By Michael Breen
The National Intelligence Service director Won Sei-hoon recently told lawmakers in a secret session that Kim Jong-il has gone downhill since his stroke two years ago and now shows signs of memory loss and occasionally talks gibberish.
If this assumption is true, it puts all North Koreans, from the highest official to the humble prisoner, in a dangerous new world in which the words which were once clear as gospel must now be interpreted.
To illustrate, consider a worst case scenario. Two years ago, when North Korea tested a nuclear device, there would have been no doubt about the order coming from Kim Jong-il. He probably signed off on the plan with a comment like, ``This will rattle their cages in Seoul."
But what if an aide were to ask him something harmless now and Kim were to reply, ``Let's rattle their cages in Seoul again." What should the aide do? Either way risks serious personal consequences. Pass the instruction down the line, and Seoul gets flattened and investigators are going to trace the error back to the aide. Shrug it off as dictator drivel, and the aide risks arrest for ignoring an instruction. Such a dilemma would be immobilizing for any North Korean.
But is intelligence chief Won on the right track in assuming that Kim's elevator is no longer reaching the top floor?
His example is not that convincing. It was taken from the leader's visit in May to a potato farm. ``People should not live on potatoes alone," he quoted Kim as saying. ``They need to have rice, too. We should send them rice."
These are supposed to be the words of a deteriorating mind. But are they? On the face of it, Kim's comment is stupid and insensitive. But it's understandable. He is, after all, a creature of the palace, out of touch with the shortage of ratatouille and bouillabaisse on the ground.
His words suggest he has forgotten his own authorship of the campaign to grow potatoes. But, again, that's not new. Kim is known for being forgetful. A decade ago, when no one was questioning his sanity even though he had appointed his late father ``president for eternity," Kim called for a potato revolution. He ordered a PR drive to convince the masses of the virtues of potatoes, traditionally seen as a food for the poor. ``Potato is white rice," he said. This quote inspired the Propaganda and Agitation Department to order people to put the slogan up in every field.
A year later, as his car approached a farm, Kim saw a banner. ``You idiots!" he said, swearing at his entourage. ``Who the heck said those words? Does it make any sense that potatoes are white rice?" (This is from an article in Daily NK, the online publication by democracy activists). Of course, potatoes are not as important as rice, the staple food of the Korean diet. His own father, Kim Il-sung, had once come up with a slogan ``Rice Is Communism."
Kim, hands on hips, stared at the board for a while, noticing that it was his own quote. He burst into laughter. ``Hey, did I really say that?" he asked his aide Kim Sung-jin. Yes, General, you did.
``Oh, my! You fools took my words too far. How could potato ever be the same as rice? Pull it down right away!" (Note the subtle blaming of aides for his own stupidity? That's the sign of a completely normal politician.)
On another occasion, in 1996, Kim was in the city of Wonsan when he noticed a group of boys around ten years old in the street. He made some comment about their straggly hair. Aides over-interpreted this as an instruction and an order went out through the country that young boys' heads be shaved. Two years later, in a discussion an official reminded him of his ``instruction". He didn't remember having said it.
The truth of the matter is that Kim is disengaged as a leader. He doesn't care about his people. Whether he is more forgetful than before, or talking more gibberish than in his heyday, is just a matter of degree.
Michael Breen is an author, former foreign correspondent and the chairman of Insight Communications, a public relations consulting company. He can be reached at mike.breen@insightcomms.com.
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