China and North Korea: Kim is like Chairman Mao?

On 4 July, the United States’ National Day, North Korea has launched seven missiles tests again and some of them were medium-range rockets that pose threat to Japan and South Korea. While Kim Jong Il has been portrayed as a crazy and authoritarian figure, Chinese netizens are eager to compare him with Chairman Mao.

An article titled “Kim Jong Il is just like Chairman Mao!” received a lot of attention in the Qiangguo Forum, a website run by state-owned the People’s Daily. In the article, chibilanting associates Kim Jong Il with Chairman Mao when dealing with military threats. As chibilanting argues,

我们看看毛主席的时代。新中国刚一解放,美国就联合诸国侵略朝鲜。我们保家卫国,支援朝鲜,我们打了过去,美国还是在自己没有胜利的协议书上签了字。印度占我领土,我们打了过去,剑指新德里。苏联占我珍宝岛,我们打了过去,珍宝岛还在我们手中。

Let's examine Mao's era: the United States joined force with other countries to invade North Korea soon after China has been liberalized. We defended our country and supported North Korea. We survived through the war and the U.S was forced to sign the peace agreement without victory. India occupied our territories, we targeted at New Delhi and survived through the war. The Soviet Union invaded our Zhenbao Island, we fought and now Zhenbao Island is in our hands.

朝鲜射出了卫星,美日韩没敢拦截,成了这一世纪的笑柄!紧接着,朝鲜又进行了核试验。联合国出了个什么几号决议,朝鲜的立场更加强硬。自称可以根据联合国决议可以检查朝鲜“江南号”货船的美国,动用了第七舰队,可是最后还是没敢拦截检查!朝鲜人在挨饿!这也许是真的。但是,金正日没输给奥巴马、李明博、麻生!正像中国的毛主席,没有输给世界一样!金正日就像毛主席!

When North Korea launched the satellite, USA, Japan and South Korea dare not intercept. It is such a joke! North Korea then launched a series of nuclear tests and the United Nations proposed several resolutions, but North Korean became ever stronger in its stand. The United States claimed that they could check upon North Korea's Cargos under the United Nations’ resolution, eventually its Seventh Fleet did not make any interception. North Koreans might be starving, but Kim Jong Il did not lose to Obama, Lee Myung-bak and Aso. Just like China’s Chair Mao, who did not lose to the world! Kim Jong Il is like Chairman Mao!

A lot of comments followed, 221.205.34 said,

金正日只不过是毛主席的一名学生罢了!!!

Kim Jong Il is only one of the Chair Mao’s students!!!

Another netizen, Caiyunchangzai also agreed,

金正正在学习毛泽东精神,正在学习和运用毛泽东思想!

Kim is learning Mao’s spirit and his beliefs!

Gaoshanmei said,

不要说,金正日的硬骨头的确像毛主席!我们如果有这样像毛主席的领导,人民会感到多么幸福啊!

Needless to say, Kim’s bones are as strong as Mao’s. If our leaders resembled Mao, people will be very fortunate!

222.50.82 also said,

和老毛不是一个级别的,不过骨气倒不错,至少比我们的政府强

He (Kim) cannot compete with old Mao, but his bones (characters) are stronger than our government.

Another Chinese blogger, Enjoy Drawing, also compares Kim with Mao in his comment on Kim's portrait,

当年毛主席说:“枪杆子里面出政权!”现在时代进步了,应该说:“核导弹可以保政权!”

Chairman Mao has once said, “regime vests in gun”. Now the world has advanced and it should become “regime vests in nuclear bomb!”

kims-photo1

The blogger explains why Kim was portrayed in an upright position:

他也很明白,他和萨达姆不一样,萨达姆在中东是孤家寡人,孤军奋战。而朝鲜身后—站着一个比上世纪抗美援朝时更加强大的中国!

He understands that he is different from Saddam Hussein, Saddam was alone fighting. While behind North Korea, stands a strong China, which is much stronger than the time when it fought against the United State during the Korea War in the last century.

20 comments

  • PJ

    If Kim is like Mao…Isn’t Mao dead?

  • 治理國家,用玩火的態度,固可爽快於一時,但絕非負責任者所應為。兩次世界大戰的教訓還不夠嗎?義和團的教訓還不夠嗎?

  • R. Elgin

    This thread demonstrates the serious lack of insight and maturity that many Chinese posters have, regarding their historical perspective.

    That’s not a healthy sign.

  • I’ve heard similar adulation directed at KJI from my South Korean brother-in-law.

  • Jon Landon

    Once more one views the overarching low degree of consciousness that comprises the nationalist tendency of too many Chinese youth who have been propagandized from day one to believe in nation and party, of which Mao is still the ultimate symbol. His famous quote, “power derives from the barrel of a gun” speaks not only of the most simple and effective political solution known to mankind, but of mankind’s debased “unadvanced”condition, specifically. This is not a matter to rejoice in nor are pocket change dictators such as Kim who, along with his father before him, has driven his country into the ground, leaving a tide of No. Korean blood behind him. There is nothing noble about this paranoid, speed freak. Only a brainless Chinese nationalist could entertain this sentiment. How pathetic. Such a botched and bungled lot of fools!

  • Ben

    Chinese folks need to understand difference between Good and Evil. I rather compare Kim’s father Kim Il Seung to Mao than his evil son KJI. Mao cared about his poor people, KJI doesn’t.

  • Once again Chinese netizens have their silly heads up their pigu (屁股) when commenting on North Korea.
    One could make a plausible argument that Kim Il-sung resembled Mao in several ways, but the son of Kim Il-sung is pale in comparison to his father.

    First of all Kim Jong-il does not have any of the military accomplishments that Mao can boast. Kim Il-sung, on the other hand, is revered as a war hero for leading guerrilla battles against Japanese troops. This is something that Mao did as well.

    Kim Jong-il does not have the respect of the world, in fact most global leaders agree that he is incompetent. Kim Il-sung at least had some strong credibility among major communist powers like the Soviet Union and East Germany. Mao was respected worldwide and even gets credit for restoring US-China relations.

    Kim Jong-il is far more selfish and corrupt than his father, and is considered less compassionate toward the common people outside of Pyongyang. Kim Il-Sung was very popular in the countryside and Mao also was a proponent of placing the rural peasants as his top priority. Mao’s legacy survives today despite the failures including the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward. After Kim Jong-il dies it won’t be long before somebody better replaces him and he won’t be remembered for anything but disasters. Kim Il-sung, like PRC’s Chairman Mao, will still be honored in history as the founding father of DPRK for as long as the Korean penisula remains split.

  • Sonagi

    On large private Chinese web forums, commenters are generally derisive of Koreans on both sides of the DMZ. KJI is a favorite target. That Chinese-produced video of a North Korean agent looking for cognac for Dear Leader is more representative of the attitudes of young, educated Chinese towards the DPRK and its leader than the historically inaccurate, boastful tripe on this translated thread. “美国就联合诸国侵略朝鲜。(The United States-led UN forces invaded North Korea)” Sheesh. Several years ago official Chinese historians got around to acknowledging that the North invaded the South. Some of the comment turds smell like they were dropped by Fifty Cent partiers.

  • 中國要現代化,請先從開放資訊開始。資訊的封閉造就一大群欠缺國際觀的義和團心態的公民。這樣的中國即使強大,怎可能是和平崛起?不給自己及國際帶來災禍已經是萬幸了!

  • Olivier Chang

    每次看到這種古老過時思想的東西就有種不舒服的感覺~

    大陸人到底啥時才要看清現在的局勢呀!!世界各國盡全力的在維持或著至少是努力的朝世界大同的方向前進~就只有少數幾個國家幼稚的以為大家都睡了,就可以盡情撒野,還以為其他人不反抗或忍耐是因為沒能力是軟弱,其他人沒站起來反擊是因為現在的相對平靜是多麼的可貴多難得,不想破壞而已好嗎!!!!

    只會罵其他國家,也不好好想想自己的國家才是那一直存在的禍害!

    自許大國,請拿出真正大國的風範,不然中國大陸充其量也不過只是個廣大的區域而已。

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