The Marmot’s Hole

The NYT translated a piece from Der Spiegel detailing the history of anti-Kim Jong-il revolts throughout the 1990s. Frankly, I have no idea how much of it is true, although one of the writers mentioned in it, Jasper Becker, did do a pretty good book about Mongolia (which obviously has nothing to do with the validity of the incidents he presents about North Korea, but if you’re looking for a good book about contemporary Mongolia, Lost Country: Mongolia Revealed is a decent read. Picked up a copy at the State Department Store in UB. I think I have a copy of Becker’s The Chinese that I stole from the Flying Yangban laying around, too, although I seem to recall liking that one less ). Anyway, here’s some of the piece, so you can get an idea of what we’re talking about:

Until now, the world has been under the impression that the North Koreans, shielded from information about the outside world, weakened by hunger and subject to the tyranny of a foolproof monitoring system, are incapable of rebelling. After all, didn’t they succumb to collective hysteria in 1994 when, after living through decades of his cult of personality, they were suddenly faced with the death of Kim’s father, the founder of the state, “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung? But the 22.5 million people of this country are not as submissive as they appear to be. In the bitter years of the mid-1990s, when the regime allowed up to three million people to die from malnutrition and weakness, demonstrations repeatedly flared up against the country’s bizarre ruler who, with his blow-dried hair and eccentric uniforms, is partial to preaching to his exhausted citizens in so-called spontaneous lectures. Slogans against the dictator (”Down with Kim Jong Il”) appeared on railroad cars, overpasses and factory walls. Flyers condemning the dynasty’s unbelievable ostentation were even posted outside the Kumsusan Mausoleum in Pyongyang, where the elder Kim’s embalmed body lies in state. In a new, soon-to-be-published book about North Korea, Jasper Becker, 48, a British author and journalist living in Beijing, writes that factories, military units, and even entire towns revolted against the leadership in Pyongyang.

Now go read the rest on your own.