Three Revolutions Movement
The Three Revolutions movement (Samdae hyongmyong undong; refers to the ideological, technical, and cultural revolutions of the Communist Party) was a campaign that took place in North Korea in the mid-1970s. The purpose of the movement was to boost the sagging North Korean economy by sending young students to factories and cooperative farms to stimulate economic activity. Their task was to encourage and guide factory workers and farmers to meet their production quotas. More important than classroom learning, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung (1912–1994) emphasized, was the hands-on education that the students would receive through their experiences at the actual work site. This part of the movement naturally caused friction between students and farmers, who felt it inappropriate that they be made to accept guidance from someone who knew little or nothing about the job.
A second part of the movement was efforts by Kim Il Sung to replace the old with the young in factories as a way of promoting new ideas. Many festivals were arranged to promote the value of North Korean youth. At a broader dimension, the young were to take over the revolution and pass it on to later generations. In the higher echelons of government, the movement provided the setting for Kim Il Sung to designate his son, Kim Jong Il (b. 1941), to carry out future Worker Party (the political organ of the North Korean Communist Party) operations. According to University of Hawaii professor Dae-Sook Suh, the succession issue was one that few outside of Kim Il Sung's inner circle knew of. However, by placing his son at the head of the Three Revolutions movement, Kim Il Sung sought to prepare others to accept the important role that his son would play in the party, especially after the Dear Leader had passed away.
In addition to the designation of Kim Jong Il to head the Three Revolutions movement, there were other signs that suggest that this period was an important one for the younger Kim's rise to eventually succeed his father. Kim Chong-suk (1919–1949; Kim Il Sung's first wife and mother of Kim Jong Il), a figure previously not rendered important by the Communist regime, was honored as "one who served Kim Il Sung close to her body." A museum was built in her memory, as well, at this time. In Kim Il Sung's relatively early push to establish his successor can be seen the caution that he took to ensure that his regime was not usurped by reformers, as it was in the Soviet Union following the death of Joseph Stalin (1879–1953).
According to Dae-Sook Suh, in 2000 the Three Revolutions Movement was known as the Three-Revolution Work Team Movement and defined as ideology, arms, and science and technology (Suh 2001: 76).
Kim Il Sung
Further Reading
Dae-Sook Suh. (1988) Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York: Columbia University Press.
——. (2001) "New Political Leadership." In The North Korean System in the Post-Cold War Era, edited by Samuel S. Kim. New York: Palgrave.
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