A Historical-Critical Examination of North Korea's
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A Historical-Critical Examination of the Evolution of North Korea’s Juche Ideology Using Fantasy Theme Analysis: A Vision Transformed Presented to the Faculty Liberty University School of Communication Studies In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Master of Arts In Communication Studies By Matthew Warner May 2008 Warner ii Thesis Committee Signature Sheet Cliff Kelly, PhD, Chairperson Date Michael Graves, PhD Date Terri Lynn Cornwell, PhD Date Warner iii Dedication For Beth, Mr. Lee, and 23,301,7251 North Koreans. 1 As of July 2007 (Central). Warner iv Acknowledgments To say that I wrote this thesis alone would be fiction. I am the one who sat at the word processor, pressed the keys, and did the research. However, many others must be acknowledged for their contribution. Thanks go to Kevin Mahan for getting me started, without your insight into rhetorical criticism this thesis would not exist. Once Kevin guided me to the trailhead another friend, a North Korean refugee living in central Virginia, who asked to remain anonymous2 for fear of reprisal against his and his wife’s family, who are still in the DPRK, blazed the trail with me. Without his help this thesis would have been impossible. Also, without the assistance of Dr. Michael Graves I would have attempted to analyze several hundred speeches, thank you for showing me that limitations in academic research are not unreasonable. I am grateful to Dr. Terri Lynn Cornwell who provided thorough grammatical corrections, as well as much positive criticism. Throughout the process Dr. Cliff Kelly, my thesis chairperson, offered his faith in me as a scholar and encouragement. Thanks Dr. K. Many hours were spent at my parents home, thanks is due to Jim and Cozee for providing me a grotto of escape. My wife, Beth, also deserves thanks, for showing admirable patience and support through a long, and sometimes emotional, process. Finally, I thank Jesus for giving mankind hope, even amidst the desperation of North Korea. 2 Since my friend’s personal experiences are shared throughout this thesis a pseudonym is necessary, he will be referred to as Mr. Lee. Warner v Abstract Scholarship on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is severely limited due to the secretive nature of Kim Jong Il and his regime; much of this secrecy and, generally, the closed nature of North Korean society is due in part to an ideology based on self-reliance, Juche. Through a communication scholarship based rhetorical examination this thesis aims to understand and explain how Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il have been able to create and sustain the Juche ideology in spite of North Korea’s poor economic and social condition. The research traces the evolution of North Korea’s Juche ideology from 1955 to 1990, using Ernest Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Analysis, by examining two key speeches. The first speech was given by Kim Il Sung and has been pinpointed by scholars as the symbolic inception of Juche. The second speech is thematically similar and was given by Kim Jong Il in 1990. The two orations are compared and the ideological differences between the two are parsed out and summarized. This thesis found that the Juche idea began as a legitimate lifestyle rhetorical vision cast to the people by Kim Il Sung which met the needs of the people. The purpose of the original Juche idea proved effective at overcoming the conditions present in 1955 and was adopted by the nation as a whole. However, under Kim Jong Il the nature of Juche changed from serving to the people to serving the Korean Worker’s Party. The implications extend to the North Korean situation today and this thesis suggests a new paradigm for understanding North Korea’s possession of nuclear and biological weapons, hostility towards South Korea, and general attitude towards outsiders. Warner vi Table of Contents Thesis Committee Signature Sheet.............................................................................ii Dedication....................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgments....................................................................................................... iv Abstract......................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ vi I. Introduction...............................................................................................................1 The Purpose ...............................................................................................................1 Justification ..............................................................................................................3 Significance of the Study ......................................................................................... 5 II. Literature Review....................................................................................................9 Juche: An Introduction and Literature Review .....................................................9 Fantasy Theme Analysis: An Introduction............................................................17 III. Methodology ........................................................................................................28 General Application of FTA to Juche....................................................................28 Methodology ...........................................................................................................32 IV. Emerging Juche: The Vision Serves the People.................................................38 Introduction to Kim Il Sung’s “On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work” .............................................................38 Historical Background...........................................................................................42 Analysis ...................................................................................................................43 V. Post Cold War Juche: The People Serve the Vision............................................58 Introduction to Kim Jong Il’s “Let Us Prepare the Young People as Thoroughly Reliable Successors to the Revolutionary Cause of Juche”.................................58 Warner vii Analysis ................................................................................................................... 61 VI. Discussion: The Rhetorical Visions Compared.................................................. 75 VII. Conclusion........................................................................................................... 81 Summary and Current Ramifications................................................................... 81 Future Research and Limitations of Current Research ......................................86 Works Consulted........................................................................................................88 Warner 1 I. Introduction The Purpose Jim Carrey, in the film The Truman Show, plays Truman, a man raised from birth in an artificial and controlled environment: a television set designed for him to perceive as reality. As the movie progresses one is able to see the process of creation and simulation beginning with a camera dangling above his crib along with his mobile, leading all the way to his final condition – in which his wife and best friend are an actress and actor respectively, simply playing a role. Or rather, living a role. Of course, since Truman’s life is broadcast globally on live television “Save Truman” activist groups begin to form, in order to release Truman from his enslaved state. And, of course, the protagonist is cast as the television producer commandeering the role of God in Truman’s life. Similar in many aspects to The Truman Show, more than 20 million North Koreans also live in a controlled environment. Unfortunately, it is not artificial, nor can we simply turn it off and forget about it after 90 minutes of entertainment – as we can with Jim Carrey’s film. There are several striking similarities between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and The Truman Show. For example, Kim Jong Il – the current dictator/deity who exerts iron handed control of North Korea plays the role of protagonist and is also, in many respects, commandeering the role of God in the subjugation of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). This is manifested in his control over the ability of North Koreans to travel domestically, the work each citizen does, and the education each citizen is either commanded to, or not to, receive. In many Warner 2 ways, due to extreme use of propaganda and information control, the culture of the North Korean people is one invented by Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and their advisors. Glaring dissimilarities also exist between the DPRK and The Truman Show. First, there are no metaphorical cameras hung over cribs, nor is North Korea contained inside a massive television studio in Los Angeles that dwarfs the famous HOLLYWOOD hillside letters as in The Truman Show. Rather, North Korea is the most closed and secretive nation on earth, with very little known about any aspect of the nation. What the outside world knows about North Korea has been gleaned from refugees’ personal recollections, rare and highly supervised journalistic forays, and first hand accounts of tourists3 who have gone on North Korea’s