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Mystery as Kim title, posters go
Officials have removed portraits from some public buildings
Thursday, November 18, 2004 Posted: 12:32 AM EST (0532 GMT)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Officials in North Korea have removed portraits of ruler Kim Jong Il from some public buildings, and its state-run media reportedly have dropped his honorific title "Dear Leader" in a dramatic curtailment of his personality cult.
But analysts speculated Thursday that Kim may have ordered the steps himself, and that they don't necessarily reflect an overhaul in the reclusive nation's leadership.
Some experts believe Kim is playing down the official adulation to remove himself as a target for public discontent in his impoverished country, which has clung to totalitarian rule for more than half a century.
Kim also has made erratic efforts to modernize North Korea's antiquated economy, and the changes could be part of a similar, if extremely limited, campaign in the political arena.
Foreign diplomats reported the removal of portraits of Kim this week, an unusual development because the dictator is the focus of an all-encompassing cult of personality that he inherited from his father and late national founder, Kim Il Sung.
Then Tokyo-based Radiopress, which monitors North Korean media, said the communist regime had toned down the titles it bestows on Kim, who is locked in a dispute with the United States and its allies over Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons.
Radiopress said the North's Korean Central News Agency and the Korean Central Broadcast referred to Kim not as "Dear Leader," but as "general secretary of the Worker's Party of Korea," or "chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army."
"We believe the change was made at his will to soften his image as a leader of a personality cult, although it is hard to determine what his real intentions are," said Radiopress editor Shinya Kato.
"But we do not believe it was a sign of coup or related to his loss of power."
North Korea is one of the most tightly controlled countries in the world, and defectors who have fled hunger and oppression there have spoken of systematic human rights abuses.
Still, Kim Jong Il has made periodic efforts to reach out to other countries, holding a 2000 summit with South Korea, visiting China and Russia and taking small steps toward reform of his devastated economy.
"Many North Korean defectors who fled the country recently are saying now it's quite easy to spot North Koreans criticizing their regime and Kim Jong Il in public," said Baek Seung Joo, chief of North Korean studies at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul.
"So these recent incidents surrounding his title and portraits in the official buildings may be an indication that Kim Jong Il is aware of the criticism toward his regime and is lowering the level of personality cult around him in order to appease the public sentiment," Baek said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a South Korean government official told the South's Yonhap news agency that there were no "unusual signs at all" in North Korea's power structure.
The official noted that while portraits of Kim Jong Il have been taken down, North Korean television is still showing scenes of public places in which portraits of the leader are hanging.
He also noted that North Korean media had retained some of Kim's titles, an indication that he likely remained in power.
"Currently, there are no signs that show possible changes in the power system in North Korea, so I think we must caution against over-interpretation," said Seong Ji Woo, a professor of international relations in Seoul.
North Koreans have been taught to revere images of Kim Jong Il and his father, and there have been reports of severe punishments for people who accidentally sat on such newspaper images, or left them in the rain.
Kim took over the Pyongyang regime after the death of his father in 1994. It was the communist world's first hereditary succession of power.
Kim Jong Il kept a low profile for several years after the death of Kim Il Sung, prompting speculation that his hold on power was shaky.
But Kim Jong Il apparently used that time to consolidate control of the government, gaining political capital by observing a three-year mourning period for his revered father.
Portraits of Kim Il Sung, a hero of the war against Japanese colonialists whose mythic status in state propaganda eclipses that of his son, reportedly remain in public places in Pyongyang.
A North Korean hostess stands in front of a photo of leader Kim Jong Il at an exhibition in Pyongyang.
Image
Officials have removed portraits from some public buildings
Thursday, November 18, 2004 Posted: 12:32 AM EST (0532 GMT)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Officials in North Korea have removed portraits of ruler Kim Jong Il from some public buildings, and its state-run media reportedly have dropped his honorific title "Dear Leader" in a dramatic curtailment of his personality cult.
But analysts speculated Thursday that Kim may have ordered the steps himself, and that they don't necessarily reflect an overhaul in the reclusive nation's leadership.
Some experts believe Kim is playing down the official adulation to remove himself as a target for public discontent in his impoverished country, which has clung to totalitarian rule for more than half a century.
Kim also has made erratic efforts to modernize North Korea's antiquated economy, and the changes could be part of a similar, if extremely limited, campaign in the political arena.
Foreign diplomats reported the removal of portraits of Kim this week, an unusual development because the dictator is the focus of an all-encompassing cult of personality that he inherited from his father and late national founder, Kim Il Sung.
Then Tokyo-based Radiopress, which monitors North Korean media, said the communist regime had toned down the titles it bestows on Kim, who is locked in a dispute with the United States and its allies over Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons.
Radiopress said the North's Korean Central News Agency and the Korean Central Broadcast referred to Kim not as "Dear Leader," but as "general secretary of the Worker's Party of Korea," or "chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army."
"We believe the change was made at his will to soften his image as a leader of a personality cult, although it is hard to determine what his real intentions are," said Radiopress editor Shinya Kato.
"But we do not believe it was a sign of coup or related to his loss of power."
North Korea is one of the most tightly controlled countries in the world, and defectors who have fled hunger and oppression there have spoken of systematic human rights abuses.
Still, Kim Jong Il has made periodic efforts to reach out to other countries, holding a 2000 summit with South Korea, visiting China and Russia and taking small steps toward reform of his devastated economy.
"Many North Korean defectors who fled the country recently are saying now it's quite easy to spot North Koreans criticizing their regime and Kim Jong Il in public," said Baek Seung Joo, chief of North Korean studies at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul.
"So these recent incidents surrounding his title and portraits in the official buildings may be an indication that Kim Jong Il is aware of the criticism toward his regime and is lowering the level of personality cult around him in order to appease the public sentiment," Baek said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a South Korean government official told the South's Yonhap news agency that there were no "unusual signs at all" in North Korea's power structure.
The official noted that while portraits of Kim Jong Il have been taken down, North Korean television is still showing scenes of public places in which portraits of the leader are hanging.
He also noted that North Korean media had retained some of Kim's titles, an indication that he likely remained in power.
"Currently, there are no signs that show possible changes in the power system in North Korea, so I think we must caution against over-interpretation," said Seong Ji Woo, a professor of international relations in Seoul.
North Koreans have been taught to revere images of Kim Jong Il and his father, and there have been reports of severe punishments for people who accidentally sat on such newspaper images, or left them in the rain.
Kim took over the Pyongyang regime after the death of his father in 1994. It was the communist world's first hereditary succession of power.
Kim Jong Il kept a low profile for several years after the death of Kim Il Sung, prompting speculation that his hold on power was shaky.
But Kim Jong Il apparently used that time to consolidate control of the government, gaining political capital by observing a three-year mourning period for his revered father.
Portraits of Kim Il Sung, a hero of the war against Japanese colonialists whose mythic status in state propaganda eclipses that of his son, reportedly remain in public places in Pyongyang.
A North Korean hostess stands in front of a photo of leader Kim Jong Il at an exhibition in Pyongyang.
Image
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