Even in such a country as North Korea the state ideology is not idle. It does change, although quite slowly and usually only small details are altered. Sometimes it is not so easy to find them, but through them we can observe the changes of the political situation in this unusual country.

For example, a year ago North Korea revised its main ideological document: “Ten Principles on the Establishing of the Monolithic Ideology of the Party,” which first came to life in 1974. In order to understand this document and its nature, let us make a small historical excursus.

There was about a decade in the history of the DPRK when the personality cult of Kim Il Sung lay dormant, almost non-existent by modern standards. This period was caused by the famous speech of Nikita Khrushchev in which the Soviet leader boldly denounced Stalin and his cult. Therefore, if you show a DPRK newspaper published in early 1960 to a North Korean, you may expect him of her to be quite shocked: they call Kim Il Sung not “the Great Leader,” but simply “Premier.” This would be unthinkable in modern North Korean press: it looks almost insulting, something like calling the president of United States simply “Barack.”

The cult of Kim Il Sung started its rebirth in spring 1967 and very soon – in a matter of months – had surpassed the level that existed in January 1956. The new cult was enriched by its unique qualities: North Korea media and books stopped quoting Marx or Lenin, instead referring solely to Kim Il Sung, and they started to write Kim’s name is special bold script and the country was fooled by the stories about “The Unsurpassed Genius of the Revolution, the Legendary Hero, the Beloved and Respected Great Leader of the Forty Millions.” The final accord marking the establishing of the new cult was the publication of “The Ten Principles” – the text which consisted of the preamble, dedicated solely to Kim Il Sung and his infinite greatness and 10 rules by which the North Koreans had to live from now on.

NORTH KOREA’S TEN COMMANDMENTS, FIRST EDITION

Defend the principle of the teachings of the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung, following unconditionally

1. Fight, with all your strength, to make the whole society colored solely by the revolutionary ideas of the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung.

2. Respect the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung with the utmost loyalty.

3. Make the authority of the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung an absolute one.

4. Believe wholly in the revolutionary ideas of the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung, consider his teaching to be your credo.

5. Defend the principle of the teachings of the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung, following unconditionally.

6. Reinforce further the ideological and intellectual unity of the whole Party around the figure of the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung, as well as the revolutionary unity.

7. Learn after the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung, have an communist image, follow the revolutionary way of action and the people’s model of action.

8. Venerate the political aspect of life, bestowed by the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung, repay him for his highest political trust and consideration with loyalty by having a high political consciousness and mastery.

9. Establish a strict organizational discipline in making the whole Party, whole State and whole Army unified around the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung’s sole leadership.

10. Inherit and fulfill the great deed of the revolution, started by the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung, which continues from generation to generation.

Each of the principles was supplemented with a large commentary explaining how it should be enforced. These comments are also quite interesting. For example, the party was declared to be “The glorious Party of the respected comrade Kim Il Sung” (no, not of the people or of the working class, like some may think). One of the comments on the second principle stated that “every moment of life must be lived for the Leader” and one of the comments on the third was that “every opinion and point of view must be identical to the opinion of the Great Leader.”

NORTH KOREA’S TEN COMMANDMENTS, SECOND EDITION

‘Learn after the Great respected comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, have a high moral and ethical image, use the revolutionary methods of action and the people’s model of action’

This essential creed of totalitarianism existed without a change for 39 years, until it was revised under Kim Jong Un’s rule. Here are the new Ten Principles:

1. Fight, with all your strength, to make the whole society the Kimilsung-Kimjongilist one.

2. Venerate the Great respected comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as the Great Leaders of the Party and of the People, as the Eternal Suns of Juche

3. Make the authority of the respected comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and of the Party the absolute one. Be ready to defend them.

4. Arm yourself with revolutionary ideas of the Great respected comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and with the fulfillment of their ideas: the line and the policy of the Party.

5. Defend the principle following unconditionally the commandments of the Great respected comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as well as Party line and its policy.

6. Reinforce further the ideological willful and revolutionary unity of the whole Party around the figure of its Leader(s)

7. Learn after the Great respected comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, have a high moral and ethical image, use the revolutionary methods of action and the people’s model of action.

8. Venerate the political aspect of life, bestowed by the Leader and by the Party, respond to it by having a high political consciousness and real successes in doing jour job.

9. Establish a strict organizational discipline in a wholehearted movement of the whole Party, whole state and whole army under the Party’s sole leadership.

10. Inherit and fulfill the great deed of the Juche revolution, the great deed of the Songun revolution, started by the Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung, and guided by the Great respected comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, which continues from generation to generation.

TWO SUNS IN THE SKY

As we can see, there were two meaningful changes. First, Kim Il Sung’s son joined his father in godhood and second, the role of the Party was added as well. Both changes are fitting the current ideological situation. First, when one reads North Korean ideological texts of the Kim Jong Un era, one may get a impression that their authors do consider Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to be equally great. Kim Jong Il was posthumously promoted from marshal to generalissimo, his giant statue erected next to his father’s and he – also posthumously – was proclaimed to be the eternal general secretary of the Workers’ Party and the eternal chairman of the State Defense Commission. Kim Il Sung, likewise was proclaimed the eternal president of the DPRK and holds this symbolic post to this very day. Sometimes things get really funny: the Rodong Sinmun reported on July 20, 2013 that the victory in the Korean War (of course, the DPRK officially considers itself to be the victor) was prepared by both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, though the latter was 9 when the war started. This is understandable: if Kim Jong Il is not great enough the question is what his son is doing in charge of the country and if Kim Il Sung is not great enough – well this would mean the complete collapse of North Korean ideology without a cornerstone.

The appearance of the Party is also quite natural. When the first edition was been prepared, Kim Il Sung had a clear memory about the events of 1956, when a group of high-ranking Party bureaucrats tried – and failed – to depose him, so the appeal to the Party collective was not fitting the situation. Now, when 55 years have passed since these events, Party can once again be enshrined.

All in all, the revision of the Ten Principles is a good way to remind the people that they do exist and are in force. The main cause for revision was the further legitimization of Kim Jong Un’s rule by raising his father place in the state’s ideology. Also the reassertion of the principles is another sign of loyalty to the course of the predecessors and may be viewed as another sign that no political liberalization in North Korea is been planned. At least, for the moment.

Main picture: Eric Lafforgue