The Kim regime was established in 1948 by Kim Il-sung and inherited by his son Kim Jong-il, who ruled until his death in 2011, when his son Jong-un took over. This book, which took Martin 25 years to complete, draws on source material from China and Russia, as well as extensive interviews with defectors to paint a portrait of these two men. Kim Il-sung fought against the Japanese occupation in the 1930s, and came to power by creating a cult of personality that honored him as a deity. He was the country’s leading novelist, designer, philosopher and Ping-Pong trainer. North Koreans celebrated Kim’s birthday instead of Christmas, and he distributed gifts to children across the country like Santa Claus. Many genuinely revered him, but Martin argues that support has waned after his death in 1994. In his interviews, Martin learned that some North Koreans welcome the idea of a war; one defector says “people figure they will die of hunger or die in war. They’re prepared to die in a nuclear war.”

Image

THE AQUARIUMS OF PYONGYANG

Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag

By Kang Chol-hwan and Pierre Rigoulot

266 pp. Basic Books. (2005)

In this memoir, Kang Chol-Hwan recounts the 10 years of his youth spent in a labor camp. In 1977, when he was nine, his entire family was taken under suspicion of his grandfather’s counterrevolutionary tendencies. By the time they were unexpectedly released in 1987, they had endured unimaginable treatment — regular beatings, dismal living conditions and a diet that forced them to eat salamanders and rats for sustenance. Kang’s harrowing, straightforward account gives an inside look at what “re-education” really means and serves as proof of the ongoing brutal repression.

Image

NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA

A Debate on Engagement Strategies

By Victor Cha and David Kang

265 pp. Columbia University Press. (2005)