North Korean dictators: also successful children's book authors?
What鈥檚 on the agenda for the average North Korean leader? Dreaming up bizarre diplomatic scuffles, opening new prison camps, overseeing the development of nuclear weapons 鈥� and, of course, writing children鈥檚 books.
That鈥檚 right, it seems North Korean dictators have at least occasionally assumed the role of children鈥檚 book author, with two former late leaders turning out popular books for kids with titles like 鈥淏oys Wipe Out Bandits鈥� and 鈥淭he Butterfly and the Cock鈥� and complete with evil foreign invaders and virtuous North Korean heroes.
Those gems were brought to Western audiences by Christopher Richardson, a doctoral candidate at Sydney University who is researching North Korean children's literature for his PhD.
Among the titles Richardson discovered was 鈥淏oys Wipe Out Bandits,鈥� which late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly dreamed up as a child, according to the .
In it, 鈥渕onster-like鈥� enemies surround an innocent village, an obvious metaphor for North Korea. The enemies are vividly described and illustrated, with an ogre-like leader with cysts on his shoulder that 鈥渆mit noxious gas when pierced.鈥� By contrast, the villagers are 鈥渂eautifully attired and softly-drawn,鈥� writes Richardson, and ultimately repel the invading enemies with 鈥渕erciless violence.鈥澛�
鈥淎s the sun rises, a triumphant [hero] Ye-dong restates the moral of the story, the wisdom of a child declaring that, 'no matter how formidable they are, we can defeat the enemy when we pool our strength and wisdom and have courage. Let's build our village to be an earthly paradise',鈥� writes Richardson.
Another story, 鈥淭he Butterfly and the Cock,鈥� reportedly by Kim Il-sung, is a fable about a nasty cockerel, representing America, bullying other animals until a beautiful butterfly, representing 鈥� you guessed it 鈥� North Korea, intercedes.
Also from Kim Il-sung is 鈥淎 Winged Horse,鈥� about Japanese invaders threatening a peaceable nation until a child on a flying horse rescues his people.
Not surprisingly, the books contain clear lessons about North Korean virtues. It turns out children鈥檚 literature is actually critical to forming and upholding Korean identity, according to Richardson.
Upon researching it, he was surprised to discover 鈥渢hat children's literature was so central to the DPRK's conception of itself that its leaders had taken the time 鈥� to pen treatises to its importance and even to write stories for themselves,鈥� he told the UK鈥檚 . To wit: Kim Jong-il wrote a treatise, 鈥淐hildren's Literature Must Be Created in a Way Best Suited to Children's Psychological Features.鈥�
For example, in 鈥淎 Winged Horse,鈥� the child hero cries out as he races to rescue his country from foreign invaders, 鈥淢y dear horse, I am not afraid of that violent storm if you can get through it. Please understand that I am determined to risk my life to save the village.鈥�
Richardson describes it as 鈥渁 declaration of self-sacrifice and faith鈥�."There could be no clearer statement of the revolutionary creed.鈥�
And it turns out North Korean dictators aren鈥檛 so different from other leaders and celebrities after all: like many important figures, they probably used ghost writers.
鈥淓ven the publishers in the DPRK maintain a degree of ambiguity about the authorship of these tales, attributing the stories to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, whilst acknowledging they were written down by someone else,鈥� Richardson told the Guardian. 鈥淭he government thus musters a team of ghost writers whose job is to capture the essence of the leader's political and literary wisdom, known as 'the seed.鈥欌��
Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, is that the stories are actually quite good.聽
鈥淚 was astounded that children's books (purportedly) written by Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung were vastly more readable than one would expect from any political leader in the democratic west, still less a severe authoritarian,鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淣orth Korean children's books and cartoons proved to be often entertaining, colorful, action-packed, and not so different to children's books and cartoons anywhere.鈥�
A lesson, perhaps, for dubious Western audiences. And someday, a retirement hobby for current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un?
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
