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Tight control may keep North Korea from collapse
A reporter's observations
April 29, 1997
Web posted at: 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT)Mike Chinoy, CNN's Hong Kong Bureau Chief, is on assignment in North Korea -- his ninth visit there. This report is based on his observations.
PYONGYANG, North Korea (CNN) -- It would be easy to look at North Korea and conclude that it will soon follow its one-time communist allies into oblivion. Speculation about the regime's impending collapse have intensified in recent years but those reports are, to put it mildly, greatly exaggerated.
A L S O North Korean family reunited in Seoul after decades
It's true North Korea is so secretive and isolated that reliable information on what's actually going on remains hard to come by, even for a frequent visitor.
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There's also no mistaking that the Pyongyang leadership was buffeted by the defection of a top ideologue -- Hwang Jang Yop -- to South Korea; is unable to reverse the country's disastrous economic decline; and needs international aid to alleviate the famine now threatening millions of people.
Still, the all-encompassing system of control that exists throughout North Korean society may be what holds the country together. As on every trip we have made, a government chaperone stands nearby as the CNN cameraman takes pictures.
For half a century, the North Koreans have been cut off from the outside world. They are told repeatedly they live in paradise. Even as conditions have declined, the people, used to hardship and blind obedience, have known nothing else.
Add to that the pervasive presence of the armed forces. The entire culture is imbued with martial themes, as we saw at a recent performance by the Army choir.
Every song called for patriotism, discipline and utter devotion to the country's leader, Kim Jong Il. With 1.1 million regular troops and over 6 million reservists, nearly a third of North Korea's 23 million people are in uniform.
Indeed, the greatest potential threat to Kim could well come from divisions at the top.
But Kim has worked hard to keep the armed forces loyal.
The presence of so many generals with him at a recent military celebration suggested his efforts have paid off.
With its personality cult and vast apparatus of repression, North Korea in many ways resembles the Soviet Union under Stalin or China under Chairman Mao.
Millions of Russians and Chinese starved to death while those dictatorships flourished. And just as long as the North Korean elite holds together, Kim Jong Il's system, despite the famine, could well survive for some time to come.
Related stories:
- North Korean food crisis worsens daily - April 28, 1997
- North Korea: Hungry and poor, but proud - April 25, 1997
- North Korea sets conditions for peace talks - April 24, 1997
- S. Korea: Defector says N. Korea has nuclear weapons - April 22, 1997
- Korean peace talks collapse - April 21, 1997
- Top North Korean official defects - February 12, 1997
CNN Plus:
- Newsmaker Profiles: Kim Jong-il - North Korean President
- Newsmaker Profiles: Kim Young-sam - South Korean President
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