Eighteen days after Japan surrendered, ending World War II, the Korean peninsula was physically divided along the 38th parallel—the Soviet Union occupying the northern part and the U.S. occupying the southern part. In 1948, the Soviets installed their crony, Kim Il-Sung, as premier. He would establish the North as a totalitarian, socialist, and personalist dictatorship, ruling it for more than 45 years.
Read more Mamdani stumbles, bumbles trying to define ‘working class’
It would prove to be the first successful communist dynasty in the world as two more generations of Kims would eventually come to power—the original dictator’s son, Kim Jong-il, ruling for 17 years, and his grandson, Kim Jong Un, ruling from 2011 to the present. The grandson appears now to be preparing the country for its first female leader—his daughter, Kim Ju Ae—to succeed him. This is somewhat surprising since he reportedly does have a son three years older than his 13-year old daughter.
While Kim Il-Sung was the model of brutality for four-plus decades, he clearly was able to impart the same quality to his successors. It is also clear there was one all-important principle of governance he instilled within both them and his people by forwarding on what was his greatest value in life. That value was retaliation against those refusing to toe the line and ensuring it came at a cost having the harshest impact. Retaliation has long been part of the Kims’ genetic makeup and most recently has been exhibited by the grandson.
The current Kim, perhaps familiar with the history of countries like Libya where, in 2011, a repressive dictator was brutally killed by his own people, has recognized the need to control his people by means of instilling a fear of violent retribution lest he face the same fate. However, he probably felt no similar threat posed directly to his person by an outside force.
Read more The left’s latest tactic: ‘nostalgia’ blinds conservatives to the Constitution’s defects
That perception was dealt a major blow by the U.S. war against Iran. A February 28, 2026 Israeli air strike, coordinated with the U.S., took out an Iranian leader no less maniacal than the current Kim—Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
This is a war the current Kim has watched closely, gaining insights both into U.S. military capabilities and understanding just how far Washington is willing to go to take its fight against an enemy. It obviously bothered Kim enough to cause him to act within weeks to add a clause to North Korea’s constitution, mandating nuclear military retaliation against a foreign country responsible for his assassination. Interestingly, in the aftermath of Iran’s threat to assassinate President Donald Trump, he has left instructions for retaliation should it succeed in doing so but obviously a retaliatory strike of a conventional, not nuclear, nature.
It is interesting that during an April 2018 meeting between the current Kim and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the dictator reportedly said, “I’m a father and husband … and I don’t want my children to carry the nuclear weapon on their back their whole life.” Whether it was a flash of real emotional concern for a daughter or just gas, Kim has done nothing to eradicate the burden that may well fall to his daughter by adding his change to the country’s constitution. In the aftermath of his own eventual death, he prefers to see the world plunged into a nuclear war, leaving him to observe it from the Gates of Hell.
Read more Maine’s Dems: It gets worse
Image generated by ChatGPT.