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An image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un conducting field guidance of tourism facilities at Mt. Kumgang released by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 23. (Yonhap News)

“Due to the mistaken policy of the predecessors who tried to get benefits without any efforts after just offering [up] the tourist area, the mountain has been left uncared for more than 10 years [. . .] and the land is worthy of better [than that],” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was quoted as saying during field guidance at the Mt. Kumgang resort in a front-page story in the Rodong Sinmun. Kim “made a sharp criticism of the very wrong, dependent policy of the predecessors who were going to rely on others when the country was not sufficient enough,” the Oct. 23 edition of the state-run newspaper also said.

The “predecessors” who were responsible for the “very wrong, dependent policy” is ultimately a reference to his own father and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Superficially, this could be explained away as a reference to the deceased Kim Yong-sun, chair of the Korea Asia Pacific Peace Committee, the North Korean counterparty to the Hyundai Group in the agreement about cooperation on tourism to Mt. Kumgang that was announced on Oct. 29, 1998.

Even so, tourism at Mt. Kumgang would not have been possible without the determination of Kim Jong-il, who endorsed it despite opposition from North Korean military leaders. Indeed, Kim Jong-il met with late Hyundai Group Honorary Chairman Chung Ju-yung, who brought a herd of cattle with him on a visit to the North in October 1998. The first group of tourists arrived at Mt. Kumgang on Nov. 19 of that year. A memorial stone for on-the-spot guidance of the resort by Kim Jong-il stands in the square in front of Onjeonggak, a building that is familiar to South Korean tourists to the resort.

The preamble of North Korea’s constitution specifies that “Great Leader Kim Il-sung and Dear Leader Kim Jong-il” are the “eternal leaders of Juche Joseon” and “the benefactors of all generations of the nation” while Article 3 states that “the thought of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are regarded as the only guiding principle for the activity and construction of the state.” So why would Kim Jong-un have launched a direct attack on the legacy of his father, a project personally arranged by the “infallible ancestral leader” Kim Jong-il?

We have some hints about Kim’s intentions. In a letter sent to participants at a low-level propaganda worker conference (printed on the front page of the Mar. 9 edition of the Rodong Sinmun), Kim Jong-un said that “if we mystify the revolutionary actions and appearance of the great leader [Kim Il-sung], the truth will be concealed.” This was an apparent attempt to unwind the doctrine of Kim Il-sung’s infallibility under the guise of criticizing his “mystification.”

During the first session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly on Apr. 11, Kim shepherded through a constitutional revision that added market elements by increasing the autonomy of production sites. This same revision deleted the Chongsanri Method, a farming policy, and the Taean Work System, a policy that placed industrial management under the inviolable control of the party, both policies that had been instituted by Kim Il-sung.

In a recent on-the-spot guidance at the construction site of the Jungphyong Vegetable Greenhouse Farm and Tree Nursery in Kyongsong County, Kim said that the Migok Cooperative Farm, which was built a decade ago, should not continue to serve as the model for rural culture and housing today and ordered changes to the rural village model that dates back to the Kim Jong-il era. These remarks were printed on the front page of the Oct. 18 edition of the Rodong Sinmun.

An image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and first lady Ri Sol-ju conducting field guidance of tourism facilities at Mt. Kumgang released by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 23. (Yonhap News)

Kim Jong-un’s stance reminiscent of China’s Deng Xiaoping’s view on Mao Zedong

Kim’s behavior is reminiscent of the way that Deng Xiaoping “relativized” Mao Zedong’s line in the process of China’s reform and opening. During a debate with Hua Guofeng, Mao’s successor, Deng recalled that Mao had said a life could be deemed successful if there were seven accomplishments for every three mistakes. Deng explained that he thought a life could still be successful if there were only six accomplishments for every four mistakes, while advocating the “relativization of truth” and reform and opening.

“This illustrates Kim Jong-un’s pragmatic side and his pursuit of being a ‘normal leader’ of a ‘normal state.’ Regardless of his intentions, it is ultimately a pursuit of the ‘relativization of truth.’ This is a sign of a major change, and we’ll have to keep a close eye on how it plays out,” said a former high-ranking official in the South Korean government.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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