A North Korean documentary broadcast depicts a lame leader, Kim Jong Un.
Seoul:
A North Korean documentary aired on Tuesday showed a lame leader, Kim Jong Un, as he deals with the poor country’s “worst difficulties” amid the coronavirus pandemic and sanctions on its weapons programs.
Titled “The Great Year of Victory, 2021”, the 110-minute film chronicled a series of achievements throughout the year, including missile development, manufacturing and efforts to defeat the pandemic.
The narrator repeatedly praised such projects as a sign of “victory”, led by a particularly thin Kim, by the state media for creating a quasi-divine personality cult around him. This is in line with previous such documentaries used.
According to UN agencies, the film did not elaborate on the difficulties, but unlike prosperous, democratic South Korea, North Korea faced food shortages amid sanctions, drought and floods.
North Korea has not confirmed any COVID-19 cases but has closed its borders. It continues to develop its weapons systems amid deadlock over talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals in exchange for UN and US sanctions relief.
At one point in the film, Kim was seen struggling to walk down temporary stairs during a trip to a rainy construction site.
“This video showed her motherly side where she completely devoted her body to making people’s dreams come true,” the narrator said.
The film did not directly mention Kim’s weight loss, but she has appeared increasingly thin in recent state media photos.
In June, state media said that North Koreans were “heartbroken” to see the “weak” Kim in a rare such dispatch, after reappearing after nearly a month of absence from the public eye.
The international media, intelligence agencies and experts keep a close watch on Kim’s health due to his tight grip on power and uncertainty over succession plans.
The documentary shows Kim riding a white horse to the beach alone watching the sunrise. On another ride, he was seen with military officials including the Korean People’s Army’s Chief of General Staff Pak Jong Chon, following a clip of tanks conducting live-fire exercises.
The film included rare images of a new 80-story skyscraper and a large apartment district, as well as a defense exhibition in October and some clips and images of past missile tests.
In December, Kim said the ruling party had had some success in implementing the five-year economic plan unveiled early last year, but warned of a “very huge struggle” this year, citing the pandemic and economic difficulties .
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