ABSTRACT
In the years immediately following the death of Kim Jong-il, the North Korean regime made a series of moves to further augment and consolidate the ideological foundations of Kimism and to cement the young leader’s legitimacy. 2 Occasionally misconstrued and more often ignored by analysts, North Korean historical narratives have played a critical part in this process. This chapter documents how the KWP propaganda apparatus has both subtly and explicitly reshaped the history of both Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il and placed their successor very much in their mould to an almost clinical extent. To be clear, the chapter does not seek to explain the day-to-day corruption of the historical profession in North Korea, nor does it seek to prove that the Kim family dictatorship is steeped in Marxist heresy since these are points made explicit by other scholars. 3 Instead, the chapter argues that Kim Jong-un has been ubiquitously juxtaposed as an executor of the will of his predecessors rather than as a leader with a relatively autonomous and impressive life experience which has prepared him to take the reins of state. 4 In so doing, the paper shows how ideological retrenchment and conservatism have been at the forefront of Pyongyang’s narrative response to generational change but also how historical narratives continue to be adapted to suit new circumstances.
