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An image of North Korean citizens lay flowers at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum of North Korea’s founder and leader Kim Jong-un’s grandfather Kim Il-sung, published by the Rodong Sinmun on Jan. 2. (Rodong Sinmun)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid his respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, according to a front-page story in the Jan. 2 issue of the state-run Rodong Sinmun. Also on Thursday, Korean Central Television (KCTV) network ran an hour-long documentary film that described Mt. Paektu as “the mountain of General Kim Jong-un” and praised Kim as “the saint of Mt. Paektu.”

The Rodong Sinmun also ran columns by Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee Vice Chair Ri Il-hwan, Vice Premier Im Chol-ung, Minister of Metallurgical Industry Kim Chung-gol, and others avowing their determination to participate in the “frontal breakthrough offensive,” which was the conclusion reached during the 5th Plenary Session of the 7th WPK Central Committee. The articles are part of a propaganda campaign to secure the support of all sections of the public for Kim’s instructions to prepare for a protracted struggle for self-sufficiency, in which the “key front” is the “economic front.”

According to the Rodong Sinmun, Kim Jong-un “paid homage” to the statues of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and his father, Kim Jong-il, at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum where both are enshrined. The newspaper didn’t disclose the timing of Kim’s visit or any remarks he made while there. In an unprecedented omission, no photographs or video footage of Kim’s visit were immediately released.

At 11 am on Thursday, Korean Central Television screened an hour-long documentary based on footage of Kim Jong-un’s tour of revolutionary battlefields on Mt. Paektu in December 2019 (covered on the first four pages of the Dec. 4 edition of the Rodong Sinmun). The documentary quoted North Korean founder Kim Il-sung as having said that “the revolution will certainly be brought to completion, by my grandson’s generation, if not by my son.”

“The spirit of defending the Supreme Leader is at the root of the tradition of the Mt. Paektu revolution,” the documentary said.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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