Coming in October: Ties that Bind Russia and North Korea

We’re pleased to provide our subscribers and readers a heads-up about a timely new documentary from MagellanTV. The film, Russia & North Korea: A Communist Love Story, to be released on October 9, concerns the expanding alliance between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. It examines Putin’s rise through the communist Soviet Union’s KGB intelligence agency and the enduring dynasty founded by Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, culminating in recent moves to assert the two nations’ mutual rejection of pressure from the West. 

Coming to MagellanTV on October 9!

 

The ties between Russia and North Korea have roots in the Cold War that defined relations between the United States and its allies, on one side, and the Soviet Union and its comrade states, on the other. That conflict flared with the Korean War of the early 1950s, which began with Kim Il Sung’s attempt to reunify the Korean Peninsula by force. Although that effort ultimately failed, the Kim dynasty and North Korea’s defiance has continued to this day. 

 

Few modern regimes have been so closely tied to a single family as North Korea’s. Since its founding in 1948, the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been ruled by three successive leaders from the Kim dynasty. Each has shaped the nation in profound and often troubling ways, leaving a legacy of absolute control, fierce nationalism, and isolation from the wider world. Let’s take a look at the three leaders who have set North Korea’s course for more than 75 years.

 

Kim Il Sung: The Eternal President

Kim Il Sung, the patriarch of the dynasty, emerged from the crucible of Japanese colonial rule and the upheavals of World War II. Backed by the Soviet Union, he established the DPRK in 1948 and quickly consolidated power, eliminating rivals and creating a one-party state. His cult of personality, centered on the title “Great Leader,” became an inescapable feature of North Korean life.

 

Central to Kim’s rule was the ideology of Juche, often translated as “self-reliance.” Developed in the 1950s and elevated to state doctrine in the 1970s, Juche emphasized political independence, economic autarky, and military strength. It provided a theoretical framework for North Korea’s isolation and justified the Great Leader’s absolute authority.

 

Kim Il Sung’s portrait adorns a flag in a North Korean military parade (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

 

Kim’s most consequential decision came in 1950, when he launched an invasion of South Korea that ignited the Korean War. Though the conflict ended in a stalemate after three years of devastating fighting, it also entrenched the division of the Korean Peninsula and solidified Kim’s image as a defiant champion of Korean independence. For the next four decades, Kim presided over a rigidly centralized economy and a militarized society. By the time of his death in 1994, he had crafted a system designed to enshrine his authority beyond the grave – literally, as he was named “Eternal President” of North Korea.

 

Kim Jong-il: The Dear Leader

Upon his father’s death, Kim Jong-il inherited both the state and its elaborate cult of leadership. Known as the “Dear Leader,” Kim extended the dynastic system, ensuring loyalty through a combination of propaganda, patronage, and fear. His rule likely exacerbated one of the darkest chapters in North Korea’s history: a famine in the 1990s that may have claimed more than three million lives.

 

Kim’s guiding policy was Songun, or “military-first.” Under this doctrine, the armed forces received priority over all other sectors of society. This emphasis not only maintained the regime’s grip on power but also served to deter perceived external threats. Most significantly, Kim accelerated North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. By the early 2000s, the regime had withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, setting the stage for years of international confrontation.

 

North Korean Dear Leader Kim Jong-il and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at summit meeting, August 2011 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

 

Despite his reclusive image – often caricatured for his eccentricities – Kim Jong-il proved an adept manipulator of global diplomacy. He used the prospect of talks, aid, and concessions as tools to sustain his regime until his death in 2011.

Kim Jong-un: The Supreme Leader

Kim Jong-un, the third-generation ruler, assumed power at a young age following his father’s death. Many outside observers initially questioned his ability to command the loyalty of the military and elite, but he quickly demonstrated ruthlessness. Purges of rivals and, reportedly, even close family members underscored his determination to consolidate power.

 

Domestically, Kim has presided over modest economic experiments, including limited market activity, while maintaining strict social controls. His rule has combined modern propaganda techniques with the dynasty’s usual traditions of fear and reverence. Today, Kim continues to portray himself as the guardian of North Korea’s sovereignty against a hostile world.

 

Underlining that world view, Kim advanced North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs at an unprecedented pace, testing long-range missiles capable of striking distant targets. (Inevitably, these programs have complicated the strategic calculus for the United States and its western Pacific allies.) As the nuclear projects accelerated, Kim also ventured into international diplomacy, meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump (in his first term) and South Korean leaders in high-profile summits. Though these meetings generated headlines, they did little to reduce tensions on a substantive basis.

 

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un on dais at celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, July 2023 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

 

However, ties between Russia and North Korea have tightened. Kim and Vladimir Putin have conferred in well-publicized summit meetings; North Korea has sent troops to fight in Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine; and Russia has assisted Kim’s nuclear program by providing equipment for North Korean nuclear submarines. So, it appears that the Russia-North Korea relationship is thriving.

 

The Kim dynasty is a rare hereditary dictatorship that has endured for more than 75 years in the modern world. From Kim Il Sung’s revolutionary origins and Juche ideology to Kim Jong-il’s militarized famine years, and now Kim Jong-un’s nuclear brinkmanship, the dynasty has proven both adaptable and unyielding. Its legacy is one of survival against the odds – at enormous cost to the people it rules.

 

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Timeline of the Kim Dynasty

• 1948 – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) established under Kim Il Sung.
  
• 1950–1953 – Korean War divides the peninsula permanently.
  
• 1955 – Kim Il Sung introduces Juche ideology, later enshrined as state doctrine in the 1970s.
  
• 1994 – Kim Il Sung dies; succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il.
  
• 1990s – Famine devastates North Korea, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.
  
• 1998 – Kim Jong-il formally confirmed as leader; adopts “Songun” (military-first) policy.
  
• 2003 – North Korea withdraws from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
  
• 2006 – First underground nuclear test conducted under Kim Jong-il.
  
• 2011 – Death of Kim Jong-il; power passes to Kim Jong-un.
  
• 2017 – Kim Jong-un tests intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
  
• 2018–2019 – High-profile summits between Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, and between Kim and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in.
• Present – Kim Jong-un continues to advance nuclear capabilities amid sanctions and isolation.

 

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Title Image: Russian-designed 152 mm M1974 self-propelled howitzers on parade in North Korea, 2013 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)