(1 Jul 2024)
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hong Kong - 1 July 2024
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1. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Wober, Associated Press Senior Videojournalist:
"North Korean officials have been spotted wearing lapel pins, or badges, showing the image of their current leader Kim Jong Un, possibly for the first time. This has attracted a lot of interest and speculation from outside observers of the socialist state. We do know that North Koreans have had to wear pins like this for decades. First of all, with Kim Il Sung, then his successor, Kim Jong Il. If these new pins show Kim Jong Un, does that mean anything about his power, his authority, or the way that North Koreans are expected to relate to their current leader? I think though, that there's so much that we don't know, it's best to take a step back. For example, North Koreans have always been loath to talk to outsiders about these pins - their different sizes and stylings, and whether different people wear different pins, with different kinds of authority. Also I think the iconography of Kim Jong Un is still very uncertain. Just recently, in May this year, he went to open a new party institute, and there we saw for the first time, a trio of portraits - him, plus Kim Jong Il, plus Kim Il Sung, on the walls. So it could be, potentially a big change, if Kim Jong Un's going to be on the pins. But we'll have to wait and see, it's too early to tell."
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STORYLINE:
For the first time, North Korean officials have been seen wearing lapel pins with the image of leader Kim Jong Un, another sign the North is boosting his personality cult to the level bestowed on his late dictator father and grandfather.
Associated Press senior videojournalis Raf Wober in Hong Kong lays out what the significance of the pins could be.
North Koreans are required to wear pins over their hearts which for decades bore images of either the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung, or his son Kim Jong Il, or both. The existence of pins dedicated to Kim Jong Un had not been verified until state media published photos on Sunday showing officials wearing his pins at a ruling Workers’ Party meeting.
The pins are part of a state-sponsored mythology surrounding the Kim family which treats Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il like gods. They are memorialized with numerous statues across North Korea, their birthdays are two of the country’s main holidays and their portraits are hung in all homes and offices.
Few question current leader Kim Jong Un's hold on power, but few images honoring the 40-year-old have been displayed in public since he took power in late 2011 upon his father's death. Recently, however, he has begun taking steps to boost his own personality cult while also trying to further move out of the shadow of his father's and grandfather's legacies.
In May, his portrait was publicly displayed along with those of the two other Kims for the first time at a Workers' Party-run training school. In January, Kim announced he will no longer pursue peaceful unification with South Korea, a decadeslong policy cherished by his father and grandfather.
Observers also say North Korea appears to be refraining from using terms like “the Day of Sun,” a reference to the April 15 birthday of Kim Il Sung.
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