Cyclone Khanun
North Koreans are supposed to protect dictator portraits in the typhoon
Images of Kim Jong Un and his predecessors should be given special protection in North Korea
© Yonhap / Picture Alliance
The personality cult surrounding North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un is not new. In view of the approaching hurricane, the authorities have now called on residents to protect the likenesses of the dictator and his predecessors in particular
In the face of tropical storm Khanun, the North Korean state media have called on the population to protect portraits of communist ruler Kim Jong Un and his predecessors first and foremost. The “main focus” of the North Koreans must be on the “security” of the in North Korea’s ubiquitous propaganda portraits, statues, mosaics, murals and other memorials to the Kim dynasty lie, the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Thursday.
Depictions and portraits of the communist ruler Kim Jong Un, his father Kim Kong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung hang in every house and office in North Korea and, in larger-than-life form, significantly shape the streetscape.
Natural disasters tend to have a greater impact on North Korea
Tropical Storm Khanun made landfall in North Korea on Thursday and was expected to move inland on Friday. “All sectors and entities” in North Korea participated in “a dynamic campaign to deal with the catastrophic, abnormal climate,” the state news agency KCNA reported. “Strong winds, downpours, tidal waves and high seas” are to be expected.
Because of North Korea’s weak infrastructure, natural disasters tend to have a greater impact on the country. Widespread deforestation also makes North Korea vulnerable to flooding. In the 1990s, famines killed hundreds of thousands, and it is estimated that millions of people in the country.
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