Baik Bong


Baik Bong is a North Korean author known for writing the official biography of Kim Il-sung.

Biography of Kim Il-sung

The first comprehensive biography of Kim Il-sung was published in Korean in North Korea in 1968. It was called Minjogŭi t'aeyang Kim Il-sŏng changgun. Although it was most likely written by a collective, it appeared under the name of Baik Bong. Before that, hagiography of Kim Il-sung had been identified with Han Sorya, but after he was purged, hagiography conventionally no longer appeared under the name of any one author. Baik's biography was published by the party in two volumes. It covered Kim Il-sung's life up to the end of 1967. That biography was translated into English in three volumes under the title Kim Il Sung Biography. The first volume is titled From Birth to Triumphant Return to Homeland, the second volume From Building Democratic Korea to Chollima Flight, and the third volume From Independent National Economy to 10-Point Political Programme. It has since become "the standard DPRK biography" of Kim Il-sung.
A new version was Baik's biography was published in August 1972 as Ilyu haebang ŭi kusŏng Kim Il-sŏng wŏnsu, prompted by the fact that the nascent Juche ideology had now been attributed to Kim Il-sung from his youth, which had to be written into the story. During the 1970s, Pyongyang intensified its massive campaign to publish the works and feats of Kim Il-sung in several languages in order to promote its Juche ideology throughout the world.

Factual accuracy

Baik devoted much of his work in the official biography to recount Kim Il-sung's struggle against the Japanese occupiers. Factual accuracy of many such anti-Japanese tales has been questioned. Baik also omits any mention of Kim Il-sung's association with the Northeastern People's Revolutionary Army. It has also been suggested that "Baik Bong" is a pseudonym and that the writer lives in Japan.

Works

Works cited