Removal of Kim Jong Il’s Pictures from Public Places in North Korea

Russia’s state-run communication agency ITAR-TASS reported from Beijing quoting a diplomat in North Korea yesterday that pictures of the chairman of the DPRK National Defense Committee Kim Jong Il are being removed from public places in North Korea.

The news reported that foreigners who were recently invited to the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang noticed that only the late President Kim Il Sung’s picture remains and that Chairman Kim’s picture has been removed from the entrance.

They stated that on the wall where Chairman Kim’s picture was originally placed, there remained yellowish trace, which seems to be all that was left after repainting the spot, and a nail.

The informed source also conveyed that more cases in which Chairman Kim’s pictures were removed from places where they should be were observed, and it seems that although the reasons have not come to light, that a secret order to remove his pictures has been given within the North.

A Moscow diplomacy source also said, “The removal of Chairman Kim Jong Il’s pictures from public places is well known among foreigners living in Pyongyang, and diplomats of each country are working on understanding the meaning of this.”

He conveyed, “Opinions like ‘unsound health,’ that Chairman Kim recently got an operation, and an “internal conflict for power” are spreading, but none has been confirmed.”

Ki-Hyun Kim kimkihy@donga.com