54 The process through which the ruling class was established and structuralized in North Korea shows an irrational and patrimonial character. First of all, let us concentrate on the aspect of how historical experiences were politically instrumentalized. Experiences of colonialism, the Korean War, and of the country’s division have provided the pretext and environment in which political hegemony could be seized through a rule of differentiation between those who are ‘with us’ and those who are ‘against us’. Its materialization in North Korea was representatively effected through a ‘classificatory system based on origin and status’, that is on the basis of ‘familial origin’. Furthermore, the examination of every citizen with regard to their ‘inclination for revolution’ or ‘inclination to the party’ is also a product of such politicization of historical experiences. Thus, the unequal origin and class categorization as well as the ‘social stigmatization’ resulting from an arbitrary assessment of one’s proclivity towards revolution and the party were justified on the basis of morally vested rights in the name of a revolutionary tradition. In addition, education has been used as an instrument to reproduce the political structure of domination. Certainly, the fact that education serves as a means to reproduce the ruling class can be used very persuasively to explain capitalist society; however, education has operated as an important hereditary system to reproduce the ruling class in North Korea as well. The only difference is that in capitalist societies the tendency to reproduce the dominant class centres on the level of ownership with regard to material wealth, while in North Korean society political capital, in other words privileges, have operated as the key criterion. Political capital signifies political status and authority through a mechanism that rewards loyalty to the ‘Suryeong’ and to the party. Although in North Korea this reward of loyalty can be considered a direct source for the acquisition of political capital, more specifically, a lineage with an ‘outstanding’ inclination to the party and the revolution or being a member of a family ‘of high origin’ are also important criteria. The structure of loyalty rewards thus is not the result of a condition in which everyone is given equal opportunities. Instead, the chance of having one’s loyalty rewarded is in itself hierarchized through origin and class categorization. If we consider the so-called