North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in more than a month, visiting a new state-developed alpine city billed a “model” socialist “utopia,” as he looks to cement his legacy during a period of widespread food shortages.
The visit to the northern city of Samjiyon, reported in state media Tuesday, comes as Kim approaches his 10th anniversary as leader of a country that has been cut off from the rest of the world since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. With its ski slopes, commercial and medical facilities and homes for thousands of families, the city — near the border with China — projects a very different image than that of a nation gripped by extreme poverty.
Samjiyon is a major economic project developed by Pyongyang to support the notion that North Korea is thriving in spite of international sanctions over its nuclear program, experts said. The regime’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday that Kim said the city’s buildings reflect the “lofty loyalty, strong will and sweat of our people” and the “iron will” of North Korea to “achieve prosperity our own way.”
The city is near Mount Paektu, a mountain that has a central place in North Korean’s founding lore and from which the Kim family purports to trace its roots. Its completion had been set for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party last year, but construction was slowed by the pandemic.
Kim’s visit was timed to mark the final phase of construction, set to wrap up by the end of this year. “This is all about cementing Kim Jong Un’s legacy as he approaches his 10-year anniversary,” said Jean H. Lee, a Korea expert at the Wilson Center. “Kim wants to reinforce the mythology that he is fulfilling a divine mandate to rule.”
Developments such as Samjiyon are particularly significant to his legacy now, she added, as North Korea is undergoing severe extreme economic hardship following nearly two years of pandemic-led border closures that stopped the flow of most goods and food into the country.
North Korea has been breeding black swans, which state media has encouraged people to eat amid scarcity of other foods, according to NK News, a website that monitors the regime.
North Korea began the summer in a food crisis. A heat wave and drought could make it worse.
Kim became leader following the death of his father in December 2011 and has spent years removing rivals and developing defense capabilities, including nuclear weapons and missiles. He says the weapons are needed to bolster the regime in the face of South Korea and the United States.
“The reality is that not enough resources are being poured into infrastructure in North Korea. They are being poured into building nuclear weapons,” Lee said. “The little that is devoted to infrastructure is strategically focused on projects that serve the purpose of supporting the Kim mythology and propaganda” while many other towns and cities across the country languish.
At his last public appearance in mid-October, he showcased North Korea’s latest nuclear and other weaponry, including a version of a “hypersonic” weapon. Analysts have expressed doubts over that weapon’s capabilities.
The dictator had not been seen in public for 35 days — reportedly the longest such absence since 2014 — but Lee said the extended period was not particularly significant given the time of the year. Kim’s occasional departures from the public eye have long stirred debate over his health.
Kim also toured agricultural areas around the city, which he described as “a picturesque model unit in rural buildup,” according to state media. He also called for more scientific research into potato production in “unfavorable” alpine conditions.
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