The incident of
statue
replacement causes a world wide sensation as many question the rational behind such an expensive move when North Korea is being gripped by severe drought
Futile search for rationality in a megalomaniacal regime
J U Khan
Japanese television network TV Asahi aired a special feature titled A Mystery: Replacement of Statues of Kim Il-song and Kim Jong-il by the North Korean Embassy in Russia for about thirty minutes last week.
The incident causes a world wide sensation as many question the rational behind such an expensive move when North Korea is being
gripped by severe drought. TV Asahi Moscow shot an exclusive video of the statues of Kim Il-song and Kim Jong-il being carried to the North Korean Embassy in Russia.
The statues were carried inside a green car of a Russian train, which is similar to the one Kim Il-song rode on during his visit to the Soviet Union. A Japanese who was also on the train had a glimpse of the inside of the green car. Although he was not able to enter the compartment, a glance of it showed him that it was quite luxurious. The witness also noted that there were North Korean embassy officials waiting at the platform of every station the train stopped.
At Yaroslavl Station in Moscow, people who seemed to be from the Russian Railways and the North Korean embassy were on guard and blocked the reporters questions and filming. Among them was Kim Hyong-jun, the North Korean Ambassador to Russia, who remained silent to the question whether the train had brought Kim Il-songs statue and later disappeared. The statues were taken to a truck, which headed for the North Korean embassy in downtown Moscow 14-15km away from the station with police escort.
Housed in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang are the bodies of late Kim Il-song and Kim Jong-il as well as two massive statues?three meters in height?of the Kims. It seems that the ones transported to Russia are life-sized copies of the figures in the palace.
North Korea is currently in the process of replacing statues in its embassies overseas, an activity that holds a great significance for the regime. In the North, the supreme leader is called Il Ho, or Number One (those who hold the title of the supreme leader are Kim Il-song, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un), and all events concerning the supreme leader are dubbed Il Ho event, which is considered the biggest function of the highest priority. TV Asahi reported that the replacement of the statues has been completed in China, and the work will take place at all embassies in Europe after Russia. An important factor to consider is the problem of funding. It is unknown how much was invested into the replacement process, but looking into past cases leads to a rough estimate. The construction of the Kumsusan Palace costed up to 100 bil. Japanese yen, with which an amount of corn enough to feed the entire North Korean population for three years can be bought. And during Kim Il-songs 100th birthday celebration in 2012, 200 bil. yen, a third of the state budget, was spent.
Meanwhile, the populace is suffering from hardships. Food shortage, coupled with drought, raises concerns over food supply and demand. It has been reported that 28% of children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth in North Korea.
Situations have regressed to the extent that parents are compelled to sell their daughters for 100 North Korean won. Because there is no means to provide food for the children, the daughters are sold for 100 won with which bread is bought to feed them; such deplorable acts continue in the North. The people have begun to feel enraged by the fact that not even a little amount of food can be provided for their children.
The state had apportioned food and clothing in the past. But as ropy economic circumstances led to the cessation of the public distribution system, the people have had to fend for themselves through market activities. With deteriorated livelihood of the populace, the authorities had no choice but to acquiesce in the trend. Looking at it the other way round, it can be said that such phenomenon was made possible because the people were granted with freedom to some degree.
On the reason why North Korea had invested funds into the Il Ho event amid worsening livelihood and growing victims of starvation, North Korea specialist Lee Sang-cheol explained as the commentator that Kim Jong-un, by taking advantage of the authority of his predecessors, aims to boast his dignity and raise the peoples sense of loyalty so as to consolidate his power base.
Earlier on June 11 (Thurs.) at 23:30 during News 23, Tokyo Broadcasting System also aired for about a minute a video clip of North Korean officials bringing in plaster bust sculptures of the two Kims to the North Korean embassy in Russia.
The writer is a current affairs analyst
