{"id":30874,"date":"2015-06-03T16:34:17","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T07:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.dailynk.com\/en\/?p=30874"},"modified":"2020-01-17T09:26:28","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T00:26:28","slug":"kims-image-continues-to-tumble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim’s image continues to tumble"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the heels of minister of the People’s Armed Forces [MPAF] Hyon Yong Chol’s execution, sources within the country report
\na growing mistrust of Kim Jong Un’s political approach among many residents, who harbor more concerns than hopes for the fate of the country under the fledgling leader. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say that considering the fact that
\nKim had executed dozens of high-ranking officials within the few years since
\ncoming to power, \u2018there\u2019s no hope left.\u2019 Kim\u2019s popularity among citizens has
\nrapidly declined,\u201d a source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK through a
\nphone call on May 31st.<\/p>\n

As news of purges and executions continues
\nto circulate among residents not only in Pyongyang but to outside areas, people
\ntake the opportunity to criticize the leader among trusted family and friends.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s even worse than his father,\u201d is a particularly common comment among them,
\naccording to the source.<\/p>\n

As previously reported by Daily NK<\/font><\/a>, the North Korean authorities are trying to clamp down on any talk of Hyon Yong Chol’s execution to quash more rumors from bubbling to the surface and exploding across the population.<\/p>\n

Talk of the leader himself, however, persists on. \u201cIn a political lecture for citizens held
\nthis year, footage of Kim Jong Il declaring his son to be a successor \u201cten
\ntimes superior\u201d to himself was incorporated. Many have mocked this, saying, \u201cThis superior
\nfigure is purging officials left and right? Hope is lost on him,” she said.<\/p>\n

She added that residents once compared the Kim Jong Il to the unpredictable, spontaneous weather of Baekdu Mountain; now, however, they are revisiting the allegory to point out that \u201ca person ten times that character all but ensures a despondent
\npopulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A different source in North Pyongan Province confirmed these reports, adding that unlike the Kim Jong Il era, \u201cofficials in rural regions and Ministry of People\u2019s Security [MPS] agents are
\nfar more inclined to air grievances more publicly regarding the leadership. \u201cNot only residents but even Party cadres sneer when they see footage broadcast
\nidolizing the leader.” he said. “Many just say, ‘this sucks,’ and switch off the TV.”<\/p>\n

Similar sentiments are shared among the
\nstudent population, this source added, who mock classmates sporting hairstyles
\nsimilar to the leader, calling it a \u201cgangster\u201d cut, embodying Kim
\nJong Un\u2019s \u201ctemperamental ways.\u201d The source of the joke often fires back–again, sarcastically–\u201cHow dare you mock him?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

*The content of this article was broadcast to the North Korean people via Unification Media Group.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the heels of minister of the People’s Armed Forces [MPAF] Hyon Yong Chol’s execution, sources within the country report a growing mistrust of Kim Jong Un’s political approach among many residents, who harbor more concerns than hopes for the fate of the country under the fledgling leader.  \u201cPeople say that considering the fact that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":30876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\nKim's image continues to tumble - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kim's image continues to tumble\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the heels of minister of the People’s Armed Forces [MPAF] Hyon Yong Chol’s execution, sources within the country report a growing mistrust of Kim Jong Un’s political approach among many residents, who harbor more concerns than hopes for the fate of the country under the fledgling leader.  \u201cPeople say that considering the fact that […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-03T07:34:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-17T00:26:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/06\/DNKF00013240_List.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Choi Song Min\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Choi Song Min\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Choi Song Min\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6194f4cbdbd02b1cbb6947a316f9fcf9\"},\"headline\":\"Kim’s image continues to tumble\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-03T07:34:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-17T00:26:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":427,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/DNKF00013240_List.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/kims-image-continues-to-tumble\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kim's image continues to tumble - 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