Leaderless N. Koreans don’t know how bad they have it

Some people just love their monarchs.

How else can anyone explain the weeping and gnashing of teeth in North Korea over the death of Kim Jong Il, self-proclaimed Dear Leader of the nation?

This was not just your run of the mill dictator who lived like a king. His people lived in isolated squalor, deprived not only of life’s pleasures, but its very necessities.

North Korea has been under the rule of Kim Jong Il or his father, Kim Il Sung since its founding in 1948.

The father led the nation during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 and then fostered its isolation until his death in 1994 In his later years, he anointed Kim Jong Il as his successor.

The cult that grew around father and son over a period of 64 years has resulted in them receiving far more credit than they deserve from their people.

Because Kim Jong Il kept North Korea isolated under a guise of self-reliance, the average person has little idea of what is going on in the rest of the world. While Kim Jong Il reportedly prided himself on his Internet expertise, his subjects have no access to the World Wide Web.

If they did, they would know that they should not be weeping over the passing of the Dear Leader, but for the way in which the world has passed them by. They would only have to look South of the 38th parallel to appreciate the depth of their deprivation.

South Korea’s booming economy provides its 48 million people with per capita purchasing power of about $32,000, while 24 million North Koreans have purchasing power of about $1,900 each. The difference is a factor of 17. By comparison, the United States has an average of about $48,000, compared to $15,000 for our southern neighbor, Mexico, a factor of a bit over three.

And yet, while Kim Jong Il’s subjects lived in poverty, he had palaces and resorts scattered throughout the country, indulged in his fascination with films by building an enormous library and even dabbling in film making, and traveling by private train. While he personally feared flying, he was not averse top having fresh luxury foods flow to him on his train.

He spent billions on defense, building a huge army and arsenal and pursuing nuclear weapons and delivery systems. And still reportedly managed to salt a few billion away for himself in European banks, just in case.

Another son in line

Kim Jong Il died, reportedly of a heart attack, after years of reports of his failing health. He was 69. Like his father, he picked one of his sons as his successor, But unlike his father, he did not give himself years to groom the new “supreme ruler.” The son, Kim Jong Un is reported to be 27 years old, schooled during his adolescence in Switzerland, and tapped as the favorite son only in 2009.

In an uncertain world, an inexperienced leader of a traditionally bellicose nation is an unsettling thought. Kim Jong Un is going to have a considerable learning curve, even if he is technically a general in an army in which never actually trained. It took his father three years to consolidate his power with both the military and the Workers Party of Korea. It is likely to take the son longer.

In the meantime, there are bound to be power struggles in the lower ranks and there is an ongoing need for North Korea to feed its people.

Just last week there were negotiations between the United States and North Korea in Beijing over whether to provide food for the impoverished country. Talks are on hold while Korea observes an 11-day mourning period, but even after that it is unlikely that anyone in North Korea’s leadership would be able to make the kind of commitments that the United States would have liked to have seen in exchange for food.

Perhaps some unilateral aid would be a wise investment at this point, and we assume the State department is mulling that over, even as North Korea’s masses mourn on empty stomachs.