Twenty years ago, on July 8, 1994, Kim Il Sung suddenly died – 17 days before what would have been the first inter-Korean summit. The weeks leading up to Kim’s death – even his funeral itself – were rare moments of opportunity missed by South Korea and the United States. Over two decades, he was first succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Il, until his death in December 2011, and then by his grandson, Kim Jong Un. However one assesses Kim Jong Un, present DPRK regime dynamics and the North’s intentions toward the South, the lost opportunities of a generation ago could once again present themselves. The junior Kim could find himself in a position to effect dramatic shifts in the trajectory of the North’s strategic policies, much as was the opportunity of his grandfather upon whose legacy he stands.
As I wrote for NK News in 2012, I met Kim Il Sung in his final weeks as part of a delegation of former heads of state and government led by a Washington-based NGO, the Summit Council for World Peace.* In April 1994, he appeared in reasonably good health for a man of 82. However, I later learned the North Korean leader suffered from heart disease** and that he knew he may not have much longer to live. By this point, most of Kim’s power had been assumed by his son, who evidently had complete control over domestic policy, but the father made the key decisions on the DPRK’s relations with South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the U.S., which were critical for its foreign policy.
Twenty years ago, on July 8, 1994, Kim Il Sung suddenly died – 17 days before what would have been the first inter-Korean summit. The weeks leading up to Kim’s death – even his funeral itself – were rare moments of opportunity missed by South Korea and the United States. Over two decades, he was first succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Il, until his death in December 2011, and then by his grandson, Kim Jong Un. However one assesses Kim Jong Un, present DPRK regime dynamics and the North’s intentions toward the South, the lost opportunities of a generation ago could once again present themselves. The junior Kim could find himself in a position to effect dramatic shifts in the trajectory of the North’s strategic policies, much as was the opportunity of his grandfather upon whose legacy he stands.
As I wrote for NK News in 2012, I met Kim Il Sung in his final weeks as part of a delegation of former heads of state and government led by a Washington-based NGO, the Summit Council for World Peace.* In April 1994, he appeared in reasonably good health for a man of 82. However, I later learned the North Korean leader suffered from heart disease** and that he knew he may not have much longer to live. By this point, most of Kim’s power had been assumed by his son, who evidently had complete control over domestic policy, but the father made the key decisions on the DPRK’s relations with South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the U.S., which were critical for its foreign policy.
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Dr. Mark P. Barry is an independent Asian affairs analyst who has followed U.S. - DPRK relations for the past 22 years. He visited North Korea twice and met the late President Kim Il Sung in 1994, and has appeared on CNN to discuss North Korea. From 2005-06, he helped found and direct the Asia Pacific Peace Institute in Washington, DC. He also assisted the convening of the first-ever meeting of legislators from China and Taiwan in Tokyo in June 1989, under the auspices of the International Security Council. Dr. Barry has spoken on U.S.-DPRK relations before the Korean Political Science Association, Korea Institute of National Unification, and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii, among others. He received his Ph.D. in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and his M.A. in national security studies from Georgetown University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in international relations and global management, and is also associate editor of the International Journal on World Peace quarterly.