The North Korean cult of personality surrounding its ruling family, the Kim family, has existed in North Korea for decades and can be found in many examples of North Korean culture. Although not acknowledged by the North Korean government, many defectors and Western visitors state there are often stiff penalties for those who criticize or do not show "proper" respect for the former leaders of the country, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, officially referred to as "eternal leaders of Korea". The personality cult began soon after Kim Il Sung took power in 1948, and was greatly expanded after his death in 1994.
While other countries have had cults of personality to various degrees, the pervasiveness and extreme nature of North Korea's personality cult surpasses that of even Joseph Stalin or Mao Zedong. The cult is also marked by the intensity of the people's feelings for and devotion to their leaders, and the key role played by a Confucianized ideology of familism both in maintaining the cult and thereby in sustaining the regime itself. The North Korean cult of personality is a large part of Juche, the official ideology of the country.
Background
According to Dae-Sook Suh, the cult of personality surrounding the Kim family requires total loyalty and subjugation to the Kim family and establishes the country as a one-man dictatorship through successive generations. The 1972 constitution of North Korea incorporates the ideas of Kim Il Sung as the only guiding principle of the state and his activities as the only cultural heritage of the people. According to New Focus International, the cult of personality, particularly surrounding Kim Il Sung, has been crucial for legitimizing the family's hereditary succession, and Park Yong-soo said in the Australian Journal of International Affairs that the "prestige of the Suryong has been given the highest priority over everything else in North Korea".
Kim Il Sung developed the political ideology of the Juche idea, generally understood as self-reliance, and further developed it between the 1950s and the 1970s. Juche became the main guide of all forms of thought, education, culture and life throughout the nation until Kim Jong Il introduced the Songun (military-first) policy in 1995, which augments the Juche philosophy and has a great impact on national economic policies.
At the 4th Party Conference held in April 2012, Kim Jong Un further defined Juche as the comprehensive thought of Kim Il Sung, developed and deepened by Kim Jong Il, therefore terming it as "Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism" and that it was "the only guiding idea of the party" and nation.
According to a 2013 report by New Focus International, the two major North Korean news publications (Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency) publish around 300 articles per month relating to the "cult of Kim". The report further suggests that with the death of Kim Jong Il, the average North Korean citizen is growing weary of the vast amount of propaganda surrounding the Kims. Daily NK likewise published in 2015 that the younger generation is more interested in the outside world and that the government is finding it difficult to secure the loyalty of the "jangmadang" (marketplace) generation and promoting the idolization of Kim Jong Un.
The North Korean government claims there is no cult of personality, but rather genuine support not only for their nation's leadership but also the philosophy of Juche socialism.
Kim Il Sung
The personality cult surrounding Kim Il Sung is by far the most widespread
among the people. While there is genuine affection for Kim Il Sung, it has been manipulated by the government for political purposes.
The personality cult had its beginnings as early as 1949, with the appearance of the first statues of Kim Il Sung. The veneration of Kim Il Sung came into full effect following a mass purge in 1953. In 1967, Kim Jong Il was appointed to the state propaganda and information department, where he began to focus his energy on developing the veneration of his father. It was around this time that the title Suryong ('Great Leader') came into habitual usage. However, Kim Il Sung had begun calling himself "Great Leader" as early as 1949.