Kim cannot bend time and space, admits North Korea
Our Foreign Staff
THE official newspaper of North Korea has admitted that the regime’s leaders can not magically bend time and space, putting to bed a long tradition used to idolise the mystical powers of Kim Jong-un and former leader Kim Jong-il.
In the latest sign that the secretive regime is turning away from mythmaking about its leaders, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper this week denied that the Kim family are masters of “chukjibeop” – a method of folding space and travelling great distances in a short period of time.
The newspaper, the organ of the North’s ruling party, said: “In realistic terms, a person cannot suddenly disappear and reappear by folding space.”
Since Kim Jong-un failed to reach an agreement in a second summit with Donald Trump, the United States president, in Hanoi last year, he has focused on showing more of his “human” side.
“Mystifying a leader’s revolutionary activity and appearance would result in covering the truth,” Kim was quoted as saying in state media after the breakdown of negotiations with the US.
Earlier this month, Kim made his first appearance in public for 20 days following rumours about his health.
In April, he even missed the most important date on North Korea’s annual calendar – the birthday of his grandfather and founder of the North Korean state, Kim Il-sung.
At the time, analysts suggested it was part of a deliberate move to modernise the international image of North Korea.
Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector and researcher in Seoul, told AFP: “Kim Jong-un wants to break away from the past, as well as the North’s traditional cult of personality.”