Evolution of the Korean Workers' Party and the Rise of Kim Chŏng-il

Abstract

THE SIXTH CONGRESS of the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), held in October 1980, officially confirmed the status of Kim Ch6ng-il (or Kim J6ng-il) as the successor to the supreme leader who has led the party for the past three and a half decades. By installing his son in the top positions in the politburo, the party secretariat, and the military commission, President Kim Il-sung, once and for all, solved the mystery behind the building of the cult of his family. The junior Kim is expected to embody the revolutionary spirit that has been handed down from his great-great-grandfather and push forward the revolutionary goals established by his father. While the ascendance of Kim Ch6ng-il solved the mystery behind the cult of the family, it also raised many new questions. Why did Kim Il-sung choose his son as his successor? Why did he bypass the generation between himself (age 69 in 1981) and his son (age 41 in 1981) and select his son? Did he select his son solely because of his desire to create a dynasty as some critics charged? More importantly, why was it necessary for him to select a successor at all? In short, what is the meaning of the ascendance of Kim Ch6ng-il? One could argue, as South Korean critics did, that the hereditary succession of power was an inevitable consequence of the elder Kim's irrevocable commitment to the dream of founding a dynasty of his own and of his family, and that the designation of Kim Ch6ng-il as his father's successor was simply a manifestation of KWP's degeneration into a thoroughly personalized family affair built up around a personality cult.' This line of argument, of course, has its merit, but it sounds too simplistic. The North Korean leader must have anticipated such a change-both within and outside of North Korea-and, under normal