조선로동당의 ‘선군정치’와 북한사회

The Army-centred politics of the Korean Workers’ party

In mid-1990s, the economic difficulties of North Korea degenerated, people’s escape at the boundaries of a country continued, and North Korea kept confronting with the United States. On these phenomena, the theories such as ‘collapse of the state’ and ‘crisis of the system’ was spread among the observers inside and outside world. By 2001, however, North Korea has been recovering fast the political and economic stability. The purpose of this article is to analyze the process that North Korea had overcome the serious crisis in the 1990s and entered the ‘stable orbit’ successfully. The study focused on the ‘army-centred politics’ of North Korea in the 1990s. The Army-centred politics performed many functions that Kim Jong-il and the Korean Workers’ Party retained the survival of the North Korean system and accomplished the stability of the system. It also was characterized that the military works became more important as the operational method to strengthen the system, and the military led to solve the present assignments. By the 1990s, the conditions of the Army-centred politics chosen by the Korean Workers’ Party was three as follows: the historically established ‘united party-military relationship’, economic difficulties and people’s turmoil, and a threat to survival from an outside world. The Army-centred politics emerging among the circumstances both inside and outside North Korean system has been institutionalized in the party and the state organizations by the decisions at the first meeting of the 10th Supreme People’s Assembly on September in 1998, and then, it has settled as the operational method of the system. The Army-centred politics was carried out for the survival, stability, and strengthening of the system. First, corresponding that the United States has continued to threaten and restrict toward North Korea, the Korean Workers’ Party made the political and historical position of the military more higher and propelled the development of strategic weapons, the showing-off of the military forces, and the normalization of relationship with the western countries. Secondly, when a foundation of materials and thought was swung by the economic disorder and people’s complaints, the role of the military in economy was strengtened and the military’s initiative on political thought was stressed. Third, the party suggested the construction of the ‘great strong state’ and declared ‘modernization of economy’ under the aim to strengthen the North Korean system through the Army-centred politics. Under the Army-centred politics, however, as ‘militarization of society’ has been more serious, it is possible that ‘modernization of economy’ contrasts with ‘militarization of society’. Therefore, the party will seek the change of the operational method to strengthen the system when the first aim of the Army-centred politics, that is, the survival and stability of the system was accomplished.