Posted on 01/22/2018 9:50:36 AM PST by GoldenState_Rose
Born in 1912, Kim Il Sung went to the Soviet Far East in the 1930s to train with Stalin's military during the war against Japan, which had occupied the Korean peninsula since 1910. The North makes much of Kim, the heroic soldier. But whether he actually fought against the Japanese is a matter of debate. What's clear is that Stalin believed Kim was trustworthy, and after the Soviet invasion of the peninsula in 1945, installed him as the Communist leader in the North.
A virtual unknown in his country, he seized power with considerable help from the Soviet Union and China. Kim's life-long goal was to unite the Koreas by force -- a bloody ambition that never succeeded.
For 46 years he had endured, presiding over the world's strangest, most isolated society with equal parts ruthlessness and cunning. The consummate dictator, he had long since outlasted the men with whom he had come of age, men now consigned to history's ash heap: Stalin, who installed him, and Mao, his ally in one of the 20th century's bloodiest wars. The cold war had ended, and even his old friend Deng Xiaoping of China became a capitalist. And still there he was, his economy collapsing all about him, refusing to let the world treat him as some kind of crazy uncle in the attic. Kim Il Sung demanded that the world deal with him on his terms.
And with a nuclear shell game that may have been his regime's only shot at salvation, that's what he made it do. In the last month he used the nuclear card to get former president Jimmy Carter to come to North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, and pronounce him vigorous and ready to do business -- if Washington would stop its nasty talk about sanctions.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Picked by Stalin to lead North Korea, Kim, a guerilla fighter against the Japanese in Manchuria during World War II, became chairman of the North Korean Provisional People's Committee.
1950
In an effort to reunify the two Koreas, Kim launched a surprise attack on the South with the help of the Soviet Union and, later, of Mao's 1 million "volunteers."
1953
An armistice brought a halt to the Korean War; Kim declared a victory and restructured the Communist Party to shore up his political base.
1960s
Caught in the middle of the growing Sino-Soviet rift, Kim began to separate himself from his patrons and to project himself as the leader of the non-aligned nations, including Indonesia; North Korea's economy started its slow decline.
1958
While patrolling the Sea of Japan, North Korean sailors seized an American intelligence vessel, the USS Pueblo, and held its crew -- including naval Cmdr. Lloyd M. Bucher -- for 11 months.
1972
A new Constitution completed Kim's move to one-man rule, and a cult of personality took root; two years later, he secretly named his son, Kim Jong II, as his heir.
1983
Terrorists failed to assassinate the South Korean president while he visited Burma but killed 17 government officials.
1987
North Korean agent "Mayumi" was charged with planting bombs that destroyed a Korean Air Lines jet and killed all 115 passengers and crew aboard.
1993 Kim barred inspectors from visiting two suspected plutonium sites and threatened to withdraw from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, sparking a 15-month showdown with the West.
1994 As the nuclear crisis escalated, Washington threatened sanctions, then offered high-level talks, thanks to mediation by Jimmy Carter; Kim dies of a heart attack.
2018...
Another reason to thank God for dropping the bomb on Japan. It was likely that Japan would have been divided, like Korea, had we not dropped it.
Hey Kim, if you want to investigate Russian meddling....have we got a special counsel for YOU! Let us know and we’ll ship the ba$tard over to ya.
If this were read aloud, it would be with a tone of admiration, even reverence. Newsweek wants it some dictator, and bad.
Whoa! Let's not give Jimmy Carter credit for killing Daddy Dearest!
North Korea was known as "The Jerusalem of the East" by American missionaries (including Billy Graham's family!) who built churches, schools, and hospitals.
Jerusalem of the East: The American Christians of Pyongyang, 1895-1942
https://providencemag.com/2016/07/jerusalem-east-american-christians-pyongyang/
LOL - I noticed that awkward phrasing too. But there’ s semicolon between Jimmy Carter’s deal and Kim Il Sung’s death.
What happened at that time? Oh Yeah, the Soviet Union collapsed, and ceased to exist.
We should have nuked Pyongyang.................
As President Trump reminded us last week: "Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea."
Trump also complained that Russia was filling in the economic gaps caused by any efforts by China to pressure North Korea.
“What China is helping us with, Russia is denting,” Trump said. “In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing.”
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/01/17/donald-trump-russia-not-helping-us-north-korea/
Newsweek published this story under the headline of "Headless Beast: NORTH KOREA AFTER KIM” on July 18, 1994 after Kim Il Sung, then dictator of North Korea, died. In light of recent news involving North Korea and their threats against the US, ...
Newsweek is republishing the story. With the misleading headline: North Korea: How Kim Jong Un's Family Was Picked by Russia To Lead and Threaten America so Newsweak can conflate Soviet training of WWII Communists with the 2017 Russian Federation.
Nice try ...
Greetings. First of all, most people don’t know that Stalin installed the current North Korean regime, nor that North Korea at one point was a promising haven populated with American Christian missionaries before that. I’ve posted on the latter topic before.
Secondly, It’s a very apt and relevant title actually, as the dividing lines of allegiances are falling in EXACTLY the same places as 1945. See post #10.
President Trump told us last week that Russia is not only NOT helping us with North Korea, but they are even making up for China, which has adjusted some of their dealings with Kim Jong Un.
The Breitbart story you referenced was available for post since January 17, and has not been posted on FR until I just did so.You knew about the Breitbart story and did not post it,
Breitbart is a far more responsible and trustworthy source than Newsweak, and their story IS directly relevant to January 2018 Russian Federation policy and actions, while being balanced.
You chose 1990's and earlier Newsweak Propaganda over the facts.
Just posted this on another thread:
What I am bothered by is modern Russia’s refusal to take historical responsibility for North Korea in the first place, even while resuscitating Soviet modes of geo-politicking.
North Korea was called by the “Jerusalem of the East” by the American missionaries who populated it prior to the Soviets turning it into an atheist Gulag hell-hole.
Yet look at SOUTH Korea, where Americans stay to this day: tiny, half of a nation yet with an economy more alive and active than even Russia’s.
The disparity between the two Koreas is very telling.
The actress/model in the gif is likely South Korean. Speaking of which.
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