Propaganda Portrait of Kim Il-Sung, the first and only Premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1945-1972. As the ruler of the seemingly only "successful" Communist state in the world, Kim maintained an iron grip on his nation with most of his efforts internationally being done to keep Korea as a sovereign independent Communist state, allied with but not a puppet of the Soviet Union and never bowing to the whims of North China. Domestically his reign is remembered for Juche, Kim's ideology of self-sufficiency and Korean Nationalism where Korea would be a state to serve Koreans and the people's prosperity coming from the land they worked. After the downfall of the Soviet Union and the Second Chinese War, Kim was put under increasing pressure by ITO and the Roman Alliance to resign and transition Korea to a democracy. With high pressure of an invasion and opened public discontent for his abuses, Kim reluctantly resigned and received a 10 year prison sentence by the Hague, dying shortly after he was released.
Within Korea, Kim's legacy is heavily mixed with depictions of him in the wider world also being mixed at best. Despite being a Communist dictator, living conditions in Korea were tolerable for the majority of the population, with Korea never descending into the poverty of the Stalingrad Pact or the atrocities of Stalin and Suslov. The lack of an intensely organized crime against humanity such as the Holocausts cause many non-Koreans to think of Kim as "The Good Communist", who was simply well intentioned but corrupted by the nature of the ideology.
While initially hated within Korea for the revelation of his extensive purges and political crimes against tens of thousands, recent years have seen a revival in Kim's image as Korea's fading international spotlight, growing domestic mediocrity, and status as a zone of influence for China and Japan has caused a surge of nostalgia for the Kim era. Korean Nationalists see Kim Il-Sung as a flawed and tragic figure who became corrupted by Communism and was in too deep with the Soviets at the end of World War II to truly escape its influence. The "Kim Myth" further depicts Kim as a hero and savior of Korea who valiantly drove off the Japanese Imperialists and kept Mao at bay with Korea being the master in relations. The myth ultimately points to Kim as a man who made tough decisions for the good of the country to keep it independent and above foreign subversion, through his leadership Korea was a strong and respected nation within the world with the post-Kim era only leading to stagnation and weakness. Kim is most popular within rural Korea who see him as a champion of the farmers and defender against the Sino-Japanese encirclement.
Last edited: