Kim Jong-un: Prisoner in his own castle?

Courtesy of Loco Steve

By David A. Tizzard

Few of us can claim the experience of living and working in Pyongyang for eight years, but that is exactly what German Ambassador Thomas Schafer has done. Following his retirement from the Foreign Office and a career that took him to China, Hong Kong and Venezuela, Schafer has written a book on his time in North Korea ― a collection of memories, experiences and various interactions with the officials and citizens of the country.

The newly-released “From Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un: How the Hardliners Prevailed,” contains fascinating insights into life inside what is normally termed, “the world’s most secretive state,” by Vice journalists and the like. It’s an easy yet informative read for those of us looking for some respite from the minutiae of missile technology or the Leninist communist sympathizer “tankies” on Twitter. But while we normally associate diplomatic practice with softly spoken niceties, Ambassador Schafer does not hesitate to draw attention to the dangers of the regime. Let’s recount, for example, his public questioning of the North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister on the murder of Kim Jong-nam in a Malaysian airport. Schafer is also openly critical of South Korea’s Moon Jae-in administration and its handling of Pyongyang, finding fault with the continued de-emphasizing of human rights, in an effort to appease Pyongyang and secure summits, as well as a willingness to accept vague and ambiguous statements of conciliation despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary.

Schafer makes a few interesting claims based on his first-hand experience, as well as a continued and close reading of the country’s domestic newspapers. The inferences he draws from these reports and pictures of the political elite are thought-provoking.

The first inference is that North Korea is not a state run on the whim and fancy of a singular ruler, as is often portrayed in western mass media. The fact that many people take such a misinformed view is, for Schafer, due to the continued success of North Korean propaganda. Instead, Schafer presents Kim Jong-un as merely a symbol, appointed to continue his father’s rule, but achieving his position only after having granted a series of concessions to the hardliners in the North Korean military and to the wider political apparatus. Despite North Korean moderates’ desires for cultural exchanges and possible economic reform in a Chinese manner, the hardliners’ victory in North Korea was made possible through the weakening of the Kim family’s position, following Kim Jong-il’s stroke in the summer of 2008.

While Pyongyang is initially presented as home to a clash between extreme and moderate approaches, it is the former that have won the day, through their use of belligerent acts that include, but are not limited to, the sinking of the RAS Cheonan, the breaching of the Leap Day Agreement, the public execution of Jang Song-thaek, the closing and eventual destruction of parts of the Kaesong Industrial Zone and various military and border skirmishes. For Schafer, these acts are not carried out solely on the order of Kim Jong-un, but are often outside of his control and perhaps actually to send him the message: that he is imminently replaceable.

Schafer is also quick to discount suggestions that, following the examples of Libya and Iraq, the North’s nuclear missiles are but a defensive necessity in a world characterized by brutal and unilateral American imperialism. While they may serve that purpose, the book makes no secret of the fact that Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons have offensive intent and that their goals center on removing American troops from the Korean Peninsula (by force if necessary), as well as carrying out the oft-repeated desire for undefined international justice.

Ultimately, Schafer reaches a somewhat contradictory but appealing conclusion: Kim Jong-un and many around him in North Korea are both perpetrators of great misery and tragedy, but at the same time also victims. They are prisoners inside a system that brings out the worst in humanity and offers little respite or hope of escape. None of the people inside North Korea, including those in the most visible positions, asked to be there. They may, Schafer argues, even dream of having been born elsewhere ― somewhere with greater freedom. But, trapped as they are, they have little choice but to seek their own survival in an environment that is as deadly as it is suffocating.

Schafer’s book is dedicated to the people of North Korea and the hope that they might have a better life. His passion for the people and frustrations with the regime can be felt throughout. It’s not often that you get to read the thoughts of someone who has spent eight years of their life living and working in Pyongyang, so for that reason, regardless of whether you agree with him or not, Ambassador Schafer’s book makes for an important read for anyone seeking to get a fuller understanding of North Korea.


Dr. David A. Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies. He is a social/cultural commentator and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.