Early life and education Edit

Hwang was born in Kangdong, South Pyongan Province. He graduated from the Pyongyang Commercial School in 1941, and then went to Tokyo in 1942 to attend Chuo University's law school; however, he quit two years later and returned to Pyongyang, where he taught mathematics at his alma mater. He joined the Workers Party of Korea in 1946, soon after its founding; from 1949 to 1953, he was sent to study at Moscow University in the Soviet Union, where he met his wife Pak Sung-ok. Upon his return to North Korea, he became head lecturer in philosophy at Kim Il-sung University. He would later ascend to the presidency of that university in April 1965.

Career Edit

Sometime in the late 1950s, Hwang discovered a 1955 speech in which Kim Il-sung said, "Juche means Chosun's revolution" (Chosun being the traditional name for Korea). At the time, Kim wanted to develop his own version of Marxism-Leninism, and Hwang was largely responsible for developing what became known as "the Juche Idea." As part of this, he helped scrub all of the paeans to Joseph Stalin that had been typical of Kim's speeches in the 1940s and early 1950s. He also supervised the rewriting of Korean Communist history to make it look like Kim had been the founder and leader of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea from its inception.[2] In 1972, Hwang became Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, a position which he would hold for 11 years.[3] In 1983, however, he was removed from the Assembly and his standing deteriorated; though he had been Kim Jong-il's teacher at Kim Il-sung University, Kim now spoke to him only to criticize him, specifically admonishing him for taking too close an interest in China's capitalist reforms.[4] Remarking on his role as advisor to Kim Jong-il, Hwang stated: "When I proposed something, he would pretend to listen at first, but in the end, he would never listen."[5]

Defection Edit

Death Edit

Hwang was found dead in his home in Seoul, South Korea, on the morning of 10 October 2010. Initial reports stated that he died of a heart attack.[1] He died while bathing, and as such a large amount of water entered his lungs; however, an autopsy found no poison or drugs in his body, and footage from surveillance cameras showed no signs of forcible entry. On those grounds, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) stated that there was no evidence that his death might be murder and that they would close their investigation. On 20 October, just shortly after Hwang's death, the SMPA announced that it had arrested another would-be assassin of Hwang, Ri Dong-sam, who had also entered South Korea posing as a North Korean defector; however, the charges had no connection to Hwang's death.[18]

Bibliography Edit

Hwang published 20 books after his defection to South Korea:[19] Hwang Jang Jop (1999). I Saw the Truth of the History . Hanul Books.

— (2001). Sunshine Siding with Darkness Cannot Beat Darkness . Monthly Chosun.

— (2002). World Democratization and the Last War of Human Beings . The Zeitgeist.

— (2002). National Life More Precious than Individual’s Life . The Zeitgeist.

— (2003). Several Matters about the Human-centered Philosophy . The Zeitgeist.

— (2005). Democratic Political Philosophy . The Zeitgeist.

— (2006). The Truth and Deceit of North Korea . The Zeitgeist.

— (2006). Dialectical Strategy and Tactics Theory . The Zeitgeist.

— (2006). Hwang Jang Yop's Memoirs . The Zeitgeist.

— (2007). Philosophy for Youths . The Zeitgeist.

— (2008). Human-centered Philosophy Principles . The Zeitgeist.

— (2008). North Korean Democratization and Democratic Strategy . The Zeitgeist.

— (2009). Dialectics and Dialectic Strategy and Tactics . The Zeitgeist.

— (2009). Democracy and Communism . The Zeitgeist.

— (2010). Logic . The Zeitgeist.

— (2010). Human-centered Philosophy – Outlook on the World . The Zeitgeist.

— (2010). Human-centered Philosophy – Outlook on History . The Zeitgeist.

— (2010). Human-centered Philosophy – Outlook on Life. The Zeitgeist.