Indoctrination and global exile keep a tight grip on power
rapidly creating his own generational chapter of family mythology through tales of his own benevolence and superhuman feats.
According to some of the most outlandish claims, he learned to drive at age three and became a competitive sailor at nine. Last year, state-run media reported his ability to change the weather as he ascended the country’s sacred Mount Paektu through snow in shoes.
In a drip feed of carefully controlled state-published images, Kim is frequently photographed imparting his wisdom to officials scribbling in notebooks or to emotionally overcome workers.
On visits around Pyongyang last week The Sunday Telegraph learnt of his “expert instructions” on the design of the natural history museum and on how to improve football boots. At the maternity hospital, Mun Chang-un, a guide, attributed the introduction of the epidural injection to the leader’s advice.
The sculpting of future generations to ensure their unwavering faith is a top priority for the regime.
In Changgwang, 800 children living apart from their working parents sing of their wish for Kim Jong-un to visit. One boy sprang from his seat. “I will uphold highly the great, respected Kim Jong-un,” he said to joyful clapping from his classmates.
At the school’s entrance, a floor-toceiling painting of Kim Il-sung surrounded by children, some sitting on his lap, frames him as a modern- day Jesus. North Korea claims to be a non-religious state, but it has simply replaced religion with Kim family worship.
The absence of Kim Jong-un portraits is noticeable, although he is still officially idolised. He could be taking things slowly while moulding his own cult-like image around that of his grandfather, the most popular of the Kims, suggested Robert Kelly, a politicalscience professor at South Korea’s Busan university. “He is famously styling himself after Kim Il-sung, with the hair and the weight.” He added: “It seems like the propaganda apparatus didn’t really miss a beat. Kim Jong-un has been given all the relevant titles, he’s been given the same majesty and superstitious exaggeration.”
Objects Kim once touched are revered – a hospital bed he sat on, a chair he used when addressing textile workers, now encased in a plastic box. At the Jangchon vegetable farm on the city’s periphery, deputy manager Kim Yong-ho, 53, spoke of his joy when the “Great Marshal” visited. “I felt really proud to have met such a great man as the leader of our country! He is like the sun to us,” he said. Such is the depth of mass indoctrination that everyday