Kim Jong-un on a white horse. The North Korean leader has given himself a gallop of media whose propaganda service has the secret. The official press of the regime, KCNA, has unveiled, Tuesday, October 15, a series of shots of the ruler on horseback on a snow background at Mount Paektu.
"This ride on Mount Paektu is an event of great importance in the history of the Korean revolution," KCNA's statement said emphatically. In the general opinion of Western media, this staging could actually be the harbinger of a "major announcement in the coming days", as highlighted in particular The Guardian.
Mount Paektu, first symbol
Difficult, however, for an outside observer who would not have mastered North Korean propaganda to understand the scope of this bucolic ride on horseback. Yet every detail of this com operation plays with heavy references in the mythology created by the regime.
The most obvious is the ascent of Mount Paektu. At the border with China, this summit, the highest on the Korean peninsula (2,744 meters), "is fundamental in the popular imagination because it is the birthplace of Tangun, the founder of the Korean nation", reminds Antoine Bondaz, specialist of North Korea at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), contacted by France 24.
The Kim Dynasty has always sought to establish a symbolic lineage with the Tangun lineage through this mountain. Thus, "Kim Jong-un is officially born on Mount Paektu and he was until recently the elected representative of the district of Paektu," says Antoine Bondaz.
The North Korean leader has visited the site three times. Visits which, each time, gave rise to a great media coverage and coincided with a major political decision. For example, in 2018, Kim Jong-un took South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Mount Paektu on the occasion of the historic summit between the two Koreas. A year earlier, he was also photographed shortly after firing the largest long-range ballistic missile in North Korea's arsenal.
A horse recalling a legendary past
But he had never been on horseback before. Here again, this detail owes nothing to chance. "This iconography refers in particular to King Tongmyong [also called Jumong, Ed], founder of the kingdom of Koguryo," says Antoine Bondaz. Founded in the first century BCE, this period symbolizes a unified peninsula, free from the influence of foreign powers. King Tongmyong is often depicted alongside a horse and, in legend, he even rode a white unicorn ...
In the North Korean tradition, the horse "is also a symbol of refinement and purity of the leaders.The equestrian center of Mirim, Pyongyang, hosts a whole museum dedicated to the equestrian practice" of the Kim family, underlines Antoine Bondaz.
Many references that do not escape the North Koreans. "It is therefore primarily an important message for reasons of domestic politics, for the party and the people." Kim Jong-un tells them that he comes to tap into the strength of Mount Paektu by re-registering the regime in the long run. national history to take and announce important decisions, "analyzes the FRS specialist.
Military or economic announcement ?
These photos serve to prepare the spirits, first inside the country, but also outside. The Western media have been quick to discuss the possible announcement of a resumption of nuclear and ballistic tests. "Negotiations with the United States are at a standstill and Donald Trump currently has other preoccupations, which could push Kim Jong-un to reconsider his decision to stop the military trials," said Laura Bicker , correspondent of the BBC in Seoul.
Without excluding this possibility, Antoine Bondaz suggests less bellicose projects such as "a space initiative or the opening of new tourist complexes in 2020". Pyongyang could be tempted to launch a satellite, "which would appear less aggressive than a missile, while demonstrating a certain level of technological mastery," Japan Times daily Vipin Narang, a specialist in North Korea at the Massachusetts Institute of Sciences, told Japan Times. Technology (MIT).
Promoting tourism has also become an important economic issue for Kim Jong-un. The reopening of the Kumgang Mountains region - on the border with South Korea - is one of the subjects of the negotiations with the United States. This special tourist area was closed in 2008 after the death of a South Korean tourist, shot dead by a North Korean soldier after inadvertently venturing into forbidden territory. The regime also builds a large tourist complex on Samjiyon County, which includes Mount Paektu.
The fact that the propaganda machine has not given more details about the nature of future decisions "allows Kim Jong-un to maintain some flexibility as to what he will announce," concludes Antoine Bondaz. It thus keeps its options open according to the evolution of the negotiations with the United States.