Hail the Not So Great Leader! A DPRK Without Kim Il Sung

[okmangeez]

So, I got a special request from one of my fans (at least I hope he's a fan) who saw my Northern Limit Line TL and requested me to write out a TL for his own Korean TL idea. So I decided, eh. Why not? And it's a very interesting idea that has gotten my brain thinking. I thank Gukpard for this wonderful idea. Without further ado... What if Kim Il Sung died during WW2 and never became the leader of the DPRK?

Hail the Not So Great Leader! DPRK Without Kim Il Sung



Chairman Pak Hon Yong of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea poses for a picture before his meeting with Republic of Korea President Syngman Rhee on June 25th of 1950.

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April 9th, 1945
Gyeongseong, Occupied Korea
11:02 AM

Thousands of people gathered and whispered as the Japanese soldiers roughly pushed the prisoners with bags on their head forward. All of the prisoners had their hands tightly tied and shoddy clothes. The Japanese soldiers kept a tight grip on their weapons as they led them closer to the execution stage. The prisoners that were being executed today were dangerous individuals to the Japanese Empire and with the Americans sweeping closer and closer to the Home Islands, any dissent from the territories occupied by the Empire had to be swiftly dealt with. There was no time for trials or imprisonment. Any form of rebellion or hostility towards Japan had to be removed, and that meant immediate execution. Especially the Korean nationalists that were bumbling around causing trouble for the Japanese administration in Korea.

One of the prisoners stumbled and fell to the ground, exhausted from the lack of food and rest. The Japanese soldiers kicked him, but the prisoner refused to stand up. One of the officers pulled out a pistol and shot the man through the head, instantly killing him. Glaring menacingly at the other prisoners, the officer pushed all of them forward. All 7 remaining prisoners were brought on the stage and simultaneously tied up to the execution poles. All of the prisoners knew what was coming. Death, and hopefully a quick one. Thousands of Koreans watched as the Japanese executioners pulled out their guns and the prisoners tied in place. At the signal of the officer in charge, the Japanese soldiers raised their pistols and fired several rounds into the torso and head of each prisoner. Every one of the prisoners slumped over and died except one man who was slightly moving. The officer himself pulled out his pistol and shot the squirming man to death, ending his miserable pain.

In our world, that squirming man would become the head and the "father" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after hiding out in the Soviet Union till the end of World War 2. In this world, that man attempted to cause a communist insurrection using the nationalist and communist underground movements in Korea prior to the Soviet invasion of Korea. Instead of succeeding, he was caught in a Japanese police raid and executed with some of his followers. This man's death changed the future of Korea forever.

His name was Kim Il Sung, the would be "Eternal President" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In this world? Another casualty of the Japanese occupation.

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January 21st, 1946
Pyongyang, Soviet Korean Occupation Zone
9:00 AM

Soviet General Terentii Shtykov arrived at the city of Pyongyang by rail to greet the possible future chairman of the future North Korea. As he walked down the street to the meeting place, which was a quiet tea house on a street corner, his mind was racing with various thoughts and possibilities. North Korea will be a perfect buffer between the damn capitalists and the Fatherland. The Chinese will be on our side regardless of the outcome of the Civil War, so all we need to do is secure Korea.

He rounded another street corner, dodging a civilian on a bicycle and approached the tea house. He found the place and entered, instantly finding the future candidate for the chairman of North Korea. A firm believer of the Worker's Revolution and a leader of the Korean Worker's Party. The man's name was Pak Hon-Yong, just a tad over 50, but still in good health and good shape. The man greeted the Soviet general warmly and ordered some tea and rice cakes for himself and his guest.

"As you know, Comrade Stalin continues to search for a suitable leader of Provisional People's Committee for North Korea. The Americans will definitely establish their own "republic" in their occupation zones and place an anti-communist leader. We need our own revolutionary leader that will carry the Worker's Revolution into North Korea. You are one of the most senior leaders of the Worker's Party left, and I will personally like to support you to become Chairman." General Shtykov stated.

His message was met with no answer, as Pak poured tea into his cup and the general's cup while tearing some white rice cake for himself. Finally, after a few sips of tea, he answered. "I agree. After all, there's nobody left after the Japs rooted out many of the underground movements."

The Korean man offered the Soviet general tea, which the general graciously accepted. "It will definitely be inspiring to see a man who resisted the Japanese and worked as the leader of the Worker's Party become the Chairman. Additionally, you have worked with many of the leaders in the American Occupation Zone."

"I thank you for your support, comrade. I will not forget it if I become the chairman." Pak bit into the rice cake and ate the piece quickly. He raised his tea cup. "To a new Korea."

"To a new Korea." General Shtykov echoed as he clinked his cup with Pak's cup. The two of them drank and ate in relative silence, as the history of the DPRK took another sharp turn.
​

 

[Gukpard]

AWESOME start, and thank you so much

 

[Alex1guy]

Interesting start keen to see more.

 

[GlobalHumanism]

Subbed! Keep it going!

 

[Great Laxit]

Will this be a somewhat saner Korea?

I mean, I know it will still be Stalinist, but will it be cuckoo-bananas Stalinist like the Kims?

 

[Tredecimus]

Now, I'm intrigued.

 

[Alexander the Average]

You had my curiosity. Now you have my attention.

 

[Aelita]

Pak was one of the first people purged by Kim il sung, against the recommendations of the Soviets. Definitely an interesting idea, and Pak had some rapport with progressives in South Korea.

If they avoid apocalyptic war in the 50s, everyone may be better off.

 

[Sasalele]

I dont think the juche ideology will develop. That's why OTL North Korea is still around.

 

[okmangeez]

AWESOME start, and thank you so much

No problem. It's a pleasure working with my fans

Interesting start keen to see more.

Thank you

Subbed! Keep it going!

Thanks

Will this be a somewhat saner Korea?

I mean, I know it will still be Stalinist, but will it be cuckoo-bananas Stalinist like the Kims?

Yes it will be. Pak was actually pretty progressive (considering most North Korean officials, including Kimmy that died, was either Stalinst or hard Left), which was the main reason why he was purged (and also a high ranking communist official that directly threatened Kim's power).

He's not so much Stalinist or a total progressive. He's somewhere in between those two.

Now, I'm intrigued.

Now, I thank you

You had my curiosity. Now you have my attention.

Now that I have your attention... If you can kindly donate a few dollars for this poor soul.

I'm kidding. Enjoy the read!

Pak was one of the first people purged by Kim il sung, against the recommendations of the Soviets. Definitely an interesting idea, and Pak had some rapport with progressives in South Korea.

If they avoid apocalyptic war in the 50s, everyone may be better off.

Mhm. Reasons why I chose Pak. Plus, he was the leader of the Worker's Party in the South and North until his execution by Kimmy in 1957.

I have my ideas of a different Cold War for Korea, but it'll be much better than OTL...

I dont think the juche ideology will develop. That's why OTL North Korea is still around.

It won't develop and North Korea will go down a much different path...

 

[okmangeez]

Chapter 1: The Ripple Effect

South Korean Labor Party members opting to go into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

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History of the Republic of Korea
Chapter 2: The Change that Came
Written by Historian Kim Daein

Perhaps the most important events that occurred in 1948 were the peaceful transition of the North and South into separate governments. After Pak Hon Yong became the Chairman of North Korea, he began to strategize a way to avoid direct confrontation with the South, as he was an avid supporter of a united Korea and believed that a declaration of war against the "Republic of Korea" would only devastate the Korean Peninsula. Because of this, Chairman Pak devised an ingenious plan to win popular support in the South Korean National Elections, which was set to happen in May 10th of 1948. With this vision, he began to order a multiple mass demonstrations using the South Korean Labor Party in major cities and Jeju Island to bring support to the party. On April 3rd of 1948, around 3,500 supporters of the SKLP marched around in Jeju City, handing out flyers and listening to the grievances of the local population in order to win popular support [1]. This led to a gradual climb of public support of the SKLP, directly threatening the Liberal Party led by anti-communist Syngman Rhee. Seeing that the SKLP would soon possibly take over the South and the gradual loss of support of the Liberal Party, the United States took the matter into their own hands.

The first move of the United States was increasing the support of the anti-communist Rhee and a massive propaganda campaign. The United States was genuinely afraid that a communist would be able to take power with popular support, especially since Pak was a hailed hero of both the north and south even though he was the Chairman of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea. The United States took active steps, even skewing views of the SKLP through illegal election activities, to place the Liberal Party and Rhee in power. This, of course, angered Ho Hon and the SKLP [2], though they had no power to change the outcome.

The second move of the United States was to limit the SKLP's power, convincing the newly formed South Korean government to pass an immediate bill to "strangle the Communists." Despite's Rhee's insistence to execute the communists, the National Assembly, which didn't see the need to execute and uproot thousands of "communists," passed the National Protection Act in 1948 [3]. The law would essentially strangle the SKLP's power in South Korea, but it wouldn't kill the communist sympathizers. Instead, those sympathizers were banned from government positions and was given an opportunity to "escape" to the North, which around 50,000 of them chose to do.

Chairman Pak was quite furious at the reports of the SKLP essentially being banned and the South Korean government's tight grip on the communists. However, he knew that the split was inevitable due to the ideological differences and accepted the fact that a new nation, the Republic of Korea existed. Shortly after the establishment of the Republic of Korea, on September 9th of 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was declared, with Chairman Pak becoming the new leader of the nation. In his opening speech, Pak promised the North Korean people a time of "peace and prosperity" while cooperating with the South to eventually reunify the nation. Though his speech was met with some criticism by the hardliners in Moscow, he promised to stay true to his communist beliefs and to reunite the Korean Peninsula in the name of socialism. Though, he did refuse any ideas of invading the South, believing that a peaceful reunification was the most ideal for all Koreans. This belief was strengthened when he met with Korean nationalist Kim Gu in a brief meeting in the border city of Kaesong, where Pak agreed that Korea should reunify peacefully and through "democratic" means [4].

Immediately after the establishment of the DPRK and the ROK, both the Soviet Union and the United States removed their respective forces from the Korean Peninsula. Both sides still maintained garrison forces, but neither side maintained a force larger than 10,000 soldiers. However, both of the Koreas were rather dubious of each other and began to gradually scale up their military. Pak had no intentions of invading, but he was suspicious of his southern counterpart Rhee, who regularly called for an invasion of the north and requested military support from the United States, which the US always denied. Intent on building a decent defensive force, he requested some military equipment from Moscow to train and equip the new Korean People's Armed Forces for defensive purposes, which Moscow happily coughed up. Tanks, artillery, small arms, and planes were sent to North Korea in the case of an invasion, with China agreeing to release ethnic Korean PLA members to help train the Korean People's Army. This strengthened North Korea and removed the emphasis of needing to create an enormous army that would sap the nation's budget and economy. Pak turned his attention towards the economy and boosting the industry for the next two years, guiding the DPRK to live quietly side by side with the RoK.

That silence was short-lived on June 20th of 1950, the "Day of a Thousand Deaths."

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[1]: In OTL, this was the day that the Jeju Uprising began, which led to the death of 30,000 civilians on Jeju Island, along with all 3,500 SKLP members and sympathizers.

[2]: Ho Hon retook control of the SKLP after Pak became Chairman.

[3]: In OTL, it was called the National Traitors Act, which basically banned the SKLP and began a nation wide purge against convicted communists.

[4]: In OTL, Kim Gu met with Pak in Seoul. However, in TL, that isn't really possible considering Pak's position in the North.

*Basically, without the Jeju Uprising, there is no mass anti-communist purges or communist fears. Which, in turn, means that the beginning of this TL of the Republic of Korea isn't as bloody as OTL.*
​

 

[ramones1986]

Would the OTL North Korean flag use in this scenario as well? I know it's a relatively naïve question.

 

[Deblano]

I'm curious about how you push the DPRK into a different, and hopefully better direction, without Kim Il Sung at the helm.

Subscribed!

 

[Gukpard]

Awesome and well written update!

 

[okmangeez]

Would the OTL North Korean flag use in this scenario as well? I know it's a relatively naïve question.

Mm. I think so. A star, with other colors. It was pretty standard for a lot of Communist countries.

I'm curious about how you push the DPRK into a different, and hopefully better direction, without Kim Il Sung at the helm.

Subscribed!

The DPRK will be VERY different. I'll tell you that much

Thanks!

Awesome and well written update!

Thanks a lot!

 

[okmangeez]

Chapter 2: The Crisis

The State of the Two Koreas on June 20th of 1950

June 20th, 1950
Haeju, DMZ
7:00 AM KST

North and South Korean soldiers stared down each other at the supposed "Border City" of Haeju. Though the situation was always tense, skirmishes and clashes between the two Koreas never happened and thus, many of the commanders of both sides were quite lax. More often then not, soldiers from both sides would retire after the sun fell in the west and played cards with each other secretly in abandoned warehouses in Paju. That all changed with a single command.

Sergeant Choe Soo Min was an NCO of the Republic of Korea Army that was placed on the border to stare at the North Koreans for nearly 10 hours a day. It was a tiring job, but a necessary job to protect the republic. Of course, the sergeant was still unsure which Korea was "more correct", as both sides had their own political backers. This thought flew out the window as he received an order from his superior, General Son Won-Il. The general had ordered the squad that would watch the border to take extra caution and fire at the enemy if anything out of the ordinary happened. The soldiers all responded affirmatively to their general and headed off to their positions. Nobody except the general and few select members of government was aware of what was about to happen next.

At exactly 7:30 AM, a shot rang out on the border. Then another. Then another. Five consecutive shots were fired directly on the border where both sides could hear the shots. Sergeant Choe and the rest of his squad believed that this was what the general meant, that a North Korean attack was coming and that they were to defend the border at all costs. Almost at once, the sergeant pulled out his M1 carbine and shot the North Korean soldiers across the border, beginning the border battle in the city of Haeju.

"Something's off." Sergeant Choe ducked behind a building as he slipped in another clip for his carbine. "If they fired first, then why the hell aren't they attacking? Why did the border guards have looks of shock?"

The sergeant took a quick peek and saw that the North Koreans weren't moving into South Korean territory. No, it looked like reinforcements from the South Korean side had arrived and was moving into North Korean territory. Sergeant Choe's stomach dropped as he realized what he had done.

Those shots. My shots. Damn! It was all an excuse for an advance? Sergeant Choe thought. If we're moving like this, then how are we better than the f*cking communists?

He never completed that thought, as a bullet struck him from the back of the head. The rest of his squad was also put down by sniper fire, as the sniper who had fired the shots that would start the "Day of a Thousand Deaths."

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"...It was a perfect cover, really.

Rhee wanted extra equipment to build himself a better army. You have to remember that Rhee openly called for an invasion of the North while Pak was a pacifist that wanted to unite the Koreas, but never militarily. The two were quite opposites of each other, and one would think that people would realize who was truly responsible of the "Day of a Thousand Deaths." Of course, it was President Rhee himself that plotted the entire event to make the North Koreans look "aggressive" in comparison to the "defensive and peace loving" South Koreans. He himself gave the order to General Son and the assassination of the poor 8 men squad that fired the opening shots on that day. Not that it mattered at the time, both sides were mad at hell with each other. Both sides stopped fighting by the end of the day, but in the end, the damage was done. North Korea lost 239 men that day while the South lost 121. An additional 685 civilians died in the firefight between the two sides and the brief artillery duel, with thousands more injured and hundreds of buildings destroyed.

Naturally, this led to Rhee demanding more arms from the United States, claiming that the North Koreans were just setting up for an invasion. Chairman Pak staunchly denied this claim, telling the world that Rhee was a warmonger that wanted to bring war to his own people. The two sides agreed to talk it out at the "Peace" Building in Haeju with tensions running high. However, by this time, the United States had already agreed to give some leftover equipment to help the South Koreans while the North accepted some additional weapons from the Soviets, though Pak limited the amount because he desired to have North Korea build its own weapons and designs.

So on June 25th of 1950, the world awaited for the fate of the two Koreas to play out at Haeju. The pressure was immense and I remember I was there with Chairman Pak. I was just a young lieutenant that day, barely 27 years old. I remember escorting him and his staff to Haeju, which was filled with basically a huge chunk of the army of the North and South. Tensions were running high that day and there was more than one instance where guns were pointed at each other. As Chairman Pak walked into the building where President Rhee was, I just gave a silent prayer that day, though I was atheist, that war would not come to the Korean Peninsula."

-Field Marshal Chung Byung Ho in his book The Last Field Marshal of North Korea
​

 

[Gukpard]

Awesome update, it is a blessing that this didn't escalated in full blown war as OTL

 

[Arkenfolm]

So what about Kim Jong-il? If Kim Il-Sung is executed in 1945, then Kim Jong-il is still born. I think he stayed in Russia during World War II, along with his younger brother Kim Man-il (born 1944) whose early death in 1947 should be butterflied away.

I'd imagine Kim Jong-il would end up a minor party to mid-level bureaucrat known for his extravagent lifestyle who'd get purged for corruption if they ever bothered to do a sweep.

 

[MrP]

Very interesting premise, old boy!

Just a minor nitpick:

Soviet General Terentii Shtykov arrived at the city of Pyongyang by rail to greet the possible future chairman of the future North Korea. As he walked down the street to the meeting place, which was a quiet tea house on a street corner, his mind was racing with various thoughts and possibilities. North Korea will be a perfect buffer between the damn capitalists and the Fatherland. When China becomes communist, America's Occupation Zone of Korea will be the only capitalist nation on mainland East Asia.

I'm not sure that in 1946 the Soviets were expecting China to become Communist. As far as I'm aware, Stalin's plans were to keep the Nationalist regime in place for the foreseeable future, and just make sure it didn't grow too close to the Americans. Mao's victory sort of took him by surprise.

 

[Alexander the Average]

So what about Kim Jong-il? If Kim Il-Sung is executed in 1945, then Kim Jong-il is still born. I think he stayed in Russia during World War II, along with his younger brother Kim Man-il (born 1944) whose early death in 1947 should be butterflied away.

I'd imagine Kim Jong-il would end up a minor party to mid-level bureaucrat known for his extravagent lifestyle who'd get purged for corruption if they ever bothered to do a sweep.

Maybe he ends up as the Minister of Culture and pioneers the rise of North Korean cinema.