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Cult Of Kim Trumps North Korea Floods
UPI Correspondent Seoul (UPI) Aug 09, 2006 At a time when the North Korean people are suffering from heavy flood damages, their "Dear Leader" has vanished from public view with no reports on his visits to any devastated areas. Instead, the Kim Jong Il regime has called for the troubled people to proclaim absolute loyalty toward the leadership, using even the deadly disaster to promote the dictator's personality cult. The country's state-run media have spread the "heroic deaths" of the people who risked their lives to protect "treasured" portraits of Kim Jong Il and his father and national founder Kim Il Sung when their houses were hit by severe floods last month. A forestry worker died after saving Kims' portraits on July 16 when a landslide hit his home in Yangdok, South Pyongan Province, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, monitored by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. The worker barely passed the portraits to his wife immediately before he was buried by the landslide, it said. KCNA also said a miner, who fled to the rooftop of his house, was swept away by floods after handing over Kim Jong Il's portrait to rescuers. "Such impressive stories are common in many flood-hit areas. Our people are faithful to the Dear Leader as they are willing to risk their lives for him," KCNA said in a commentary. The two victims are among hundreds of North Koreans killed by major floods and landslides last month. A pro-North Korea newspaper printed in Japan reported this week that 549 people died from recent floods and 295 went missing, citing what it claims to be an official count by the communist state. South Korea's civic relief organizations say as many as 10,000 people may have been killed or gone missing due to the recent floods in the North. But Kim Jong Il did not appear at any emergency areas. Kim has been absent from public appearances in the North's normally doting state-controlled media since July 4, when he gave on-the-spot guidance at the newly built Taesong Tire Factory in Pyongyang, shortly before the North fired a set of missiles that has raised regional tensions. North Korea has long used major threats from within and outside, such as disasters and outside pressure, to further cultivate Kim's personality cult. When a big explosion killed hundreds of North Koreans in a border city with China in 2004, Pyongyang's official media spread tales of the bravery of North Koreans who rushed into collapsing or burning buildings to save portraits of Kim. North Korea also praised 11 navy sailors for making efforts to safeguard Kim's portraits, even though they were forced to abandon their ship and jump into the sea. "At this critical moment, they took measures to protect the portraits of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il hung in the cabin and badges bearing the image of the president before diving into the roaring sea," KCNA said in a recent program. "Such spirit is displayed by officers and men of the three services of the KPA (Korean People's Army)," it said. Kim Jong Il's portrait is a key symbol of his personality cult. His portraits are mandatory fixtures in every home, office, public buildings and factory in the country, along with pictures of his deceased father. North Koreans begin and end their day with a bow to Kim's portrait, hung as the only picture on the most prominent wall of every home. All adults are required to wear lapel pins bearing images of one or both Kims. In August 2003, North Korean visitors surprised South Koreans when they hysterically cried and protested a banner bearing the image of Kim Jong Il was neglected. Hundreds of cheerleaders for an international sports game hosted by South Korea hopped out from their buses and retrieved from the roadside the banner that bore the image of the North's leader and former South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung shaking hands during their summit in 2000. "How can the banners of General (Kim Jong-Il) be placed in a place like this?" they protested. The personality cult is the hallmark of Kim's politics. He has long relied on the cult worship to maintain his grip on power in the hermit country. Analysts say strong cult worship has played a key role in keeping North Korea afloat, despite the global collapse of communism, the abrupt death of the founding father and the subsequent economic crisis that led to a mass exodus of refugees. The people's blind loyalty has forced people to endure a series of hardships and prevented any dissidents from arising to espouse an alternative to the existing ruler, they say.
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Despite Quiet Start, Authorities Warn Of Active Atlantic Hurricane Season
Miami (AFP) Aug 8, 2006Despite a comparatively quiet start, the current Atlantic hurricane season is likely to produce an above-normal number of storms, US weather authorities warned on Tuesday. "We are not off the hook by any means," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). |
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