Book Review: North Korea Through the Looking Glass
OCTOBER 2004
North Korea Through the Looking Glass, by Kongdan Oh and Ralph C. Hassig
The title suggests an “Alice in Wonderland” fantasyland, but a huge dose of Edgar Allen Poe must be added to the cauldron to get a feel for the horrors of this most bizarre of lands.
The combination of Confucian kingdom and totalitarian socialist state allows the rulers, Kim Il Sung from its founding at the end of WW2 to his death in 1994 and his successor-son, Kim Jong Il, to wield inconceivable power not only over peoples’ actions, but also over their minds. North Koreans almost uniformly believe their rulers are the equivalent of Gods. In the Korean tradition of Confucianism, they willingly subject themselves to a strict hierarchical social order and absolute loyalty to and respect for the Kims, which is returned with feigned benevolence.
The production and dissemination of worthless ideology in Korea, a brand of totalitarianism, nationalism and self-reliance termed “Juche,” has exceeded even Stalin’s and Mao’s wildest expectations in its power to control. Wrapping socialism in an outer cloth of Confucianism, under which the Koreans have been ruled for centuries, has enabled the ruling elite to use both as tools with which to glorify the Kim family. The consequences have been disastrous: a fourth world economy with access to weapons of mass destruction, a populace that mostly believes there is no better place on earth and a megalomaniac ruler. As the big lie of the supremacy of North Koreans and the benevolence of its rulers persists (the differences between North Korea and the rest of the world become ever-more glaring), the incentive to change becomes even less attractive to the North Korean rulers. There are no models for creating some semblance of freedom that would not jeopardize Kim’s political power. China’s communist party has been rendered almost irrelevant under a form of free wheeling market capitalism. Russia’s Perestroika seriously damaged the communist party even as it botched its way towards a semi-market economy. A number of East German officials were convicted of cold war crimes and Kim Il Sung’s good friend Nicolae Ceausescu was executed by a free Romania. The North Korean leadership would simply have too much explaining to do if it allowed its citizens to view the world outside.
While the history and troubles of North Korea make interesting reading, the most fascinating aspect for students of addiction revolve around the subtle observable clues to early-stage alcoholism in the current “central brain,” Kim Jong Il. Needless to say, the clues are few, since little escapes the “hermit kingdom.” Perhaps the highest-ranking defector, former North Korean party secretary Hwang Jang Yop, reported that an understanding of Kim’s personal life is irrelevant to comprehending his political behavior. While in a position to have offered insights into his personal life, which are essential to our ability to confirm alcohol or other drug addiction, he has purposely added little. Few others so close have escaped Kim’s gulag.
One character attribute important to rulers of totalitarian states is charisma, or charm used to personally influence. Stalin had it; so did Hitler until his amphetamine addiction progressed. Kim Jong Il is said to lack charisma, a character trait often used by alcoholics to wield power. Therefore, Kim is rarely seen in public; his propagandists appear to do all the work, attributing all progress and goodness on the planet to him. However, he shares a number of other traits common among practicing alcoholics: he is arrogant, lacks respect for seniors (a serious breach in a Confucian society) and displays a superiority complex. He is described as conceited, haughty, reckless, impulsive, quick-tempered and violent. He is clearly erratic, unpredictable and capricious in wielding power. While condemning millions to senseless illness, malnutrition and death by starvation resulting from the failure of socialism, he has displayed an amazing concern for a select few: among them, female traffic police in Pyongyang. Chosen for looks rather than an ability to direct traffic among the few cars driven by the elite, he ordered that they be provided warm padded trousers and a fur overcoat in the winter rather than merely skirts. This was reported by the Korean Central News Agency, which concluded that “the streets have been further brightened with the changed dress of traffic control women and that they look taller and prettier than before…Indeed, the traffic control women in Korea live in great happiness.” He also likes fast cars, fast horses and, most illuminating, “party” girls.
While the act of subjecting his people to torture and poverty in what many describe as a nationwide concentration camp is enough to suggest an 80% likelihood of addiction to alcohol or other psychotropic drugs, these additional clues merely firm up the 80% estimate. As noted in my books and the calculations embedded in the on-line Thorburn Substance Addiction Recognition Indicator, barring actual evidence of addictive use a 20% probability of misbehavior must be ascribed to true character defects, in this case, the most extreme imaginable.
However, while such evidence is scarce, it is not non-existent. The late-night parties of his younger days are said to be legendary. Japanese women invited to attend one of Kim’s intimate parties, apparently after he became the supreme leader, report that he drank heavily and scattered hundred dollar bills (a rather ironic use of U.S. money). And, “Kim Jong Il relies on a kitchen cabinet composed of a small group of friends and family members of approximately his own age, especially trusting a few close relatives and drinking buddies” (emphasis added). As discussed in my book Drunks, Drugs & Debits, merely having drinking buddies, especially when well past age 30, is a classic sign of alcoholism. “The New Yorker” reported that at a farewell lunch culminating a summit in 2000 with South Korean leader Kim Dae Jung [apparently too late to have made it into this book, published in 2000], Kim Jong Il said, “As far as drinking goes, I’m a better drinker than Kim Dae Jung.” As I remarked in How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics in regards to biographer Con Coughlin’s mention of “the whiskey-drinking Saddam,” if drinking is so important to deserve such a comment, he’s probably an alcoholic.
The truly frightening aspect to this surreal mess is that not only is the head of state a likely alcoholic (and, therefore, capable of anything), but also that the vast majority of the North Korean people appear to be as indoctrinated as were the citizens of George Orwell’s imaginary Oceania. They probably believe they have been on the brink of war with the United States for decades and, without the protection of their “Dear Leader,” would have been invaded long ago.
Through the Looking Glass details the amazing propaganda used by Kim, his military amateurism, social controls and “thought” control over the North Korean people. The book is a fascinating read. When we understand alcoholism, it offers a unique insight as to why Kim Jong Il, possibly the only alcoholic despot other than Stalin to have access to nuclear weapons (who had them for only a short time before he died), may be the most dangerous man ever.