Baik Bong

Baik Bong
Hangul 백봉
Hanja 白峰
Revised Romanization Baek Bong
McCune–Reischauer Paek Pong

Baik Bong (Chosŏn'gŭl: 백봉) is a North Korean author known for writing the official biography of Kim Il-sung.

Biography of Kim Il-sung

The first comprehensive biography of Kim Il-sung was published in Korean in North Korea in 1968. It was called Minjogŭi t'aeyang Kim Il-sŏng changgun (Sun of the People, General Kim Il-sung). Although it was most likely written by a collective, it appeared under the name of Baik Bong.[1] Before that, hagiography of Kim Il-sung had been identified with Han Sorya, but after he was purged, hagiography conventionally no longer appeared under the name of any one author.[2] Baik's biography was published by the party in two volumes. It covered Kim Il-sung's life up to the end of 1967.[3]

A new version was Baik's biography was published in August 1972 as Ilyu haebang ŭi kusŏng Kim Il-sŏng wŏnsu (Marshal Kim Il-sung, Liberator of Mankind), prompted by the fact that the nascent Juche ideology had been attributed to Kim Il-sung from his youth, which had to be written into the story.[4]

A three-volume biography followed. The biography recounts his successes in the fight for national independence. During the 1960s and 1970s, P'yŏngyang began a massive campaign to publish the works and feats of Kim Il-sung in several languages in order to promote its Juche ideology throughout the world (and in the third world in particular). The first volume is titled "From Birth to Triumphant Return to Homeland," the second volume "From Building Democratic Korea to Chollima Flight," and the third volume "From Independent National Economy to 10-Point Political Programme."[5] It has since become "the standard DPRK biography" of Kim Il-sung.[6]

Factual accuracy

Baik devoted much of his work in the official biography to recount Kim Il-sung's struggle against the Japanese occupiers. Factual accuracy of many such anti-Japanese tales has been questioned.[7][8] Baik also omits any mention of Kim Il-sung's association with the Northeastern People's Revolutionary Army.[9] It has also been suggested that "Baik Bong" is a pseudonym and that the writer lives in Japan.[1]

Works

  • Baik Bong (1968). Minjogŭi t'aeyang Kim Il-sŏng changgun [Sun of the People, General Kim Il-sung] (in Korean). 1. Pyongyang: Inmunkwahaksa.
  • — (1969). Minjogŭi t'aeyang Kim Il-sŏng changgun [Sun of the People, General Kim Il-sung] (in Korean). 2. Pyongyang: Inmunkwahaksa.
  • — (1969). Kim Il Sung Biography: From Birth to Triumphant Return to Homeland. 1. Tokyo: Miraisha. OCLC 956015711.
  • — (1970). Kim Il Sung Biography: From Building Democratic Korea to Chullima Flight. 2. Tokyo: Miraisha. OCLC 630184658.
  • — (1970). Kim Il Sung Biography: From Independent National Economy to 10-Point Political Programme. 3. Tokyo: Miraisha. OCLC 416522022.
  • — (1972). Ilyu haebang ŭi kusŏng Kim Il-sŏng wŏnsu [Marshal Kim Il-sung, Liberator of Mankind] (in Korean). Tokyo: Inmun kwahaksa.

References

  1. 1 2 Myers 1994, p. 150.
  2. ↑ Myers 1994, p. 149.
  3. ↑ Robert A. Scalapino; Chong-Sik Lee (1972). Communism in Korea: The society. University of California Press. p. 1439. ISBN 978-0-520-02274-4.
  4. ↑ Myers 2015, p. 124.
  5. ↑ Martin, Bradley K. (2004). Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 754. ISBN 0-312-32221-6.
  6. ↑ Buzo, Adrian (1999). The Guerilla Dynasty: Politics and Leadership in North Korea. London: I.B.Tauris. p. 2n1. ISBN 978-1-86064-415-3.
  7. ↑ Korea & World Affairs. Research Center for Peace and Unification. 1981. p. 187.
  8. ↑ Yi 1979, p. 67.
  9. ↑ Yi 1979, p. 75.

Works cited

  • Myers, B. R. (1994). Han Sŏrya and North Korean Literature: The Failure of Socialist Realism in DPRK. Ithca: East Asia Program, Cornell University. ISBN 978-0-939657-84-1.
  • — (2015). North Korea's Juche Myth. Busan: Sthele Press. ISBN 978-1-5087-9993-1.
  • Yi Kang-sŏk (1979). North Korea's Emulation of Chinese Politics: An Examination of Mao Tse-Tung's Ideological Influence. University of Missouri--Columbia.


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