The dissertation aims to show that the Military-First Line of the Kim Jong Il regime is North Korean-style radicalism, which responded to the crisis of political authority erupted by succession, economic crisis, and asymmetric ending of the Cold War
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The dissertation aims to show that the Military-First Line of the Kim Jong Il regime is North Korean-style radicalism, which responded to the crisis of political authority erupted by succession, economic crisis, and asymmetric ending of the Cold War
The original form of North Korean-style radicalism was Juche Line. The political pressure of the two big powers(Soviet Union and China) in the 1950s and the de-radicalization of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the 1960s instigated North Korea to reinterpret the Marxism-Leninism and to make its own way that was called Juche Line. Kim Jong il as a successor of Suryong tried to elevate Juche Line to Kimilsungism and led the changes of ideology, organization and policy under the banner of anti-imperialism and ‘Complete Victory of Socialism.’
It was in the mid-1980s that the exploring the possibility of de-radicalization was appeared in North Korea. First of all, it attempted to rationalize economic policies by passing Joint Ventures law and putting an emphasis on the light industry. The end of Cold War accelerated these changes. In addition, North Korea sought to participate in the international community by Southward policy aimed at cross recognition. It attempted to accelerate the rationalization of economic policy by New Trade System and Revolutionary Economic Strategy. Geneva Agreement regime also signified a de-radical change because North Korea got a pledge of normalizing relations with, and security assurance from the United States, their so-called the most antagonistic imperial power, in return for nuclear renunciation.
In this regard, the period of ‘Legacy politics’(Yuhun Tongchi) was a transition period. The de-radical elements such as Geneva Agreement Regime and Revolutionary Economic Strategy coexisted with the radical element like Red Flag Thought and Revolutionary Soldier Spirit. But these transitional measures were not enough to overcome the crisis of political authority. The political insecurity of 1997 demonstrated a clear example. Hence, North Korean leadership decided to radicalize the policies, organizations, and Ideology. Military-First Line was an outcome of this radicalization.
This change meant that North Korean leadership decided to secure regime survival by militarism and to build charismatic authority by radicalization. Kim Jong il declared Juche Ideology is the original philosophy and ruled out any de-radical changes by the materialistic re-interpretation of Marxism-Leninism. ‘Complete Victory of Socialism’ as a vision of nation was replaced by ‘a Great, Prosperous and Powerful Nation’(Sahoejuui Kansong Taeguk). This ideological radicalization accompanied changes in organization and policy. The organizational changes included the advent of the National Defense Commission system and North Korean-style divisibility of politics and economy by Cabinet Responsibility System, while the policy changes was made up of the withdrawal of Revolutionary Economic Strategy, the revival of the priority development of heavy Industry policy for Self-Reliance, and the Defense Industry First Policy. These changes meant that the original North Korean-Style radicalism was transformed to the Military-First Line as a new radicalism in Kim Jong Il Regime. The de-radical change from class to people resulted in the radical change from people to ‘soldier and people.’ Military-First Line was reinforced by Military-First Economic Line and Military-First Thought in the 2000s.
In sum, the dissertation concludes that Military-First Line is North Korean-Style radicalism, drawing on the concept of radicalism by Robert Tucker. Military-First Line consists of three core elements: anti-imperialism, Great, Prosperous and Powerful Nation, and Military-First Politics. Each element corresponds to Tucker’s three elements of radicalism, that is, negation, vision, and activism, respectively.