The N. Korean leader seems to be stamping his authority on his family's legacy. FMTNews KimJongUn
People bow in front of the bronze statues of late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang yesterday.
North Koreans are taught from birth to revere Kim Il-sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader, and all adults wear badges depicting one or both men. Since inheriting power in 2011, Kim has always gone to the sprawling mausoleum on the outskirts of the capital on their birth anniversaries.
“And he wants to gradually tone down the idolisation of the two late leaders as it goes against his agenda to brand the North as a ‘normal state’.”The ruling party’s claim to legitimacy has its roots in Kim Il-sung’s fight against Korea’s Japanese colonisers and for years the North’s official propaganda has promoted Kim Jong-un’s resemblance to his grandfather, in appearance, manner, and even handwriting.
Kim has presided over four of the North’s six nuclear tests and overseen a rapid advance in its weapons technology, developing missiles capable of reaching the entire US mainland.Since 2018, he has taken part in a series of summits with US President Donald Trump and the South’s leader Moon Jae-in, although talks with Washington are currently deadlocked.
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