Last time we looked at the early days of Kim Il Sung’s dominance, but saw that much of those early decisions originated with Soviet officials, or at least needed Soviet approval.

With the Korean War over and Stalin dead, the Soviets attempted a similar level of influence. Soon after the war, Kim Il Sung started Soviet-style collectivization in the countryside, which led to farmers being put on a brink of starvation. A peremptory shout from the Soviet embassy followed, which, being translated from diplomatic Russian to normal English, sounded like: “What the hell are you doing, fool? You’ll starve the