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On Upward Mobility
“I think I am becoming a god.” So Vespasian ended his life
with the expectation of posthumous apotheosis. All Roman emperors officially
became gods. Apparently the former leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung
- made a smooth transition to divinity as well. Numerous special shrines
to him are displayed to that effect for the benefit of foreign dignitaries.
In the House of Gifts, important items of the Great Leader’s reign
including trinkets given by diplomats – more than 241,000 items
-- litter the place. East German gifts abound. Two statues of the Great
Leader offer an opportunity to visitors to bow before him. One is of
marble, the other is of wax in a faux meadow. He was signing documents
and invitations over two years beyond the end of his earthly span. Such
are the trappings of North Korean immortality.
The current Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il, displays his belief in his own
immortality by proffering nuclear weapons in a manner calculated to
offend. Irrationality is rife in Pyongyang, just as cell phones are
absent. A former Polish diplomat states that mobile phones are not permitted
in North Korea. It matters little. Cell phones don’t work there
anyway. Isolation works its charms. Like his predecessor, Kim Jong Il’s
grasp of reality seems feeble at best . . . but he has a nuclear weapon,
and, unlike Vespasian, will probably not go gently into his weird night.
James Clark
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(c) 2003 Millennium Relief & Development Services, vol. 2 no. 31
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