Kim Il-sung took the least humane elements of Confucianism and combined them with Stalinism. At the top of the pyramid, instead of an emperor, resided Kim Il-sung and his family. From there began a downward progression of fifty-one categories that were lumped into three broad classes-the core class, the wavering class, and the hostile class.
page. 27
As I read chapter two, I couldn’t help but re-read sentences multiple times to try and fully grasp the ranking system. It amazes me how countries outside of Korea can come in and dictate how land was to be separated, and just handed over to other countries as what appeared to be a bargaining chip.
Reading Tae-woos’ story about how his way of life was simply taken from him and he was left to start a new life in a country that once was one nation. How he went from being a out-spoken child that others looked up to, to a quiet man afraid to be denounced for his thoughts. I admire his tenacity in evolving into a man who wanted to simply survive. I can understand his need for silence, for fear of the inminban – a “people’s group” whose job it is to keep tabs on one another and run the neighborhood. Mi-ran couldn’t see that her fathers passivity was simply a survival mechanism.
They were placed in the one of the lower of the 51 groups, sub categorized in the “hostile class”. Once here, there was no improving ones rank. It became your families legacy. The ranking system was hereditary. If your grandfather was a part of the hostile class, you were then born into it as well.
The strength of the regime came from it’s ability to isolate its own citizens completely.
pg. 34
I couldn’t imagine knowing that no matter how hard you worked, kept your head down and never spoke ill of the leader or the countries ways, you never could improve your social class.
