Bet Kim Hyung Jik Didn't Foresee This

Kim Hyung Jik, father of Kim Il Sung, good revolutionary and all-around believer in the Mankyungdae Line, or so it is said. But also a man who has thrust the Chosun Workers' Party propaganda wonks into a bit of a bind with his most unperspicacious 1918 declaration that North Korea would thrive in the third generation, meaning that of Kim Jong Il;

What is awakened in the father's generation, is implemented in the son's generation, and thrives in the grandson's generation.

Or, in the words of Kim Jong Il;

From early on, teacher Kim Hyong Jik laid out a far-reaching ideology, and he created a song called 'the Green Pine-tree on Mt. Nam,' which conveyed the idea that revolution should be undertaken by every generation in succession. The Great Leader inherited and improved the ideology, and paved the new path of our revolution. And the teaching was ultimately fulfilled by me.

To be fair, there is every chance that he didn't say that, but I do like to imagine the unabridged chutzpah that would be needed to have done so.

Anyhow, the rub now is that the pinnacle of this musing has theoretically been arrived at in the form of Kim Jong Il, the third generation. In which case, what is left? Well, apparently, "망하다", according to the original Korean of a whispered postscript to this so-called "Kim Hyung Jik prophecy" which is apparently doing the rounds in North Korea.

This, I believe, is a word which can most accurately be translated as "fucking it all up royally".

Therefore, The Daily NK's source tells us that North Korean people are pointing out to each other, I hope with a wry smile, that "이제 조선은 증손자 세대를 남겨두고 있으니 망하는 일만 남았다", which, employing my uniquely evocative translation, means that the people of North Korea are saying, "Well, since we are now down to the great-grandson's generation, only fucking it all up royally remains."

It's certainly a possibility.