Idolization of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un intensifies as portrait hangs alongside those of his grandfather and father

A portrait of North Korean Workers' Party General Secretary Kim Jung Eun hangs at a party facility alongside those of his grandfather Kim Il Sung and father Kim Jong Il.
The photo, which was recently streamed by the Korean Central News Agency, has been drawing attention. It is the first time that North Korean media has published the portraits of the three people hung side by side.
The North Korean media has been slow to use the name "Day of the Sun" for the birthday, which has been a change of phrase, raising the view that this is an attempt to elevate the status of his grandson, Kim Jong Un.
Since it was confirmed that the statues were displayed alongside those of his grandfather and father, the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported that "the idolization of Kim Jong-un appears to be becoming more serious."
Portraits and statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are considered to be of the utmost importance as symbols of authority.
At the time, the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, called on residents to "pay top priority" to taking measures to protect the portraits and statues of the two men.
According to the North Korean Human Rights Report published by South Korea's Ministry of Unification in March last year, in 2017 a pregnant woman was publicly executed after pointing at a portrait of Kim Il-sung.
With the passing away of Kim Jong-il (December 17, 2011), over 10 years have passed since the establishment of the Kim Jong-un regime, but Kim Jong-un's efforts to establish his own ideological system are gradually gaining momentum.
Since the fall of 2020, state media has begun to use the term "leader" to refer to Kim Jong-un. "Leader" was originally a term used only for Chairman Kim Il-sung.
In a joint editorial by the party's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, and the party's theoretical magazine, Workers, it was stated that "Respected Supreme Leader Comrade Kim Jong Un has established our party as a revolutionary party that serves the people with selflessness (abandoning selfish desires) and has been promoting the party since 1990.
He was subsequently named "Outstanding Leader" in 2021, and in October of the same year, "Outstanding Leader and Great Parent of the People."
The expression gradually became more pronounced, with the portrait being displayed as "Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un." At the party congress held in January 2021, the portrait that had been displayed in the center of the conference hall at the previous congress was replaced with the portrait of the deceased.
The portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il that had been hanging in the hall were gone, and the party rules revised at the conference had significantly fewer descriptions of the achievements of those two men.
The photo was of a man with a red hair. The biggest holiday in North Korea, April 15th, is the birthday of Kim Il Sung, and this year, something unusual was observed. North Korean media has almost completely stopped calling it the "Day of the Sun" as they usually do.
The term "Day of the Sun" was used in 1997 after the death of Kim Il Sung. The sun represents the "sole leader" and has the meaning of deification.
The previous day on North Korea Central Television, Naeun-sah read a script saying, "In celebration of the 112th birthday of the great leader Comrade Kim Il-sung..." and the word "Day of the Sun" was used.
The term was never used in public, and was only used in an article in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper on the 15th. The South Korean Ministry of Unification said, "Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, is moving forward with his independence.
"In the 12 years since the establishment of the regime, the government has decided to further strengthen its leadership and strengthen its power base in preparation for the fourth generation's succession," said KBS, a public broadcaster.
It is being analyzed that this is a move to curb the idolization of his predecessor." Meanwhile, on the 22nd of this month, the Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim Jong Un attended the completion ceremony for the Central Staff School of the Workers' Party of Korea held the previous day.
Stream reported on the attendance of the school. Photos in the article show portraits of Kim Jong-un hanging alongside Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on the school's exterior walls and on the blackboards of classrooms.
This is the first time that an official report has confirmed that his portrait has been hung alongside those of his grandfather and father. This is believed to be intended to show that Kim Jong-un's authority has risen to the same level as his predecessors, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
The news article said, "North Korea appears to be stepping up its idolization of Kim Jong Un," and added, "These reports are being published not only in the external media outlet, the Central News Agency, but also in the Rodong Sinmun, the party's newspaper that is accessible to North Korean residents."
The Ministry of Unification of South Korea, which called the move "unprecedented," said it would "pay close attention to the future trend of idolizing her."