North Korean officials wore pins with a portrait of Kim Jong-un in public for the first time in pictures released by state media yesterday, the latest step in the development of a cult of personality around the leader, as Pyongyang denounced joint military drills by South Korea, Japan and the US, calling them an “Asian version of NATO” and warning of “fatal consequences.”
The officials, speaking at a key meeting of the reclusive state’s ruling party chaired by Kim, wore the typical party logo pin on the right lapel and, on the left chest, the pin with Kim’s face against a flag-shaped red background.
The 10th Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which reviews the party’s performance for the first half of the year, began on Friday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Photo: Korean Central News Agency via Reuters
The Kim dynasty that has ruled North Korea since its founding after World War II has sought to strengthen its grip on power by building cults of personality around itself.
In an apparent push to solidify Kim’s status as a leader equal to his father and grandfather, North Korean media published photographs showing his portrait hanging prominently next to those of Kim Jong-il and national patriarch Kim Il-sung earlier this year.
In April, the music video for a propaganda song praising Kim Jong-un as a “friendly father” and a “great leader” was aired on the state-controlled Korean Central Television.
Meanwhile, Pyongyang yesterday denounced military drills by South Korea, Japan and the US, a day after the allies wrapped up the Freedom Edge exercises in ballistic missile and air defenses, anti-submarine warfare and defensive cybertraining.
US, South Korean and Japanese leaders at a trilateral summit last year agreed to conduct annual drills as a sign of unity in the face of North Korea’s nuclear threats and China’s rising regional influence.
“We strongly denounce ... provocative military muscle-flexing against the DPRK,” the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by KCNA, referring to the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The US-Japan-ROK [Republic of Korea] relations have taken on the full-fledged appearance of an Asian-version NATO,” it said, warning of “fatal consequences.”
“The DPRK will never overlook the moves of the US and its followers to strengthen the military bloc,” it added.
The latest joint drills involved Washington’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Tokyo’s guided-missile destroyer the JS Atago and Seoul’s KF-16 fighter jet.
Seoul rejected Pyongyang’s accusations, saying that the exercises were a continuation of defensive drills held regularly for years among the three allies.
“It is absurd that North Korea, the primary source of tension on the Korean Peninsula, criticizes the Freedom Edge exercise by labeling it as an ‘Asian NATO,’” the South Korean Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.
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