Analysis Of The Leadership Of Kim Jong Il History Essay

Analysis Of The loss loss loss leaders Of Kim Jong Il History EssayIt is believed to be important to examine the manners and leaders name of Kim Jong Il for several reasons. Among these reasons argon the quest. There is more talk about an absolute and/or unquestioning loyalty to Jong Il (e.g. Kang, 2006 Pollack, 2009), and it is deemed important to understand the reason for this. In addition, although north Korea bears the description The participatory Peoples Republic of Korea, its g everyplacenmental ideology appears to be in no manner linked to democracy, and it is believed that the reason for this should be investigated. Also, of grave concern is how the people of marriage Korea continue to bear on in submission to the inhumane treatment that they wholeow been receiving, and how they m new(prenominal) managed (i.e. despite the atrocities taking place in their country) to maintain the ideology that their home place down is literally Paradise on Earth (Hyun Sik, 2008, p.50). What allows unification Koreans to preserve the thought that they are living in a chosen land (Hyun Sik, 2008, p.50)? Does their political leader view as whatsoeverthing to do with it? What about his leaders ardour? This paper is expected to unearth the truth behind the sum Korean locating.It is believed to be important to understand the North Korean situation by the image of its leader, because of the nature of his leadership. Jong Il is delineated as one(a) who has simulated absolute control of North Korea (Kang, 2006). He is what is known as a dictator. Consequently, it is believed that if he were to be properly examined then it may be soundless why he is the way he is, how the people of North Korea bring been affected by his rule as rise as how things may be able to turn around for his country and people.To gain the preceding(prenominal) understanding, an academic research depart be conducted on Jong Il in an effort to be able to assess his life an d leadership vogue to gain the desired result. This research will be conducted in the year of a literature review. First the leaders biography will be presented followed by which his leadership style will be diagnosed and assessed within the linguistic context of Nahavandis text book on leadership (i.e. The Art and Science of drawship, twenty percent edition). Through an analysis of the literature and Nahavandis text, the parallels among Jong Ils leadership style and the concepts discussed within the text will be identified in order for a critical assessment of the North Korean political leadership situation to take place. This assessment should be what will produce a conceptual understanding of the present political leadership within the North Korean context as soundly as how this leadership situation not solitary(prenominal) coincides with what Nahavandi (2009) presents, but alike works to affect the lives of the North Korean people (i.e. inclusive of its leader, Jong Il , the one in question).A brief accounting of the leaderIt is unclear when Kim Jong Il was born as well as under what circumstances his consanguinity took place. Jong Il, according to Pike (2009), was born on the 16th day of February, 1941. AE Tele batch Networks (2009) also telld the akin engagement of turn in for Jong Il. However, both Pike (2009) and AE Television Networks (2009), acknowledge that Jong Ils year of induce was subsequently adjusted to 1942. The reason given by Pike (2009) for this limiting was that the same was expected to necessitate a thirty-year age difference amidst Jong Il and his father Il Sung.The circumstances surrounding Jong Ils birth remain a mystery. Many accounts have been given of the same. Some of these accounts include the following Jong Ils family claimed that a swallow foretold his birth others claim that a double rainbow appeared everyplace Mount Baekdu when he was born, while some eventide declared that with the force of his birth, a new star appeared in the heavens. All these theories surrounding his birth take root in what is exposit as a delirium of constitution, which simply illustrates that legend and official North Korean administration accounts describe Jong Ils life, character, and actions in ways that promote and legitimize his leadership (AE Television Networks, 2009). gratuitous to say, whether Jong Il was born in Khabarovsk, USSR or in a confidential camp on Mt. Baekdu in Samjiyon County, Ryanggang Province (Pike, 2009), in that respect appears to be something mystifying about this leader. If there was not, then why would all of North Korea come him as the Dear Leader and interpret his as well as his fathers existence through an analogy of Jesus Christ and beau ideal (i.e. with Jong Il creation do to represent Jesus Christ in the minds of the North Korean people, while his father, Il Sung, is cosmos made to represent God in the minds of the same) (AE Television Networks, 2009 Kang, 200 6)? As Kang (2006) stated, the people of North Korea literally theology Jong Il just as they worshipped his father Kim Il Sung. unrivaled North Korean gave the following account of Jong IlGeneral Kim Jong Il is a rare capital man of Baekdu type who was born at Mt. Baekdu, the sacred mountain of our nation, and made an unusual growth amidst the special radical education of his parents, brilliant commanders of Baekdu, as well as the practical reading of the revolutionary struggle. He personifies the revolutionary pith, trait and nature of Mt. Baekdu. The revolutionary pith of Mt. Baekdu personified by him is the spirit of independence associated with the soul of Baekdu, the spirit of gun inherit the linage of Baekdu, the indefatigable revolutionary spirit replete with the mettle of Baekdu and the approbative spirit consistent with cheerfulness of Baekdu. The revolutionary trait of Mt. Baekdu possessed by him is pluck and courage of Baekdu-style giant, ever-victorious sagacity o f the brilliant commander of Baekdu, broad-mindedness befitting a heroic man, organizing great top executive of leading millions of people, indefatigable attacking spirit, strong ability of execution (Pike, 2009).As mystic as Jong Il may have appeared, he was seen as one who demonstrated loyalty to his father Il Sung. This loyalty, according to Pike (2009), was demonstrated through Jong Ils involvement of the purging of his fathers irregular cronies as well as those who were not deemed personal friends of the Great Leader (Kang, 2006). It is believed that this loyalty to his father is what made him his fathers successor.Jong Il was described as unendingly beingness in politics. He was noted as being brisk in the Childrens Union a youth organization that promotes the concept of Juche (the spirit of self-reliance) as well as in the Democratic Youth League, where he engaged in the study of Marxist ideology (i.e. in sex act to politics) (AE Television Networks, 2009). It is beli eved that in 1974, Jong Il was named the successor of the revolutionary cause of Juche, and that in the midst of 1971 and 1980 he was given positions of increasing importance within the Korean Workers company (Pike, 2009). When Jong Il was named successor to the cause of Juche, he reportedly embarked on an initiative, which truism to the advancement of the program, which was concerned with the imbuing of the entire Korean society with the Juche ideology (Pike, 2009).Kim Jong Il reportedly had an interest in many disciplines, none of which he was especially good at (Hyun Sik, 2008). One of the disciplines Jong Il was interested in was the arts. He was described by AE Television Networks (2009) as the overseer of the Propaganda and Agitation incision in his country. This department was the one responsible for controlling the media as well as for censorship (AE Television Networks, 2009). As leader of this department, Jong Il reportedly used the mass media, literature and art, all media that fall under the umbrella term democratic culture, to stretch his public image as well as to obtain popular support for himself (Pike, 2009). When Jong Ils father died in 1994, Jong Il reportedly assumed supreme power over the North Korean state. It is through this acquisition of power that Jong Il micro-manages every detail of government business (Pike, 2009).Pike (2009) describes Jong Il as being opposite to his father. He is described as being impatient as well as a vivid displayer of extemporaneous behaviours. Jong Il is described as being arrogant and self-centered in policy decision making, unappreciative of rebuke as well as oppose opinion and emotional when it comes to displaying his likes and dislikes (Pike, 2009). However, on his softer side, Jong Il is known to be a lover of movies (e.g. James draw unitedly movies) and is known to have a personal collection of films in redundance of 20000 (AE Television Networks, 2009). Nevertheless, despite the latter, Jong Il fanny be thought of as a sad case, because his genuineness as ruler of North Korea is decided by the said countrys political system. As a result, Jong Il carcass prisoner to a system into which he was born. There is nothing Jong Il could do to reform his nations political system without undermining his own legitimacy. Therefore, his only wise option is to uphold the system (Pike, 2009). Jong Ils upholding of the system is notably in the vanquish interest of his country.A critical assessment of the life and leadership style of Kim Jong IlKim Jong Il, on the stem of his biography, underside be deemed a attractive leader. However, he is of the unethical type. He is deemed a charismatic leader because he shows forth characteristics such as a eminent degree of authority (expressed through his firm belief in his ideology), strong convictions about his ideas (which is establish on him being unaccepting of condemnations as well as contend opinions), expressiveness (manifest ed through his description of being an emotionally expressive individualistic) as well as activeness in image building (expressed through his use of popular culture to expand his popular image) (Nahavandi, 2009 Pike, 2009).However, although the above is true of Jong Il, he is also deemed to be unethical for several reasons. Jong Il is noted to use his power for personal gain or impact and to promote his personal vision (i.e. through the use of the Propaganda and Agitation Department), to c check off critical or opposing views (i.e. through his unaccepting of them), to demand that his decisions be accepted without question (as manifested through the unquestioning residency spoken of by Kang, 2006), to use one-way communication, and to be insusceptible to followers needs (accounted for through Kangs description of the sufferings that the people of Korea are made to endure at the hand of Jong Il) (Howell Avolio, 1992).Although Jong Il uses his power indiscriminately, he can lifele ssness be considered an effectual leader. This is because based on the circumstances in his country he uses his power to maintain the stability inevitable for the efficient functioning of the same. It may not be the view of many outdoor(a) of North Korea. However, with the level of brainwashing the people of that land have stock nothing seems wrong for most of not all. As it was noted earlier, even though Jong Ils leadership style is not the best, he has no pick than to image that it is perpetuated. This is because if he chooses to change the way his authority is ascribed to him (i.e. to reform the political system in his country) he will be doing himself more reproach than good. As Pike (2009) described, Jong Il is a prisoner to the system a prisoner in that even if he wants to change the system, he would not, because of the unwillingness to give up his supreme, divine status. It is what grants him his legitimacy as political leader of North Korea, and it therefore cannot b e changed without upsetting the present leaders legitimacy to rule over the state. Jong Il can therefore be located within the context of the contingency era of leadership. This is because as Fiedler describes, his effectiveness as a leader is based on a match between his leadership style and the leadership situation (Nahavandi, 2009). Jong Il is effective as a leader because his leadership style matches his leadership situation (Nahavandi, 2009).Jong Ils leadership personality can also be interpreted in impairment of the behaviorist perspective. It can be thought that Jong Il was trained to be the type of leader that he is. His father, Il Sung, ensured that Jong Il was groomed in a particular way from vernal. He (Jong Il) was made to attend detail schools namely, Namsan Primary School (a school he later destroyed through bombing), Namsan Higher Middle School, and Kim Il Sung University (AE Television Networks, 2009 Hyun Sik, 2008). According to Hyun Sik (2008), these schools (a fore mentioned) were taciturn for the elite of the North Korean society, in particular, party officials above the browse of vice minister (p.47). At these schools, the concept of Juche was taught. Apart from attending these schools, Jong Il was able to nurse the Juche ideology from being in close jot with his father as well as through his involvement with the Childrens Union. Consequently, he was able to perpetuate its existence. Jong Il believably learned to be a dictator, an autocratic, because as his former instructor described, he was a shy young man (Hyun Sik, 2008). But what made him acquire this leadership personality?It is believed that Jong Il was predisposed to acquire certain behavioral characteristics that would have allowed him to be an effective leader today. It is believed that Jong Il was exposed to a great deal of charismatic experiences throughout his early life. As a result of this it is assumed that he has adopted a certain degree of charisma and that this very charisma is what he was able to use to sway the minds of the Korean people in the direction that he wanted them to go. Jong Il, because of his ability to operate the minds of the North Korean people, through the channel of indoctrination, as accounted for by Lankov (2007), can be described as an individual who fools high on the Machiavellian personality scale. Jong Il and his parents crafty use of supernatural accounts at the time of his birth were used to convince the people of North Korea that Jong Il is a deity. Consequently, the North Korean people found themselves worshipping Jong Il in much the same way as they worshipped his father (Kang, 2006).Apart from Jong Il being made to look like a deity, he reportedly did all in his power to keep the people of North Korea thinking and acting in a particular way, a way that would ensure the proceed legitimacy of his power that flows from his position as Supreme Leader/ linguistic rule of the DPRK. For example, as stated by Lankov (2007), North Korea has maintained a voluntary information blockade that is without parallel (p.71). North Koreans are not allowed to have free tuning radios, neither are they allowed to listen to news casts and programs that are from sources foreign North Korea. This news blackout is supposed to keep North Koreans believing that their country is an earthly paradise (Lankov, 2007, p.71). In this way, North Koreans will cast a blind eye upon the inhumanities that Jong Il is said to kick in upon them, because they supposedly do not know any better. In other words, their reality is based purely on what Jong Il feeds them. So, although North Koreans may feel in their hearts and minds that something is wrong with the political leadership in their country (if even they do), they will continue to exist within a false reality, because of the unadulterated doctrine, which has been ingrained deep within their psyche.Continuing on the subject of power, the other sources of power that Kim J ong Il possesses is that of Coercive Power and divine Power. Nahavandi states that coercive power is the leaders ability to punish persons accede for tending of this punishment. Kim Jong Il exercises his Coercive Power by ensuring that he attains full compliance from the people by instilling fear in them by great(p) to arrest persons who refuses to adhere to his directives deeming them political criminals. Jong Il also received divine Power through his coercive tactics on his people. He did this by mandating the people to worship him and his father and demanded that all believed and followed the principles of Juche. So not only was he their political leader her was their spiritual leader qualifying his adoring power.Jong Il is accused of committing many heinous crimes once morest the North Korean people. Kang (2006) argues that he should be charged for crimes of war as well as of genocide. Kang (2006) argues that although Jong Il may not commit these crimes himself, he (in one way or another) sanctions them. Kang (2006) was careful to mention that the people of North Korea were mistreated on the basis of their religion and nationality. Christians and what were described as half-Han Chinese infants fathered by Chinese or other non-Koreans fell victim to Jong Ils rule. Women, who fled to China and got pregnant there, and were later strained to return to North Korea, were forced to have abortions. In the case of religion, any one who was deemed associated with any other religion besides Juche was persecuted by Jong Il. These persons were typically those who fled to countries outside North Korea seeking refuge, and were suspected of being influenced by outside intervention. However, unfortunately for them, they were forced to return to their home land (Kang, 2006) where they paid the eventual(prenominal) penalty for their supposed spiritual fornication. According to Kang (2006)One person testified that she saw prison security officers kill several Christ ians by pouring dissolve iron on them after they refused to renounce their religion and accept the state ideology of Juche. In particular, members of underground Christian churches and persons in contact with Christian missionaries have been subjected to harsh punishment, prolonged detention without charge, torture, or execution (p.99).Jong Il is so adamant about his belief in Juche that he went to great lengths to gain compliance from all persons dwelling within his territory of rule. Kang (2006) stated that the citizens of North Korea were literally mandated to worship Jong Il and his father based on what was known as the Ten Great Principles of Unique Ideology. Persons failing to comply with this order became political or ideological criminals and were made to suffer much abuse (inclusive of rape and the deprivation of food and medicine) (Kang, 2006). No one was spared the indignation of Jong Il from the smallest and most innocent of children to the oldest of adults, were made to suffer the consequences of their perceived insubordination to Jong Il. For example, it was noted by Kang (2006) that Jong Il punished a nine year old and his family, because the child innocently scribbled over the faces of Jong Il and his father Il Sung that were printed in his text book. Neither the child nor his family was ever seen again they literally vanished off the face of the earth.The interesting thing about Jong Il is that he ensured that he was awarded compliance from his citizens by instilling fear in them. Kang (2006) noted that In addition to a cult-like mentality existing in North Korea, a culture of surveillance pervaded the North Korean society (p.56). Every individual was literally placed as from each one others watch man to ensure that each individual was living according to Jong Ils rules and/or orders. The Peoples Security Agency, the disk operating system Security Protection Agency, and the Korean Workers Party each planted their own informants in all wo rk-places and units of organization, and since no one knew who exactly was an informant, they were all forced to be on their Ps and Qs (i.e. to be on their best behavior) (Kang, 2006). All these efforts to ensure forced compliance to Jong Il illustrates that the North Korean leader is in spades a high Mach because he is more than willing to do whatever is necessary to gain his desired end (i.e. even though it agent manipulating other people as he evidently did or gaining his desires at the depreciate of other individuals).From the preceding essay, it can be deduced that Kim Jong Il is definitely the leader of a brutal dictatorship. He displays qualities of an autocrat, because he makes decisions on his own (i.e. without being opposed). The literature exposed him as one being intolerant of criticism and disfavoring of opposing opinions. Jong Il was described as a leader to which there was an unquestioning loyalty. Everything he ordered was executed by his subordinates (i.e. the pe ople over which he ruled) without question. This occurred irrespective of whether the actions were right or wrong. Jong Il was termed a high Mach because he was seen as one using the legitimacy of his power to manipulate his followers into doing precisely what he wanted them to do (i.e. without care for how his desires were poignant the persons directly involved).Jong Il utilized fear tactics to ensure that he gained the compliance he required another indicator that he would score high on the Machiavellian personality scale. Apart from severely punishing people for defying him, he placed the North Korean people against each other by making them all spies for him. The North Korean leader appeared to be a possessor of charismatic qualities (i.e. he was deemed to be one born with special qualities for a special purpose). His birth was described as supernatural in occurrence, and the activities surrounding his birth were used as a tactic to gain the desired support from his followers .Jong Il, despite his negative qualities, appears to be an effective leader because he is able to maintain the stability required in his country. He appears to be operating under the contingency ensample of leadership because his leadership style appears to be directly related to his leadership situation. However, although Jong Il appears to be an effective leader, he is one that is unethical for discordant reasons. For example, Jong Il is noted to use his power for personal gain or impact and to promote his personal vision, to censure critical or opposing views, to demand that his decisions be accepted without question, to use one-way communication, and to be insensitive to followers needs all actions that are unethical by Howell and Avolios standards.Jong Il appears to be an explicit case of the nature/nurture principle. He is believed to be endowed with certain character traits (e.g. influence and/or charisma) nature that together with his ideology (Juche) and/or trained beh avioral characteristics (authoritarianism or dictatorship) shapes his leadership style nurture. Jong Ils personality and leadership style have created a North Korea that sparks bulky interest from the outside world. Apart from them being interpreted as treacherous, it is still unfathomable how the people of North Korea, at the hands of one man, can live to accept such an inhumane political system, and comply with it unquestioningly. Could this be a case demonstrating the share power of indoctrination or is it that North Koreas leader has emerged to be so powerful and feared, because his society provides the grounds for him to do so? Some food for thought.