The Institute for Korean Studies Presents:
"Governing Styles of North Korean Leaders"
Jae-Cheon Lim
Korea University
Abstract: Currently the North Korean regime can be defined as an autocratic communist where an absolute ruler monopolizes decision-making by depending on a communist party or it can be also defined as a dynastic totalitarian where one family monopolizes political succession in totalitarian institutional mechanisms. Whatever definition, North Korean leaders have been the crux of social unity for decades, exercising absolute power. This lecture attempts to compare three North Korean leaders (Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un) and their leadership in order to review their difference and similarity, which helps us understand the continuity and change of the present North Korean regime. It specifically examines the leaders’ formative period, their activity before they ascended to power, and their leadership styles.
Download the PDF flyer here.
Born and raised in South Korea, Dr. Jae-Cheon Lim received PhD at Department of Political Science, University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2007. He has been teaching courses of North Korean politics and inter-Korean relations at Korea University Sejong Campus, South Korea from 2009. He is the author of Kim Jong Il’s Leadership of North Korea (2009) and Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North Korea: The Leader State (2015). His main research interests include North Korean leaders, elite, institutions, and inter-Korean relations. He is currently an OSU visiting scholar for 2023.
