A North Korean soldier clad in a super-tight blue outfit in a state media photograph has generated a buzz on social media, with some calling him “a superhero,” “rocket man” or “Captain DPRK,” referring to the north’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He was among nearly 30 soldiers who posed for a photo with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during an exhibition of weapons systems on Monday.
North Korea published photos of the event the following day. Soldiers in the photo mostly wear olive green uniforms, the most common color for North Korean military uniforms. Only two of them wear different colors — the one in the blue outfit and the other in a navy-blue uniform, which is not that unusual. Kim wore a dark suit.
Photo: AFP / KCNA VIA KNS
Some Twitter users in South Korea, the US and elsewhere joked about his appearance, saying he looks like a “human cannon ball,” or the North Korean equivalent of Captain America.
Others called him a member of the (non-existent) North Korean space forces.
North Korean state media did not identify the man, but Jeffrey Lewis, an expert at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, wrote on Twitter that “it seems he’s the parachutist.”
Other North Korean photos showed Kim watching a group of jets flying in a formation during an air show ahead of the exhibition.
The official Korean Central News Agency said a “top notch parachutist showed landing skills” before the exhibition’s opening.
Photos of an earlier air show in North Korea showed parachutists wearing similar outfits.
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