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Dear Leader: North Korea's senior propagandist exposes shocking truths behind the regime Kindle Edition
by Jang Jin-Sung (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 550 ratings
Length: 369 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Dear Leader contains astonishing new insights about North Korea which could only be revealed by someone working high up in the regime. It is also the gripping story of how a member of the inner circle of this enigmatic country became its most courageous, outspoken critic.
Jang Jin-sung held one of the most senior ranks in North Korea's propaganda machine, helping tighten the regime's grip over its people. Among his tasks were developing the founding myth of North Korea, posing undercover as a South Korean intellectual and writing epic poems in support of the dictator, Kim Jong-il.
Young and ambitious, his patriotic work secured him a bizarre audience with Kim Jong-il himself, thus granting him special status as one of the 'Admitted'. This meant special food provisions, a travel pass and immunity from prosecution and harm. He was privy to state secrets, including military and diplomatic policies, how the devastating 'Scrutiny' was effected, and the real position of one of the country's most powerful, elusive men, Im Tong-ok. Because he was praised by the Dear Leader himself, he had every reason to feel satisfied with his lot and safe.
Yet he could not ignore his conscience, or the disparity between his life and that of those he saw starving on the street. After breaking security rules, Jang Jin-sung, together with a close friend, was forced to flee for his life: away from lies and deceit, towards truth and freedom.
Print Length: 369 pages
Publisher: Ebury Digital (May 8, 2014)
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4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
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Top Reviews
MoseyOn
4.0 out of 5 stars Thug StateReviewed in the United States on January 24, 2016
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At times, North Korea seems like an indecipherable enigma, impervious to attempts by outsiders to understand or to find rationales for its actions. At other times, the Kim family state seems straightforward: a land ruled by a gang of thugs who regard the state’s resources (including its people) as its personal possession and plaything, and who cynically deploy crude and simplistic anti-colonial and anti-Western ideological slogans as a substitute for policy. Jang Jin-Sung’s book tends to support the latter view, depicting a regime run by a paranoid and power-hungry leader who cares little for what happens to anyone but himself.
Jang’s book is part memoir, part exposé. The core of the book is an account of Jang’s decision to escape North Korea, along with a friend. Jang, a poet personally honored by “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il, had been working in a department of the Workers’ Party responsible for relations between the two Koreas—which really meant anti-South Korean espionage and propaganda. Part of his job was to write poems in a South Korean “voice” praising North Korea and the leadership of Kim Jong-il. In order to do his job, he was part of a select group of Party members allowed access to South Korean newspapers, books, and magazines, as well as Western consumer products sent in as foreign aid. Though he was not part of the true power elite, he was in many ways a regime insider. His observations, therefore, have an aura of both credibility and disillusionment.
Beyond the dramatic story of Jang’s escape, survival in China, and eventual relocation in South Korea, the book contains valuable and damning observations on North Korean history and politics. Jang had access to party insiders, as well as to historical documents unavailable to most people. So while his account is that of a very young man, it carries the conviction of the disillusioned and recently-enlightened, which one can see in his wide-eyed outrage when the shackles fall from his eyes and he sees the Kim regime for what it is. Jang offers valuable insights on a variety of topics, including Kim Jong-il’s rise to power and the ruthless competition with his father and the elder Kim’s allies that accompanied it, leading in turn to further ruthlessness and the rise to dominance of the Organization and Guidance Department within the Korean Workers’ Party. Jang also discusses the kidnapping of Japanese citizens to train North Korean spies, and the North Korean view of diplomacy as essentially a counterintelligence operation, which partly explains why Western governments find diplomacy with North Korea such a frustrating undertaking.
Jang is a romantic, and naïve in many ways. He says that reading a book of poetry by Lord Byron was one of the key factors in his disillusionment/enlightenment, as Byron’s openness in expressing emotions stood in stark contrast to the bottled-up North Korean society in which the only acceptable object of devotion was the state as embodied in the person of the leader. The heart of the book is Jang’s account of his decision to leave North Korea after some contraband materials to which he had access but which he allowed to pass out of his hands were discovered. He had to leave quickly, without much preparation, accompanied by the friend to whom he had loaned the materials. They carried little with them other than the clothes they were wearing, a notebook full of Jang’s poems, and some cash, which would come in handy later. They were lucky to escape the scrutiny, and the guns, of North Korean border guards, but their story of escape and survival is not simply a tale of crossing the Tumen River that forms North Korea’s northeastern border with China. Jang chronicles just how difficult it can be for an escapee even after crossing the river. The South Korean consulate in the Chinese city of Shenyang and many Korean churches were no help. Jang spent a month on the run, during which time he had to rely on luck and the kindness of individuals to survive and eventually make his way to freedom. That he did make it is a testament to how deeply motivating the desire for freedom can be. This is perhaps a useful reminder for any of us who accept our liberties too casually. Jang’s epilogue is both a moving conclusion to the story and a sober reflection on what the presence of thousands of North Korean escapees means.
On occasion the book reads a bit too much like a translation, or maybe the translator is just rendering too literally in English Jang’s way of expressing things in Korean. But that’s a small thing. This book is well worth reading for anyone interested in the inner workings of North Korea, and how one North Korean of a sensitive frame of mind found the desire, then the need, and ultimately the courage to leave in the hope of liberating body, mind, and heart. In addition to Jang’s own story, the book reinforces the conclusion that North Korea is not just a failed state, but what might be called a diminished state. The friend who urged me to read this book said that it convinced him of what he already thought—that North Korea is really run by just a very small number of people. It’s hard to argue with that. For Kim Jong-il, as for his son after him (the current ruler), it appears that being “leader” is an ego trip for which his whole country of roughly 25 million people pays a horrible price.
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Jennifer
5.0 out of 5 stars A 21st Century MasterpieceReviewed in the United States on October 5, 2014
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If you are a fiction-only reader, I assure you that, even though Dear Leader is a true story, it is indistinguishable from a great novel. The story has the pacing and revelations of The De Vinci Code. It depicts two dystopian societies that are, dare I say, more intriguing than those in 1984 and Brave New World. As with the Hunger Games or Divergent, you will quickly find yourself emotionally invested in Jang’s fate and that of his friends. This is the best narrative I have read in years, and the fact that it is a memoir makes it all the more heart-wrenching and profound.
Jang allows readers to live in his head and see through his eyes in a way few memoir writers do. For example, Twelve Years a Slave, Man's Search for Meaning, Angela’s Ashes, and The Diary of Ann Frank are indisputably great and intimate memoirs, but they do not involve an awakening that one's dearly held articles of faith---beliefs around which everyone one knows has been required to organize their lives-- are an elaborate deception. Another unique difference is that Jang makes a decision to pursue truth despite the risk to himself and those he loves. Under North Korean law, it is a capital offense to seek information about the outside world. After the offender is executed, his family and closest friends are imprisoned indefinitely unless they prove they had no knowledge of the crime. Lastly, Jang has the soul of a poet and understands the value of words. Even though this book was written in Korean, Jang writes beautifully and chooses his words thoughtfully. His memoir is not merely a call to action or a tribute to the innate curiosity and courage at the core of all people. Jang writes with his reader in mind, and he wants to give a small gift to each reader who joins him on his journey.
Having read Dear Leader three times in six weeks, I now feel fascinated by Asian culture and guilty that I have misunderstood one third of the world's people for my entire life. Jang Jin-sung is responsible for my awakening. To help correct my deficiency, I am listening to Great Courses lectures on The Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition and on The Foundations of Eastern Civilization. I hope other readers will be similarly inspired to explore East Asian culture.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must ReadReviewed in the United States on January 22, 2018
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I would give this book 10 stars if that were possible. This book stands out far above all other "North Korea escapee" books due to the amazing North Korean intelligence background of the author and the fact that he is a talented writer and poet. This book should be required reading for everyone in our State Department, our Congress, and our Executive Branch. It reads like a novel yet is the fascinating real-life story of the (utterly amazing) experiences of the author as the trusted Poet Laureate to the Dear Leader who at the same time served in said Leader's Intelligence apparatus, playing the most amazing mind games on the population of North Korea. He had moral scruples, however, and, in his intelligence role, uncovered information that ultimately led to his needing to escape the country for his life. Importantly, there is also a historical perspective here about the many times the Dear Leader has lost most of his power and is at risk of being ousted yet uses negotiations with South Korea and the U.S. to play for time and strengthen his position and thus stays in power, continuing his repression of the North Korean people.
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SHEILA F.
4.0 out of 5 stars EXCITING AND GRIPPINGReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2017
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I'd already read several true accounts of the shocking regime and life in North Korea, but as well as being informative this was hard to put down at times. The story of escape from NK was really exciting and gripping. The only downside was that it contains quite a lot of extremely foul language. (Otherwise I'd have given 5 stars.)
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Mike268
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2018
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I was horrified as to the conditions in North Korea but fascinated at the same time, the book read like an adventure story and I couldn’t put it down! Read it in two sittings (that’s a contradiction I know!). It makes one wonder how some leaders can treat their people so badly, the only consolation is that you can hold people back for only so long until they rebel, see the USSR and Eastern Europe as an example. Hopefully it won,t be long in Korea.
2 people found this helpful
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Washand
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique perspective on the DPRKReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 22, 2015
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This book is interesting because the defector is from Kim Jong-Il's trusted circle and so the revelations of Mr. Jang give a rare insight into the inner workings of this hereditary dictatorship. The other interesting insight is the extent to which the Chinese co-operated with the DPRK in hunting down and returning defectors, particularly high-profile ones. However, this account dates to pre-2004 and so it cannot be assumed that the same system is still in place. There are some indications that while luxury goods have filtered into the DPRK across the porous border with China, making Pyongyang at least look more affluent, the dictatorship under Kim Jong-Un might be even more brutal than that of his father. The story of Mr. Jang is harrowing and it highlights how North Korean defectors can face hostility and prejudice even from Koreans in the ROK or China. Many left-wing South Koreans claim that people like Mr. Jang are telling lies but I am willing to bet that when the terrible North Korean regime eventually collapses, as it must do sometime in the future, there will be so many more stories like that of Mr. Jang that it will be impossible for the ROK to remain in denial.
2 people found this helpful
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Jas
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting accounts of life in DPRKReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2017
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It's an engaging read, more so for the descriptions of life in the DPRK than for the description of the author's flight from the country. The problem is that the author was such a part of the DPRK "machine" that I didn't really develop sufficient sympathy for his attempt to escape. This isn't at all a comment on the man himself or what he's done since, but simply on the way things are presented in this particular narrative. But overall I'm glad I read it. It doesn't leave me a fan of North Korean poetry though.
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Howard
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-OpeningReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 19, 2019
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A engrossing account from the perspective of a high-ranking cadre in North Korea who escaped and found his freedom. The writing style draws you into his story as if it were an adventure novel, and the book is all the richer for it. The fact that this regime with its 'cult of Kim' and methods of control exists in the modern world is a constant source of perplexment to most, and Jang Jin-Sung expounds on everything you thought you knew and brings it into electrifying focus.
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