During the present tension between North and South Korea, the role of the president of North Korea has been both interesting and natural. He came under the constant attention of media by constantly visiting his forces on the front lines. His hair-style maybe somewhat strange to some but he is definitely giving a good gesture to his army by adopting the style similar to them. He has been found to be very agile and over-active when he was shown to be walking or delivering a speech on the frontlines. On one of such occasions, he was shown taking a pistol in his hand and moving it as if pointing on the target.
When he is doing so, he is thronged by his senior military generals and officers who are showing their interest in all these by their smiles and appreciation. This single scene caught my attention as it gives a clear message to the South and US that the president of North is ready to go to any extreme and will not give up easily. On the other hand, this also works as an elixir for the spirit of the people and army of North that their president is also there to fight this battle.
Media reports about the worsening situation in the Korean peninsula are ominous as the tension between the sides has reached to its worst form in its history and it was warned that any small mistake by any side would ignite the war. Latest news also confirmed that North has made two of its missiles fully ready to be launched and hit its targets but experts say that these missiles are not in position to carry the nuclear war-heads. On the other hand, North Korea has constantly been threatening to target its enemies with nuclear weapons in case the war broke out. Independent sources have failed to estimate the possibility of any such nuclear attack but it is still a matter of grave concern as similar response may be given by the US in case North takes lead in the nuclear attack.
Till now, media has only been showing the reports and news about the situation in the area but there has not been done anything on the political grounds and United Nations or any other country of the world has failed to take any initiative in this regard. If the problem persists like this and no country came forward for the arbitration, it would definitely turn out to be perilous for the people of the region and of the world in general.
As mentioned earlier, we have witnessed the extra efficient role of the president of North Korea since the relations between the two sides started declining more than a couple of weeks ago. Keeping the army on the constant move, visiting the frontlines, delivering vigorous speeches, and threatening his enemies are some of the activities that have been keeping him in headlines.
The state news agency also shows that people of the North also support their brave president and are ready to give any kind of sacrifice to fight their enemies. On the other hand, similar signs are being depicted by its army. People are shown who talk vigorously in support of their president and they vow not to be pressed by the pressure of the West. Similarly, state television also shows the soldiers and officers of army shouting slogans and doing energetic gesticulations by their hands to crush their enemy.
But to political observers, all these don’t come as a surprise. As was mentioned earlier, the role and activeness of the president of North is quite natural because it is the style usually adopted by the dictators to prolong their rule.
It is said that, a dictator may easily get to the power but retaining this power is the most difficult task. The first tool of a dictator to keep the people silent and reserved is the use of suppression and force. Whenever a dictator comes into power, the masses are suppressed so that they should be frightened enough to accept the rule of the dictator without any kind of challenge but with the passage of time, this fear loses its effectiveness and soon people become bold enough to withstand against the dictator. In order to keep the people in this fear, those who oppose the dictator are constantly killed and tortured and made a living example for the rest of the people. But it is also a fact that, the more people are suppressed, the more they become fearless and every passing day adds to the difficulties of the dictator.
The only thing that surrounds the thoughts of a dictator day and night is to make himself appear more acceptable for the public so that they should never think of any other ruler or form of government. In the same way, he is badly alarmed by any small news that a person or a group of people are making plots to overthrow him. He soon moves his agencies to deal with such elements in the harshest manner.
In order to keep their graph of popularity high in the public, a dictator may adopt many strategies and these strategies may be cruel, or strange and in some cases, absolutely stupid. This includes of arranging public gatherings and festivals in which the dictator has the role of ‘one man show’. He tries to appear to be too much public and close to the general public, sharing their happy moments. In reality, he wants to convey a message to the people that he is happy with them and he will keep working for their happiness and they should never think of getting rid of him.
Very recently, we saw some of the so-called democratic dictators doing stupid things in order to win the general support of the public. It included of singing a song, playing guitar, riding a horse, flying a helicopter, making paintings, taking a walk in the Public Park or swimming in a public swimming pool. Usually, such an act of a dictator is much highlighted in the public media so that maximum number of people should witness that their leader is a very gifted and handy person and they should never think of replacing him with an idiot who is going to be selected by their votes but who is not going to be so much charismatic and skillful.
One might think that such stupid acts are soon realized and they rather harm the public image of the dictators but it is not the case with the majority of public. Only the small and educated minority of a country can understand these tricky acts but as far as the illiterate majority is concerned, they are very much moved by such acts and they develop very positive ideas about their leader.
On the other hand, some of the dictators always look for a chance to show to their people that they are brave and would risk their lives for the protection of their masses. The president of North has just grabbed this golden opportunity and he is not wasting a single moment to cash it efficiently. Let’s pray that his quest for the popularity should not cost the world a lot.