North Korea: Kim sets a surprising new tone

Under its young new leader, North Korea’s closed society is starting to open up, said The Korea Herald (South Korea) in an editorial. In his first public speech, Kim Jong Un promised not to let his people starve, and he’s already taking steps to back that vow up. Over the past few months, the regime has reformed the collective-farming system to allow small family farms to sell their crops, and has taken over control of some economic programs from the military—which has long enriched itself at the expense of the people. This month, Kim fired the chief of the army, possibly because of the general’s opposition to the reforms. At the same time, Kim has been trying to portray himself “as a friendly and down-to-earth leader”; he even brought his pretty new wife along on his public appearances, a human touch unprecedented in the Stalinist state.

The contrast with his late father couldn’t be starker, said William Choong in the Straits Times (Singapore). Kim Jong Il is believed to have spoken in public only once during his entire reign, when in 1992 he shouted, “Glory to the heroic soldiers of the Korean People’s Army!” Kim Jong Un, though, has been in power just seven months and has already given a major speech, visited concerts, and instructed his country’s industries to be aware of “global standards” and “global trends.” Many analysts think he’s preparing the people—and the entrenched bureaucracy—for a wave of Chinese-style reforms, in which central economic control is loosened while political control stays firm.

It’s no surprise that Kim would want to follow China’s example, said Chosun Ilbo (South Korea). China scrapped its collective-farming system in 1978, and less than a decade later farmers had more than doubled their incomes. But it won’t be easy. Kim’s father actually tried such reforms twice in his final 15 years, but backed away because dismantling the collective system threatened to “undermine the state’s far-reaching network of informants.” Still, the younger Kim, educated in Switzerland, may have a much more Western sensibility and a willingness to try new things. He knows North Korea must change if it is ever to “stop turning cap-in-hand to other countries to feed its people.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Ultimately, reform is in the regime’s interest, said Sarah Teo in The Nation (Thailand). In the Internet age, it’s no longer possible to keep North Koreans entirely cut off from the rest of the world, so domestic propaganda is less effective. “To legitimize his rule,” Kim must make the people love him, as they did his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who was perceived as caring. Kim Jong Il, a military hardliner, was feared but not loved. So state media are constantly emphasizing the young Kim’s physical resemblance to his grandfather, while noting that he’s visiting kindergartens and attending concerts, just like the founding Kim did.

Whatever Kim’s ultimate vision for North Korea, though, don’t expect any public admission that he’s moving the country in a new, more liberal direction, said Bhang Hyeong-nam in Dong-A Ilbo (South Korea). A regime spokesman this week rejected any speculation that big reforms are coming, essentially declaring that the Stalinist country is perfect as it is. Expecting North Korea to change, he snapped, is “a stupid thing to do.”