The Rodong Sinmun newspaper published a photo of Kim Jong Un's portrait juxtaposed with those of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in a report on May 22 saying that the North Korean leader had attended a ceremony to dedicate the Central Cadres Training School on May 21, 2024. (Rodong Sinmun, News1)

North Koreans have mixed feelings about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s portrait appearing alongside his predecessors, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, Daily NK has learned.

Rodong Sinmun reported on May 22 that Kim had attended the opening ceremony of the Central Cadres Training School of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang’s Kumsusan district the previous day.

The report included several photographs, one of which showed portraits of the three Kims hanging on the facade of the revolutionary museum on the campus of the training school. In another photo of Kim ordering officials to do one thing or another, the three portraits were hanging above the blackboard in the classroom.

This was the first confirmation of the youngest Kim’s portrait hanging alongside his predecessors.

Immediately after the Rodong Sinmun report, a North Korean official with whom Daily NK is in contact said that it was “something that had to happen at some point” and that “it is natural that this measure was taken.” The official found nothing embarrassing or odd about Kim’s portrait hanging alongside his predecessors.

Another official said that the only thing preventing the hanging of Kim’s portrait so far was Kim himself. “People welcome the strengthening of the party’s leadership,” he said.

Asked why Kim had held off putting up his portrait until now, the official said it had “something to do with his age.” That is, he was aware that, given the prevalence of old-fashioned thinking in North Korea, people would have looked askance at hanging the portrait of a young leader in his 30s alongside those of the country’s previous leaders.

But few officials would now object to Kim’s portrait because he is past his 30s, people recognize his leadership, and his regime has stabilized, the official said.

On the other hand, ordinary people were “startled” to see Kim’s portrait hanging alongside his predecessors.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Pyongan Province said that “everyone was surprised when they saw the newspaper” and that some people even said that “they used to say there was only one Suryong [Supreme Leader], but suddenly there are three.”

The source added that many ordinary people who are not connected to government agencies such as party organizations and residents of border regions who have access to outside information dislike the idolization of Kim and the hereditary succession of power in the country.

In a related development, the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea prepared study materials based on Kim’s speech at the opening ceremony of the Central Cadres Training School. The materials were sent to party schools across the country, which were instructed to hold lectures on them.

According to the source, a lecture was held at a party school in North Pyongan Province on May 23. The lecturer stressed that since the Central Cadres Training School was the first to hang a portrait of the Supreme Leader, “all provincial, city and county party schools must loyally participate in efforts to honor his portrait from now on.”

In light of this, Kim’s portrait is likely to appear more and more in local party schools.

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