No country does personality cults better than North Korea

BEIJING // In shining bronze, one hand on his hip as he gazes into the future, Kim Jong-il is North Korea's benevolent visionary in a vast new statue unveiled in Pyonyang a few days ago. Indeed North Korea's "Dear Leader", who died in December, has been immortalised in many ways as the communist nation gears up to celebrate today's 100th anniversary of the birth of his father, Kim Il-sung , founder of the country.
A rocket, launched on Friday, carrying a satellite, blew up within minutes in what even the north has admitted a failure.
But Kim Jon-il was also declared "eternal general-seceretary" Workers Party of Korea and "eternal chairman" of the national defence commission.
The titles pale alongside Kim Jong-il's officially recorded achievements in life: turning winter to spring when he was born in a log cabin on Korea's legendary Mount Paektu in 1942 (he was actually born in Siberia), scoring 11 holes-in-one during his first round of golf and as fashionistas will attest, becoming a global style icon.
When it comes to personality cults, no country does it better.
To North Koreans, Kim Jong-il is fast catching up with his father when it comes to demigod status.
The country's founder and "Great Leader", Kim Il-sung is the "eternal president" who has lived on since his death in 1994 through hundreds of statues across the country.
To much of the world, he was, like his son after him, a dangerous tyrant. Yet such is the adulation the country demands, when each died members of the public tried to outdo one another in their shows of grief.
Today, a scheduled centennial parade of military hardware and thousands of soldiers is likely to be one of the region's largest such demonstrations since China's October 2009 extravaganza to mark 60 years since the communist takeover.
It is an appropriate link given that the world's most populous nation too is no stranger to personality cults.
Even the fevered worship of the Kims struggles to match the fanaticism of Mao Zedong's Red Guards when they massed in Tiananmen Square during the Cultural Revolution brandishing their leader's "little red book".
Since then, China, while still putting on demonstrations showcasing national strength, has worked hard to prevent Mao-style hero worship. In its current president, Hu Jintao, it has one of the world's most determinedly low-key leaders.
One of the few senior officials of recent times in China to build up a significant public following.Tthe former party leader in Chongqing Bo Xilai, was recently purged and is under investigation for "serious disciplinary violations", His wife has been arrested, suspected of involvement in a British businessman's death.
In Pyongyang, with its tradition of mass rallies, there are of course no qualms about hero worship. Today's celebrations will be presided over by Kim Jong-il's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, who took over on the death of his father. In the past few days he has consolidated his leadership by taking on new party and military positions.
Yesterday, North Korea announced schoolchildren and university students would receive new uniforms as part of today's "Day of Sun" celebrations, all thanks to the "warm love" of the late Kim Jong-il.
According to Park Jin-keol, international coordinator for the NK Network, a South Korean-based organisation opposed to the regime in Pyongyang, "there's no other way" than for the Kim family to encourage adulation.
"Any dictatorship has to have a case for dynastic rule and the military regime's suppression of the population. This is the only thing available to them," he said.
North Korea relies on significant food aid from others, and nearly a million people are believed to have died in famines in the 1990s. But the Kims, stubbornly resistant to economic reforms and surrounded by a loyal cadre of senior civilian and military officials, present themselves as saviours even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
"I think Kim Jong-un will rely on the military to build-up his image. As a military leader, they can [promote the view that] they can protect their country against South Korea and US threats," added Mr Park.
While a rocket launch on Friday, supposedly to launch a but widely viewed as a ballistic missile test, quickly failed, today's parade will bolster the new leader's military credentials. Many expect him to go soon ahead with an underground nuclear test, partly to make up for the rocket failure.
Much of the outside world may be unimpressed, with the rocket launch prompting the United States to cancel plans to provide food aid. Within North Korea however, food shortages or not, the personality cult lives on.
dbardsley@thenational.ae