Kim To-man was a faction member of the Kapsan Faction, and the Director of the

Propaganda and Agitation Department The Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD, ), officially translated as the Publicity and Information Department, is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with coordinating the creation and dissemina ...

(PAD) of North Korea, but removed from office by

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

Career

Kim To-man was a faction member of the Kapsan Faction, whose ringleader,

Pak Kum-chol Pak Kum-chol ( ko, 박금철; 1911 – May 1967) was a North Korean politician. Having been a guerrilla during the anti-Japanese struggle, he became a high-ranking politician after the liberation of Korea. Pak aligned himself with his former g ...

sought to introduce economic reforms, challenge

Kim Il-sung's cult of personality The North Korean cult of personality surrounding its ruling family, the Kim family, has existed in North Korea for decades and can be found in many examples of North Korean culture. Although not acknowledged by the North Korean government, many ...

, and appoint himself as Kim Il-sung's successor. Without Kim Il-sung's approval, Kim produced work called ''

An Act of Sincerity An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian an ...

'' – described variously as either a film or a stage play – that honored the feats of Pak and his wife as members of the Kapsan Operation Committee and the life of Pak. Kim also had Pak's birthplace rebuilt. Kim, was a key supporter of

Kim Yong-ju Kim Yong-ju (; 1920 – 14 December 2021) was a North Korean politician and the younger brother of Kim Il-sung, who ruled North Korea from 1948 to 1994. Under his brother's rule, Kim Yong-ju held key posts including Politburo member in the Work ...

, the younger brother of Kim Il-sung, who fought with

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

over being heir apparent. Kim Yong-ju, having studied in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, supported a more classical view of

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

and was not fond of the extensive

personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

built around his brother.Hwang Jang Yop's Memoirs (2006) Since Kim had published ''An Act of Sincerity'', Kim was forced to leave his office as director of the

. Kim Jong-il probably helped in Kim To-man's purge. After this and related purges, the PAD shaped the societal landscape of North Korea to allow Kim Il-sung to cement his rule and become the supreme leader of North Korea.

References

Works cited

* * * * Purges in North Korea History of the Workers' Party of Korea {{NorthKorea-politician-stub