false understanding of human beings and therefore resulted in the enslavement of people and Juche of one man.
(3) On Theory of Sociopolitical Life
Juche ideology insists that a man can enjoy a sociopolitical life which is more precious than physical life , by being loyal to Su Ryong and Juche Ideology. To be loyal to Kim Il Sung means to have eternal life.
There is no content to the concept of sociopolitical life. The term was created for something that does not exist to pretend that it exists because it has a name. Kim Il Sung, Kim Jung Il, and the party cannot give life. Society is not a living body. " "(John 17:3). Su Ryong theory and the theory of sociopolitical life constitute the core of the quasi-religious nature of Juche ideology.
(4) On Religious Syncretism of Juche Ideology
North Korean political system has been pretty much willing to provide religion for the people, in the form of religious syncretism. Kim Il Sung is like God in Christianity, they explain, like Shaman in shamanism, and Han Wool in the Heavenly Ways religion. It is the consumation of all the religious truths of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, and all the others.
It is insisted that Juche ideology is in harmony with Christian thoughts. '
However the Juche ideology is clearly in contradiction with Christianity, and there is nothing in the ideology to be in harmony with Christianity. There are concepts of eternal life, love, immortality, and heaven, but all distorted to suit the purpose of the ideology. Eternal life is given only through faith in the one living Creator God and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. And Jesus is the way, the truth, and life.
There are two kinds of life; one is physical life and the other is eternal life from faith in Jesus Christ. "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
(John 6:40). "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25).
4. Political strategies of secularizing political power, developing religion-neutral system, promoting the freedom of religion and the idea of human rights, new political socialization and citizens education are favorable, and even indispensable precondition, for mission.
Firstly, during and after the national unification process, evangelical Christians in the field of politics and political education should ensure that North Korean people be resocialized into the secularization of political power. It is necessary to redefine the role of political leader based on evangelical understanding of anthropology.
All the men are fallen, imperfect, and are subject to sinful nature. There is a definite incontinuity between the Creator God and fallen human race. The only way to be connected with God is through the blood of Jesus Christ. No political leader can claim to possess deity. For an imperfect human being to be entrusted with absolute power means an opportunity for the power to be abused. Therefore political power needs to be restricted and checked by people. Democracy means there is an institutional check on the abuse of power.
Political power should be separated from myth and deity and needs to be secularized. Political power is given by God for the purpose of realizing righteousness for the people. A political leader should serve people with his/her power.
Secondly, it is also important to make sure that North Korea should become at least religion-neutral. Religion should be separated from politics. Politics should not be allowed to control religion. Political power should not promote a certain kind of religion. Freedom of religion should become an absolute principle in order that missionary activities can be carried out. Negative attitudes toward religion developed under the communist regime should be eliminated.
Thirdly, the individual rights to freedom should be promoted and institutional measures to protect the individual from the abuse of power should be introduced. It should be recognized that the individual is entitled to human rights which cannot be violated by the collectivity, such as rights to life, dignity, privacy, and pursuit of happiness.
Jesus Christ showed an example of a good shepherd, who in order to save the life of one lost sheep would go through a lot of difficulties until he/she finds it. A life of one person is as precious as the universe to the Creator God. Nobody can violate the individual rights under the name of the Party or the ideology.
Fourthly, national unification should be accompanied by a carefully planned and tested political socialization for the whole nation, beginning from kindergarten to the most advanced level of education, in both formal and nonformal education, at the governmental as well as nongovernmental levels. The secular nature of political power, and the individual rights to freedom and human rights should be clearly understood and practiced as a lifestyle of Korean people.
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