Havana Cuba. — The year was 1994 when the “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung, founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1948, closed his eyes forever. He was succeeded, without further ado, by his son Kim Jong-Il, who would be known as the “Dear Leader” of a nation governed, quite naturally, by a family caste of dictators.
After waiting fourteen years to be the official owner of an increasingly nuclearized and belligerent Korea, the dolphin dedicated himself to reinforcing the implacable —almost Orwellian— totalitarianism over millions of citizens treated as subjects under the scepter of a cruel monarch.
Kim Jong-Il encouraged his father’s cult of personality and his own, punishing any real or imagined hint of dissent. Torture, confinement in concentration camps and mass executions made North Korea the most critical scenario in terms of human rights. His mandate, like that of his father, did not leave the slightest loophole for freedom, nor guarantees for citizens against the arbitrariness and terror implanted by the institutions.
His years in power coincided with the devastating famines suffered by the North Korean population in the last decade of the 20th century. Hundreds of thousands died from natural disasters and the criminal negligence of the leadership. Ruthless political repression, as well as the dire state of the economy and food production, reached a point of extreme gravity under the yoke of Kim Jong-Il, an unpredictable autocrat who put the country’s resources to guarantee military security. and the survival of the regime.
Negotiations with South Korea were subordinated to this sole objective; a dialogue that was sabotaged on countless occasions by the dictator’s own ravings, who tried to extract concessions from Washington and Seoul with nuclear blackmail, military provocations, and even threats of war.
During the seventeen years that he remained in power, Kim Jong-Il undermined the stability and security of Asia, making it impossible to reach lasting agreements. His autocratic and unbalanced nature led him to violate every commitment he ever made, and to keep even China, his only strategic ally, in suspense.
After many boycotted dialogues and broken promises, Kim Jong-Il wanted to make one last gift to his subjects, neighboring countries and humanity in general. He named the youngest of his three sons heir, kim jong unlacking in political and military experience, but gorged with arrogance, paranoia and a deep contempt for Western democracies.
