Firstly, to provide context, North Korea has not been existent for such a long period as the country is technically still at war with the South and has been the case since the Korean War (1950). This means that North Korea was a result of the US-USSR conflict similar to the ideal of the German seperation. Firstly, this was because of a trusteeship committed by both the American sides ( British etc) and the USSR sides ( PRC etc ) as they felt the need to stay in Korea after WWII in order to have more influence on Koreans and to prevent Imperialist rule and Anti-Colonial resistance. This was agreed by both sides as the Soviets were determined to establish a Soviet-friendly country in the Korean peninsula while the US wanted a buffer zone against the spread of Cold War with the Soviet Union. ( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1976-5118.2004.tb00306.x/abstract ) Hence, this showed common interests amongst the two allowing a mutual relationship leading to a seperation of the two sides also better known today as the North (USSR) and the South (USA). However, the two sides were never unified as Cold War tensions increased (1946-1947) and that the Koreans were also unsupportive of the trusteeship and wanted independence of their own. In terms of how Kim Il Sung and his legacy came into power, this is more of the Soviet's choice rather than the people's choice as the Soviets were at that point overruling the country. This allowed Kim Il Sung to operate a provisional government in the North and managed to convince the citizens at one point of time to support the Communist ideals of the USSR. This was because land belonging to the Japanese and landowners were redistributed to the poor farmers causing economic loss towards the landowners and benefits towards the poor. Hence, many landowners and collaborators defected to the South as a result of the country's communism ideals. This showed how many people were supportive of Kim Il Sung as despite the rich being unfairly treated, the ideals allowed the poor to benefit and hence, more people were allowed to own land. This also helped solve the poverty issue in the country and hence, the poor were more supportive towards his reign. This is also due to the use of propaganda that has sustained the reign of the Kim family.

Do provide feedback as this is merely my first reply on this subreddit!

http://www.newsweek.com/kim-il-sung-kim-jong-il-641776 http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-02/family-dynasties-why-are-the-kims-still-in-power/7984320

I'm currently reading for the second time The Impossible State, written by Victor Cha, who served as a foreign policy advisor for the Bush administration on North Korea during negotiations to end their nuclear program. It is well worth a read, and gives a nuanced, in depth insight into just how and why North Korea ended up the way it has, and why crises like the current on happen, and will continue to happen.

In a nutshell, Cha distills the regime's ability to hold power as being not just as a result of terror and quashing of individual freedoms (although obviously those factors play a huge role), but also through adapting Marxist-Leninist theory to fit in with long standing nationalist narratives already present in Korean society, and with Confucian traditions of filial obedience in traditional Korean families. Korean society is extremely ethnically homogenous on both sides of the border, and North Korean propaganda constantly emphasizes to the people that they are the chosen and purest race, who must remain undefiled by outside influences at all costs. This in turn is used to justify the economic practice known as Juche, or self reliance. Starting in the late 1950s, and gaining increasing importance as North Korea became economically isolated in the 1990s with the end of the cold war, Juche has been used as a rallying point and means of control through mass mobilization by the regime to dictate and heavily manage the lives of North Koreans across every section of society, and is an incredibly effective means of control.

In terms of Confucian tradition, which has played a part in the everyday lives of Koreans for far longer than the regime, Kim Il-Sung, the "Eternal Leader" has been turned into the father of the nation through an ongoing and all pervasive education campaign, which as a result has elevated Kim Il-Sung to the status of a god in a way which makes the personality cult of Stalin pale in comparison. Playing again on traditionally strong family ties seen in Asian society, the regime has thereby instilled total obedience in the mind of it's subjects (for to go against your father is one of the gravest crimes a Confucian practitioner can commit). Furthermore however, for Kim Il-Sung at least, this also resulted in very real adoration and love, helped greatly by his genuine (if heavily distorted) military activities in the resistance against the Japanese in WW2. Both his successors lack this strong military record and role as "Father of the Nation". However, even in death Kim Il-Sung remains the titular head of North Korea, meaning his status as a popular and greatly loved leader still stands.

I apologise for any grammatical errors, as I'm writing this hastily at work. If you have any other questions, please let me know and I will try my best to answer!

No thank you for the response. That certainly helped better my understanding of their situation. In my opinion it's pretty amazing (yet sad) that in such a short amount of time they were able to brainwash their people and create that much propaganda to put themselves in the position they are today. Seems like the the display of devotion they have to their leader is something that would be 100's of years in the making not 60+

Thanks for the post! Helped better my understanding