Massive 70-foot-tall models of Kim Jong Un’s father and grandfather towered over the North Korean dictator at an official assembly this week.
Models of the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung, and his successor, Kim Jong Il, supported him on Tuesday at the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang, during which he demanded an “exponential increase” in nuclear weapons .
His grandfather Kim Il Sung ruled the isolationist state with an iron fist from 1948 to 1994, with his son Kim Jong Il taking power when his father died.
With the example set by his father, he continued the family tradition of brutally oppressing the country’s population through violence, executions and purges.
Jong Il himself died in 2011 of a suspected heart attack and was succeeded by his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, hailed by state media as the “great successor.”
These massive 70-foot-tall models of Kim Jong Un’s father and grandfather towered over the North Korean dictator at an official assembly this week.
Models of the country’s founder, Kim Il Sung, and his successor, Kim Jong Il, were placed behind him on Tuesday at the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang, during which he demanded an “exponential increase” in nuclear weapons .
In a not-so-subtle tribute to his ancestors, Kim appeared at the People’s Assembly on Thursday seated behind a vast wooden desk, with the two 70-foot models standing behind him on a stage, smiling above the crowd party members.
The slightly larger model of Kim Il Sung showed North Korea’s founder, known as the “Great Leader” in North Korea, dressed in his signature three-piece suit.
On the right was the model of the country’s former “dear leader”, Kim Jong Il, in his typical khaki military attire for which he became known.
The model is seen holding a stack of documents in her left hand.
Like his father, Kim Jong Un continues his family’s tradition of brutality.
Its population is said to be largely starving and, with few health services, diseases like Covid-19 are rampant.
Meanwhile, anyone showing signs of dissent from the ruling regime or engaging in Western or South Korean media faces harsh penalties, including prison, forced labor and even summary executions. .
During the assembly, Jong Un demanded an “exponential” increase in the production of modern atomic weapons, as the dictator declared North Korea A Nuclear power.
The despot also called on his country to play a greater role in a coalition of nations confronting the United States in a “new Cold War” during a two-day session of the country’s parliament.
In a not-so-subtle tribute to his ancestors, Kim appeared at the People’s Assembly on Thursday seated behind a vast wooden desk, with the two 70-foot models standing behind him on a stage, smiling above the crowd party members.
The slightly larger model of Kim Il Sung showed North Korea’s founder, known as the “Great Leader” in North Korea, dressed in his iconic three-piece suit (left), while the model of the Former “Dear Leader” of the country, Kim Jong Il represented him in his typical khaki military outfit
It was during this session that Kim and his cronies enshrined North Korea’s status as a nuclear power in its constitution.
Tuesday and Wednesday’s session of the Supreme People’s Assembly came after Kim traveled to Russia’s Far East this month to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and visit military and technological sites.
The trip sparked Western concerns about a possible arms alliance in which North Korea would provide Putin with much-needed munitions to fuel his war against Ukraine in exchange for economic aid and advanced Russian technology to bolster the North Korea’s nuclear and missile systems.
As North Korea slowly ends its pandemic lockdown, Kim is actively strengthening partnerships with Moscow and Beijing as he attempts to emerge from diplomatic isolation and join a united front against Washington.
The assembly also came as a U.S. soldier freed by North Korea returned to the United States and underwent health screenings in Texas, the Pentagon said Thursday.
Officials said Travis King – described as being in “good health” – is at Brooke Military Medical Center, a regular stop for recently released inmates including basketball star Brittney Griner and the “Hotel Rwanda” star “Paul Rusesabagina.
At the assembly, Jong Un demanded an “exponential” increase in the production of modern atomic weapons as the dictator declared North Korea a nuclear power.
King will undergo a “reintegration program” including medical exams and mental health evaluations after returning to the United States overnight, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.
He will also be “debriefed by U.S. military officials,” she said, without providing details of that process.
After a drunken bar fight and a stint in a South Korean prison, Private Second Class King was scheduled to return to Texas in July.
But instead of going to Fort Bliss for disciplinary hearings, he left the Seoul area airport on foot, joined a sightseeing tour of the demilitarized zone and crossed the massively fortified border where he was detained by the communist authorities.
