Nearly two years after Kim Jong Un’s father’s death, the indicators are that he maintains a system that is oppressive as ever, but one undergoing a chameleonic color change: military greens segueing into Workers’ Party reds.
Under Kim Jong Il, North Korea had edged towards something akin to junta rule, like a living fossil of the 20th century Stalinist and Maoist models. The years 1994-2011 were characterized by the primacy of “Songun,” a.k.a. the “military-first policy.”
Nearly two years after Kim Jong Un’s father’s death, the indicators are that he maintains a system that is oppressive as ever, but one undergoing a chameleonic color change: military greens segueing into Workers’ Party reds.
Under Kim Jong Il, North Korea had edged towards something akin to junta rule, like a living fossil of the 20th century Stalinist and Maoist models. The years 1994-2011 were characterized by the primacy of “Songun,” a.k.a. the “military-first policy.”
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