The Accidental Tyrant: Kim Il-Sung’s Rise to Power, and How He Kept It, with Fyodor Tertitskiy

Historically Thinking

In September 1945, various factions within the Soviet state were determining how the new nation of North Korea would be ruled, and who would be its leader. In late September a list was generated of potential leaders, and passed to higher authorities. The name Kim Il-Sung was not on it. At the time the future dictator of the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea was recently returned to Korea, where he had not been for years if not decades, and aspired to be the vice-Mayor of Pyongyang. But extraordinarily by late October, this obscure figure who had not had any rank higher than battalion commander in the Soviet Army was recommended as the leader of the North Korean proto-government. By the middle of December he was the highest ranking official in the Korean Communist Party; and on 8 February he was officially made the head of the North Korean proto-government.

In point of fact Kim would not be in charge of both party and government until 1949. But this “accidental tyrant”, as my guest Fyodor Tertitsky titles him, had a genius for committee politics, the manipulation of factions, and personal survival. Calamities brought about by his own choices became opportunities for the elimination of his enemies and the establishment of ever-greater powers, until by his death his family was in the seemingly unassailable position in which it remains today, decades later.

Fyodor Tertitskiy studies North Korean political, social and military history. He has been living in South Korea for more than a decade. His previous books, authored several books in English and Korean, include The North Korean Army: History, Structure, Daily Life, and Soviet-North Korean Relations During the Cold War. His most recent book is The Accidental Tyrant: The Life of Kim Il-Sung, which is the subject of our conversation today.

For Further Investigation

• Articles by Fyodor Tertitskiy for NK News
• A previous conversation related to this one is in Episode 212: The Perennial Russian Pivot to Asia. For a history of the Chinese Communist Party, see Episode 213: From Rebel to Ruler. For tips on how to overcome your closest enemies, see Episode 265: How to Win a Power Struggle.
• Buzo, Adrian. The Guerilla Dynasty: Politics And Leadership In North Korea. Rev. ed. London: Routledge, 2018.
• Demick, Barbara. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2009.
• Lankov, Andrei. North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2007.
• Oh, Kongdan, and Ralph C. Hassig. North Korea through the Looking Glass. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2000.