North Korea’s dictator on his knees: a new photo shows Kim Jong-un in an unusual pose. Is he just mourning – or is there more to it than an expert suspects?
Munich – Kim Jong-un loves to put himself in the limelight. That has North Korea Head of state shared with most other dictators. He prefers to show himself together with the country’s military – with the “common soldiers”, with high-ranking generals, and also very much with the latest achievements of the North Korean arms industry. Most recently, Kim was also regularly seen accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju-ae – experts are already speculating whether the young woman, who is around 20 years old, should be positioned as a possible successor.
In a very special series of photos you could Kim Jong Un a few years ago even on horseback – the dictator rode through snowy North Korean landscapes on a white horse in winter 2019. What often causes malice in the West follows a carefully thought-out plan: through the careful staging of such recordings, Kim wants to present himself as a statesman who is determined to do anything and who selflessly cares for his people, sometimes as a father who faithfully cares for his wife and children.
Kim Jong-un on her knees: ‘First time state media has shown this’
Sometimes Kim even has scenes from his country’s recent history re-enacted. You can see him kneeling in front of a campfire in the woods, surrounded by soldiers – his grandfather, North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung, had his grandfather, North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung, circulate similar photos. The message: Kim Jong-un, who also looks amazingly similar to his grandfather, is the legitimate successor in North Korea’s hereditary dictatorship.
Now, however, Pyongyang’s state media has published a handful of photos that Korea expert Fyodor Tertitskiy from Kookmin University in Seoul calls an “unprecedented act”: The photos show Kim Jong-un standing in front of the tombstone of the high-ranking man who died a year ago Military Hyon Chol-hae gets on his knees. “It appears to be the first time the state media has shown the Supreme Leader kneeling in front of something or someone,” Tertitskiy writes in a post for the site NK News. Kim was similarly emotional only at the funeral of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011, when he cried goodbye to North Korea’s longtime dictator.
What motives does Kim Jong-un pursue with the photo?
As a teenager, Hyon Chol-hae, born in 1934, was one of the bodyguards of state founder Kim Il-sung during the Korean War and became friends with his son, who was about seven years his junior Kim Jong Il at. In the decades that followed, he made an unprecedented career in the country’s military apparatus, always working closely with the ruling family. Shortly before his death, Hyon was promoted to Marshal of the Korean People’s Army – “the highest military rank after the leader himself,” according to analyst Tertitskiy. Hyon is said to have been responsible for the military training of dictator Kim Jong-un.
According to Tertitskiy, the fact that Kim is now paying homage to his former mentor in such a symbolic way could not only have personal, but also very pragmatic reasons: Kim may want to present himself as someone who is continuing the legacy of the first generation of North Korean revolutionaries, according to the analyst.
North Korea is arming itself massively
In order to ensure that he and his family remain in power, Kim also resorts to much more tangible means than mere propaganda: he is massively armed. Since taking power in 2011, Kim has conducted four nuclear tests, and another could follow at any time. In addition, Kim has already ordered more than 220 missile tests, most recently North Korea’s military tested a solid-fuel ICBM for the first time – a clear violation of UN resolutions. Only on Sunday did Chancellor Olaf Scholz demand an end to the Kim regime’s nuclear and missile tests during a visit to the border between South and North Korea. “These ballistic tests have to stop. The attempt to nuclear strengthen itself must stop. This is a threat to peace and security in the region.” At their meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, the G7 had already called on the country to completely renounce nuclear weapons.
Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the country has remained largely isolated from other countries. The consequences are supply bottlenecks for essential goods such as food and fuel. Western media reports that North Korea closed its border on June 10th China wants to open, have not yet been officially confirmed.
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