Did the United States start the Korean War? Did Kim Jong-Il have a supernatural birth, upon a sacred mountain amidst rainbows? Well, according to his 1941 birth certificate, he didn’t. Yet these tall tales, a wildly fanciful as they sound, are examples of what North Korean propaganda proscribes as fact.
Watch as this video counts down the 10 most ridiculous lies that North Koreans are made to believe. And ‘made to believe’ are the operative words here. Propaganda is a powerful tool of social control, and creating belief of the supremacy of a regime amongst a population is of paramount importance in the ongoing standoff between western ideals and communism as it manifests in North Korea.
Constructing and promoting a ‘cult of personality’ to scaffold a dictatorship is a well-trodden path in the twentieth century and propaganda surrounding the miraculous dimensions of a dictator’s person is fundamental to this strategy. According to North Korean propaganda, Kim Jong-Il is not only intellectually gifted – he is also magical and doesn’t need to use the bathroom! Cultivating a god-like status for a dictator has a serious side, encouraging devotion and blind allegiance from a population. However, some of the claims made by North Korean media about the abilities of Kim Jong-Il are simply hilarious! He certainly was not the greatest golfer in the world. And however you look at it, certainly no fashion icon!
Propaganda spin may seem comical to those who are not conditioned to accept it, but it has a very serious side. North Korea’s attitude to racial and genetic purity is known to be eugenic. The sinister measures taken to eliminate what are considered ‘weak’ genes, such as deporting people with dwarfism to deplorable island gulags, is again covered-up to the North Korean population by frankly ridiculous propaganda. In this case, Kim Jong-Il himself allegedly, according to his propaganda, discovered an instant ‘cure’ for dwarfism.
Follow this countdown to find out how the North Korean propaganda machine manages to uphold these far-fetched claims!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULu8X2Max0k