[KS] Divinity of the Kims?

[will pore]

Dear Kirk,

You are probably already familiar with this: There is a subheading in Han S.
Park's, "The Nature and Evolution of Juche Ideoligy," titled 'Juche as
Theology', that would seem to impute a kind of divinity to that invention of
the Kims, but does not really go so far as to state specifically that they
have "divine powers."

Regards,

Will



On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 9:55 AM, Kirk Larsen <kwlarsen67 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> Having recently read and thoroughly enjoyed B.R. Myers book, *The Cleanest
> Race*, I am writing to enlist your collective wisdom concerning one of
> Myers' interesting and provocative claims: he argues that the DPRK regime
> does not attribute divine powers or characteristics to its leaders, either
> Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il. Specifically:
>
> “No matter what some American Christian Groups might claim, divine powers
> have never been attributed to either of the two Kims” (Myers, *Cleanest
> Race*, 13).
>
> This claim got me to thinking and poking around, the results of which I've
> put up on my blog<http://kwlhistorymatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/not-so-divine-kims.htm>(
> http://kwlhistorymatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/not-so-divine-kims.html) but
> while I have been able to find a few examples of claims of, if not quite
> divinity, certainly claims of the remarkable and supernatural, more
> generally, I find myself agreeing with Myers that the fantastical claims are
> *not* the norm in DPRK propaganda.
>
> My query to the experienced, erudite, and talented group that subscribe to
> this list is: does anyone know of specific, credible evidence to the
> contrary? In other words, any unequivocal examples of the DPRK regime
> claiming divinity for its founder and present ruler?
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Kirk W. Larsen
> Department of History
> 2151 JFSB
> BYU
> Provo, UT 84602-6707
> (801) 422-3445
>
>


-- 
William F. Pore
Associate Professor
Global Studies Program
Pusan National University
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