General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs Kim Jung-un a cult leader?
Could he have drank so much of the kool-aid, that the north feeds it's citizens, that he truly believes he is a god? That no matter what happens he'll be redeemed some how? He can't win a physical war (nuclear or conventional), but maybe in his delirious state, he thinks he can win the spiritual one? I heard he was educated in Switzerland? Really?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-un
Renew Deal
(81,801 posts)North Korea is the largest slave state on the planet.
PennsylvaniaMatt
(966 posts)I would classify him as a "cult leader." Over 60 years ago, when North Korea was formed and led by his grandfather Kim Il-Sung, one of the first things that was done was to develop this aura in the nation that everything they have (which the North Koreans consider to be a lot when in reality, their "upper class" lives like our middle class, and some of the most extreme poverty that exists on this planet is in NK) is because of Kim Il-Sung (later Kim Jong-Il and now Kim Jong-Un). This sort of mentality has manifested throughout the country ever since, primarily because there is no other line of thinking to challenge it because information is so strictly regulated.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)And James Jones
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Nothing new here; the Chinese emperor was called "the Son of Heaven", the Japanese emperor was revered as a living god, European monarchs in the Middle Ages were regarded as divinely anointed. In an absolute monarcy the monarch is the living embodiment of the state.
treestar
(82,383 posts)In fact I've heard they still claim he is the President. He is like, eternal President. His cult was strong enough to pass down to his descendants.
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)as a kind of invincible god-king for a long, long time. The question in my mind is do the senior most echelon including Kim Jun-un believe it themselves?
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)The thing is that Kim Jong Il had enough experience to know how far he could push when playing Chicken with South Korea and the United States. Kim Jong Un doesn't have that experience, is probably getting really cocky, getting no useful feedback from his advisors (they're all going to be in full sycophant mode - "Great idea, Brilliant Comrade!" The odds of him doing something stupid are fairly high.
Warpy
(110,908 posts)and with any country with a Supreme Leader who is regarded at least as a demigod, no one is going to want to tell him the truth about failure. Likely he thinks he's got a whole lineup of perfectly functional ICBMs to deliver his multiple nuclear warheads and no one in his own inner circle is willing to sacrifice his life to tell him the truth, that the long range missile tests have all fizzled and he can't even get one to Japan.
I could feel sorry for the poor delusional little bastard if he weren't so damned dangerous.
I just hope China can rein him in. I know they don't want the region destabilized and they certainly don't want to lose their cash cows, the US and Japan. They really have the most to lose here.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)The North Koreans are completely and blindly devoted, even half starved. Or maybe the starvation makes them even easier to control.
They are ruled by an intense love and worship for the man mixed with an intense fear and paranoia. This is a far more dangerous thing then just a culture ruled by fear. They are unable to even imagine a different life or that their leader can do anything wrong. The concept is foreign to them.