토픽모델링으로 본 북한 3대 지도자의 정당성 주장 분석 = A Research on North Korean Leaders’ Legitimacy Claims by Topicmodeling

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

It is unusual for North Korea, a closed personalist dictatorship, to preserve power and regime through hereditary succession. North Korea has survived in the midst of the global democratization movements and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. It endured a substantial economic and human security threat posed by the Great Famine in the mid-1990s and is withstanding economic sanctions imposed by the international community. The narrative of three North Korean rulers (Kim’s Family) is beyond conveying personal thoughts; it has been serving as the tool for legitimacy claim to legitimize the governing power and the regime. This study utilizes LDA Topic-modeling on 2,062 speeches, orations, statements, and letters addressed by the three rulers of North Korea from 1930 to early 2019 to provide time series analysis on how the seven sources of North Korean regime legitimacy have changed over the period and further contributed to the regime survival. I categorize the seven sources of legitimacy claim that North Korean rulers have been relying on, namely, (1) National Foundation Medal, (2) ruling ideology, (3) nationalism, (4) personalism, (5) performance, (6) international engagement, and (7) formal institution. As the regime went through hereditary succession, fewer sources of legitimacy claim became available for the successor. Therefore the reliance on the founding father Kim Il-sung became stronger through hereditary succession.