u/kissyoursister - originally from r/GenZhou
I’m currently reading Patriots, Traitors & Empires and I’m really enjoying it so far. I learned absolutely nothing about Kim Il Sung and Korea’s history in school, so I have to learn about it all on my own time now in college (I don’t take any history classes).

From what I’ve read thus far, it’s very obvious that Kim Il Sung and all his merits led him to the position that he was in and that he earned his place as the founder and leader of the DPRK. My only concern, and I guess confusion, is why his son took over following his death. I don’t want to flat-out call the DPRK a monarchy because I’m not that educated on how they operate, but I’m sure you can all understand how someone in the West would see it as a monarchy through Western media and how the country is portrayed.

I guess my question is that is there any reason Marxist-Leninists should support the DPRK’s leadership from Kim Jong Il to now Kim Jong Un? Aside from being descendants of the DPRK’s founder, do they really have any qualifications? Kim Il Sung was a guerrilla leader and dedicated his life to liberating Korea, so why did the passing of command not work like a meritocracy wherein the most qualified person would take Kim Il Sung’s place once he died?

Is this “monarchy”, as it is viewed by most Westerners, widely popular in the DPRK? By that I mean do the DPRK’s proletariat accept this chain of leadership that they will be guided by the descendants of Kim Il Sung? I feel like if the answer is “yes” in any way, it would be hard to buy into that idea because Western media portrays their population as brainwashed and subjugated under a feudal monarchy. I, however, am more than willing to accept that it’s simply a different culture and their conditions are vastly different than other countries, especially the West.

I’m sure someone is going to tell me to watch Hakim’s video on why the DPRK is so weird but I’ve already seen it and it didn’t answer my question or clear up my confusion. It seems like the DPRK is the most lied about country of nearly all-time, and the difference in culture and structure between my country (America) and theirs is so vast that I want to learn more.