Beginning in December, North Korea’s Party-run newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, has been publishing a series
of images of former leader Kim Jong Il on its second page, drumming up an
atmosphere of remembrance ahead of the third anniversary since his death,
Following this trend, for the remaining days [until December 17th], the paper is expected to decorate its pages with such images at least every other day.
Last month, the daily began publishing
articles and essays on the deceased leader to underscore his past achievements,
but his images and activities were not put on full display. The recent
publishing trend of filling up full pages with multiple images is a first since his
passing.
On December 1st, the paper plastered eleven
images and photos of the leader across page two under the title, “The great leader of people who opened a new era of Juche
revolutionary achievements.”
 ▲ Rodong Sinmun published an image of Kim Jong Il with Kim Il Sung at Mangyongdae back in 1972. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
The photos contain images of Kim Jong Il
chatting with university students from Kim Il Sung University, and offering
field guidance at the Three Revolutions Exhibition, and at the construction
sites of the Wangjaesan Revolutionary Historical Site and the Samjiyon Grand
Monument.
In the December 3rd issue, the daily
printed images again on page two, mostly from the time Kim Jong Il started
making appearances by Kim Il Sung’s side as his heir.
The images were published under the headline, “He was
together with our father Suryeong on the path for the nation and people.” This series is seen as a move to promote his image as a loyal
successor to Kim Il Sung.
The photographs from this day include
providing guidance at military drills, and making onsite visits to the Juche Tower,
Mangyongdae Wading Pool, and the construction site of the west sea flood gates.
Also included is an image of Kim Jong Il riding on the special “No. 1 train” with his father while carrying out an onsite visit.
 ▲ Rodong Sinmun published 11 images of Kim Jong Il accompanying Kim Il Sung on ‘field guidance’ trips, Dec. 3rd. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
The following day on the 4th, Rodong Sinmun
decorated its second page with photos related to Kim’s
Party activities under the title “Great Comrade Kim
Jong Il is forever the General Secretary of the Chosun Workers’ Party.” The paper featured eleven photos of
Kim this day, including those from his speech at the 3rd Conference of
Ideological Officials of the Chosun Workers’ Party, and his induction as a standing committee member of the Political
Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chosun Workers’
Party.
Rodong Sinmun has been complimenting these photos spreads with editorials of remembrance on its third page, under titles such as, ‘Building the Party into a team of advance guards that win all
battles with one spirit.” The stories lay out how Kim
Jong Il dedicated his life legacy to strengthening the Party while emphasizing
that “the General is the eternal General Secretary of
our Party.”
In light of this continuation of Kim Jong Il remembrance propaganda , a senior North Korean defector told the Daily NK, “It’s all to promote the idea that Kim Jong Il had the perfect
leadership for ruling the Party and used that to govern the Party as the
General Secretary.”
 ▲ Images of Kim Jong Il in public published by Rodong Sinmun Image: Rodong Sinmun |
Furthermore, over the course of three days, the paper introduced images of different eras in Kim Jong Il’s life, starting with when he first began accompanying Kim Il Sung,
to later when he had full control over the Party.
With roughly ten days remaining until the
third anniversary, more images and stories are likely to be published on Kim
Jong Il’s songun [military first] politics, visits to military bases,
and activities in the economic, cultural, and
social sectors to crank up the sentiment of commemoration and mourning.
“It’s very unusual
for the Rodong Sinmun to be plastering its pages with images of Kim Jong Il
when an official period of mourning has not even been declared,” the defector went on to point out. “Since Kim Jong Eun is
still young as a leader and not quite mature with his political leadership, it
appears that he is trying to use his predecessors and focus heavily on
remembrance of what they did.”
He noted that this is likely to have much of an effect. “Even if they do this, most residents won’t care much,” the source said. “All they’ll want, since it’s so cold, is to
get by without having to be mobilized for special events.”
