With the Century

In a ruined country neither the land nor the people can remain at peace. ... A man who perceives this truth before others is called a forerunner; he who struggles against difficulties to save his country from tragedy is called a patriot; and he who sets fire to himself to demonstrate the truth and overthrows the injust society by rousing the people to action is called a revolutionary.

Reminiscences: With the Century (Korean: 세기와 더불어) is the autobiography of Kim Il Sung, founder and former president of North Korea. The memoirs, written in 1992 and published in eight volumes, retell Kim's life story through his childhood to the time of Korean resistance. Initially, a total of 30 volumes were planned but Kim Il Sung died in 1994 after just six volumes; the seventh and eight volumes were published posthumously. The work reveals early influences of religious and literary ideas on Kim's thinking. An important part of North Korean literature, With the Century is held as an intriguing if unreliable insight into the nation's modern history under late colonial Korea. The book is considered one of a few North Korean primary sources widely available in the West and as notable research material for North Korean studies.

Authorship of With the Century is disputed, with some claiming that it was written by professional writers instead of Kim Il Sung himself.

Until the 1960s, Kim Il Sung had encouraged his fellow revolutionaries to publish their memoirs, and generals such as Ŭlchi Mundŏk, Kang Kam-ch'an and Yi Sun-sin were featured in North Korean history books. Kim Il Sung's son and future successor Kim Jong Il, however, called back such biographies and sought to reinforce Kim Il Sung's cult of personality by controlling the works that made reference to him. In this regard, With the Century effectively replaced another work, Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese Guerillas, as one of the most important propaganda pieces.

In 1974, Kim announced that he would write his memoirs. According to Kim himself, before that he had spared little thought about writing his memoirs. When Kim Jong Il assumed the office of Secretary for Organizational Affairs, Kim Il Sung was allowed more time to focus on his writing. Kim also describes being encouraged to write his memoirs by literary people and foreign statesmen. With the Century was written in 1992 when Kim was in his 80s, two years prior to his death. Initially the memoirs were supposed to span 90 chapters in 30 volumes comprising five parts: "The Anti-Japanese Revolution", "People's Country", "Along the Road of Socialism", "The Nation's Desire", and "Turning Point of Century". However, only the first six volumes of part one, "The Anti-Japanese Revolution", were completed before Kim's death and two additional volumes were published posthumously.

The memoirs suggest that Kim Il Sung was influenced by communism, Christianity, Confucianism, Cheondoism and wide range of other traditions. Kim Il Sung was born to a Presbyterian family, even though he downplays their devotion in his memoirs. The anti-foreign pro-independence Donghak Movement, founded by a Korean scholar Choe Je-u and influenced by Catholic missionaries, is one of the fascinations of his youth that Kim Il Sung treats at length in the memoirs. The Donghak rebellion served as a model for other contemporary Korean movements combining religion with nationalism. Kim Il Sung describes being intrigued by the native Korean Cheondoism movement that evolved from the Donghak rebellion. Cheondoism believes in the idea that all men are equal and bear the spirit of heaven in themselves.

The memoirs disclose that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member and author Sang Wol (Shang Yue) was Kim Il Sung's teacher in literary matters at private Yuwen Middle School in 1928, where Sang Wol taught for six months. This was young Kim's most decisive and the only formal educational influence on his background with both literature and esthetics. Sang Wol introduced Kim Il Sung to the classics of Chinese, and Russian literature such as Maxim Gorky's Mother and Enemies. Sang Wol encouraged Kim to become a 'proletarian writer'. Outside of school, Kim Il Sung also came into contact with Joseph Stalin's writings.

The memoirs reveal the impact of Kim Il Sung's knowledge of religion and scholarship of literary classics and art on the theory of Juche. Juche ideology has been interpreted as being similar to Cheondoism, as both think that people are the masters of their own fates. Despite the various early religious influences, Kim Il Sung frowned upon the practice of religion, and instead demanded near-religious loyalty and adherence to the militaristic rules that are part of living in North Korea. In the preface of With the Century, Kim writes: "'The people are my God' has been my constant view and motto. The principle of Juche, which calls for drawing on the strength of the masses who are the masters of the revolution and construction, is my political creed."