The Two Koreas_ A Contemporary History - Don Oberdorfer [256]
For the secret plenum of the Workers Party, conversation of Hermann Axen (member of GDR Politburo) with DPRK ambassador Lee Chang Su (July 31, 1972), SED Archives. Henderson quote on KCIA is from Mark Clifford, Troubled Tiger (M.E. Sharpe, 1994), p. 85. Lee Hu Rak quotes are from Michael Keon, Korean Phoenix (Prentice-Hall International, 1977), pp. 129-130. This controversial book contains one of the few interviews with Lee on his Pyongyang mission. Lee was among a mere handful of Korean figures who declined to be interviewed for this book. On Lee Hu Rak's harrowing ride, see Kim Chung Shik, Directors of KCIA, vol. 1 (Dong-A Ilbo, 1992), in Korean.
Kim Il Sung: Separating fact from fiction about Kim's early life is a formidable task. I have relied primarily on the most authoritative biography in the West, Dae-Sook Suh's Kim 17 Sung: The North Korean Leader (Columbia University Press, 1988). For Kim's Christian background, see Yong-ho Ch'oe, "Christian Background in the Early Life of Kim IlSong," Asian Survey (Oct. 1986). For Kim's own account, see Kim Il Sung, With the Century, vol. 1 (Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1992), pp. 105-107. Kim in Soviet uniform, Suh, Kim 17 Sung, p. 60.
The Stalin quote on "young country, young leader" comes from U.S. expert John Merrill, who heard it from a Russian with extensive experience in Pyongyang. Medvedev on Kim as a "normal person" is from Vadim Medvedev, Collapse (Moscow: International Relations Publishing House, 1994), in Russian. For Kim's mansions and isolation from the people, see the memoir of Hans Maretzki (former East German ambassador to North Korea), Kimism in North Korea (Stuttgart: Anita Tykve Verlag, 1991), in German. The 1984 train procedure was told to me by a Soviet official who took part.
Special health arrangements for Kim in Germany, former East German diplomat, interview, June 10, 1994. The Rakhmanin quote is from Rakhmanin interview, Apr. 8, 1994. The Talleyrand quote is from Roald Seveliev (of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Moscow) interview, Apr. 8, 1994. On the early history of juche, see Michael Robinson, "National Identity and the Thought of Sin Ch'aeho: Sadaejuui and Chuche in History and Politics," Journal of Korean Studies (1984).
The Kim quote on "special emphasis" is from KIS Works, vol. 27, pp. 19-20. Han Park on juche is from his book North Korea: Ideology, Politics, Economy (Prentice-Hall, 1996), p. 10. On the 34,000 monuments, see Maretzki, Kimism in North Korea. The "cult of personality" quote is from Rakhmanin interview, Apr. 8, 1994. The Suh quote is from Suh, Kim II Sung, pp. 314-315. South Korean visitor quotes, interview, Nov 22, 1994.
Kim on the "situation at my fingertips," KIS Works, vol. 31, pp. 87-88. Kim to Solarz, transcript of Kim Il Sung-Solarz conversation, from the Jimmy Carter Library. On the ouster of high officials for new ideas, "Number One Taboo in Pyongyang: Challenging Kim's Authority," Vantage Point (Seoul, May 1995). Kim's words "said forever," former Communist diplomat, interview, June 10, 1994. On Kim's statue, Suh, Kim II Sung, p. 316. Kim description from Harrison Salisbury, "North Korean Leader Bids U.S. Leave the South as Step to Peace," NYT, May 31, 1972.
Conversations with the South: For the Kim-Lee meeting, see the transcript published in Monthly Joong-ang (Mar. 1989), in Korean. Chong Hong Jin, who was present with Lee, told me in an interview (May 27, 1993) that it is essentially accurate. A North Korean version can be found in KIS Works, vol. 26, pp. 134ff. The story of twenty-one-year-old Poco Underhill is from his father in a telephone interview, Aug. 26, 1996. Ambassador Lee's presentation to the GDR, from conversation of Hermann Axen with Lee Chang Su (July 31, 1972), SED Archives. Kim Seong Jin's quotes on Park are from Kim interview, May 24, 1993.
CHAPTER 2: THE END OF THE BEGINNING
On the Red Cross Exchange, the Chung quote is from Chung Hee Kyung interview, July 19, 1993. "Bringing all the tall buildings": This is one of the most oft-repeated