--- title: How North Korea's Leaders Used a Common Tactic for Dictators description: As new PBS documentary series shows, common strands run throughout many of the worst dictatorial regimes. Here's where North Korea fits in. canonical: https://time.com/5494585/north-korea-dictator-history/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-08T21:00:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:19:25.708Z article:section: History og:title: How North Korea's Leaders Used a Common Tactic for Dictators og:description: And a few ways it doesn't og:url: https://time.com/5494585/north-korea-dictator-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cf552517ba143f6/698942b5ab6d77b2336b48fa/kim.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: The Prime Minister Of North Korea, Kim Il Sung On Official Visit In Beijing In 1958 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How North Korea's Leaders Used a Common Tactic for Dictators twitter:description: And a few ways it doesn't twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cf552517ba143f6/698942b5ab6d77b2336b48fa/kim.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Common Threads Run Through Many of History's Worst Dictatorships. Here's One Way North Korea Fits In > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=33f6a877-320d-4c55-9d24-067f7bd06ad7&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=33f6a877-320d-4c55-9d24-067f7bd06ad7&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Dictator's Playbook - Kim Il Sung [Watch (HLS stream): Dictator's Playbook - Kim Il Sung](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FFOoacu9.m3u8) (3:00)  _Published 2019-01-08. Exclusive clip from the documentary 'Dictator's Playbook'_  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jan 8, 2019 9:00 PM UTC Exclusive clip from the documentary 'Dictator's Playbook'  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jan 8, 2019 9:00 PM UTC By definition, dictatorial leaders wield immense power. But, as the history of 20th century authoritarianism shows, despite their power, dictators must take desperate steps to seize and hold their position. In pursuit of that goal, any would-be dictator has first had to figure out how to control the masses. But what comes next, says political scientist [Natasha Ezrow](https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/ezrow62508/natasha-ezrow), is how real authoritarian control is established. A society’s elites pose the most danger to the dictator, so how he deals with them can be a crucial decision. That commonality runs from the [founding](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mussolini-founds-the-fascist-party) of the Fascist Party in 1919 to today. And it’s no coincidence that dictatorial regimes share similarities, Ezrow tells TIME. Dictators in history have often communicated with one another, and will look to others for examples of what to do and not to do. The new PBS documentary series [_The Dictator’s Playbook_](https://www.pbs.org/show/dictators-playbook/), which premieres Wednesday with an episode about North Korea, looks at the common strands that run throughout many of the most notorious dictatorial regimes. And as this clip from that episode shows, that shared set of problems often leads to a shared carrot-and-stick response. As Ezrow explains, the first half involves pleasing the masses by giving them things, so the people come to feel as if they rely on the dictatorship. For Kim Il Sung, who [ruled North Korea from 1948 to 1994](http://time.com/4681304/north-korea-kim-family-album/), that step included land reform that gave free farmland to peasants who had previously lived under a feudal system and then Japanese occupation. Approximately 2.4 million acres went to hundred of thousands of farmers in a move that quickly proved popular, as the majority of the population was directly benefiting from the regime. Another move undertaken to control the masses was reeducation. “In order to prevent themselves from having to basically kill everybody, one of the tools of their regime would be to invest in their educational system to indoctrinate people about how good the regime is,” Ezrow says. And such education can really work: studies in Eastern Europe and Latin America, she says, have shown that indoctrination can be so effective as to make people in previously repressive societies essentially forget the repression and look back fondly on dictatorial regimes. But the political and military elites have more to gain from a revolution, would have an easier time coordinating one and are starting with more power. So, typically, one of the first things a dictator does upon rising to power is to purge the elites who disagree with him — the “stick” half of the process. After that, the dictator will offer perks to those who remain; for example, in North Korea, Kim took steps such as sending potential rivals out of the country, and giving those who were loyal access to western luxury goods. “Elites in North Korea live large and they know that an alternative system wouldn’t benefit them as much,” Ezrow says — and when the elites are happy, it’s that much harder for any popular revolt to stand a chance. With these steps, Kim was able to establish a dictatorship that lasts to this day. But, even though North Korea’s leaders have followed the “playbook” for dictators, the nation is unusual even within that ignominious club. For example, North Korea is an anomaly in terms of how little the regime offers the masses beyond participation in a cult of personality. Regimes that offer little else haven’t tended to endure, Ezrow says. North Korea’s regime is also unusual in that it’s a dynastic, father-to-son dictatorship — one passed from Kim Il Sung to Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un. North Korea, Ezrow says, also goes “above and beyond” when it comes to indoctrination. Since the regime’s founding, its leaders have wanted not just a people happy to look the other way, but a full religion of subservience. It’s a style of rule that, Ezrow argues, is unusual for today’s world. Generally, thanks in part to the Internet, old methods of control are harder to implement. In North Korea, however, that control has hardly cracked. “We don’t use the term totalitarian often today — meaning complete, total obedience and control,” Ezrow says. “North Korea is rare in that.” ## Transcript [00:00] Kim turns to a tactic familiar to many would be [00:03] dictators. [ MUSIC ] [00:10] When dictators first take power they often to get [00:13] consent by appealing to as many people as possible, [00:17] trying to please the masses. Trying to ensure that they [00:21] are loyal to them, they wouldn't want to incite some [00:25] sort of revolution. [ MUSIC ] [00:30] The first way is that they try to provide the public with [00:34] some kind of good and service. Like access [00:38] to education, access to water, electricity. They [00:42] may make gas much cheaper. They may be lowering [00:46] taxes. They want to ensure that the masses feel [00:50] that there's a need for this dictatorship. To [00:55] win his people over. Kim makes a dramatic offer. Kim [01:00] Il Sung announced a land reform. Peasants were given [01:04] land free. They got three [ UNKNOWN ], which is [01:08] a fairly small farm, but one that would sustain a family. [01:11] [ MUSIC ] [01:13] For the first time in centuries, farmers can call the land [01:17] their own. Giving them control over their land, giving [01:21] them a sense of ownership again, after hundreds of [01:25] year of futile rule and then these brutal 35 years of [01:28] Japanese occupation, gave the Koreans a sense of [01:31] pride and a vision of a [01:36] new Korea [ MUSIC ] [01:40] Kim gives 2. 4 million acres of land to more than 700 [01:43] thousand farmers and their families. And [01:48] that's a huge boost to Kim's popularity. Now [01:52] you have 70 % of the Korean population, which has [01:56] directly materially benefited from the policies of any [01:58] regime. So that was a very effective tool of [02:02] getting popular concern for Kim. [ MUSIC ] But [02:09] Kim still needs concern from a group even more [02:12] important than the masses. Elites [02:16] are the biggest threat to any dictator. They have to [02:19] make sure that this elite group is unified and incredibly [02:23] loyal. If they can't do that, they are at risk of being [02:27] overthrown. After using the carrot with the [02:31] masses, Kim uses the stick with the elite. High ranking [02:35] communists and other rivals he doesn't trust. Kim [02:40] was very shrude in dealing with his enemies. He sent [02:44] them to South Korea. People who would serve the [02:46] Japanese military officers, other Korean communists All [02:51] potential rivals. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5494585/north-korea-dictator-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5494585/north-korea-dictator-history/"},"headline":"Common Threads Run Through Many of History's Worst Dictatorships. 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