![]() “I think it was meant to attest to his energy and his vigour – it was meant to show that he is a very capable, well-rounded person who has some kind of natural leadership,” C Harrison Kim said. Folklore deems it the birthplace of Dangun – the legendary founder of the first Korean kingdom – and North Korea propaganda has since named it the birthplace of the country’s second leader, Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011. Mount Paektu is regarded as sacred land in Korean history. It says, ‘I am going to seek prosperity by myself, without Moon’.” “This time around, I think it was really deliberate to have Kim Jong Un on the horse by himself. “The last time Kim Jong Un had been on Mount Paektu was with Moon at the Pyongyang Summit back in September 2018, and it was to create the optics that North and South Korea were going to build prosperity together,” said Jenny Town, a fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and managing editor of North Korea analysis website 38 North. In these images, Kim rides solo for a reason, experts say: He is trying to show that he can stand alone despite souring relations with Seoul and Washington. Experts say such photos are released to show him as a man powerful enough to bring prosperity to his country without anyone else’s help ![]() Kim Jong Un rides through snow-covered landscapes on Mount Paektu. ![]() The recent photos of Kim Jong Un riding a white horse across Mount Paektu, for example, evoke far more than a strongman reminder of a shirtless Vladimir Putin astride a stallion. “Kim Jong Un clearly has been clear about it – he has a deadline.” “North Korea has left room for what exactly has to happen, but they said the US needs to make a concrete proposal to them,” said John Delury, an associate professor at the Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies in Seoul. The North has carried out a number of missile tests in recent months in contravention of United Nations sanctions, and experts fear the next move will probably not be more of the “beautiful letters” exchanged between Trump and Kim. North Korea and the US are just days away from Kim Jong Un’s end-of-year deadline for progress in denuclearisation talks, which have fizzled since the Hanoi summit collapsed in February. With diplomacy so uncertain, analysts are parsing through North Korea’s state media for hints of what the world can expect in 2020. “And still, there are many long-term goals that are left to achieve.” “Historically speaking, it has been a long, incredible past year,” said C Harrison Kim, a professor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The images might appear absurdly staged, but they are vital clues to experts who use them to decipher Pyongyang’s hidden messages – especially in 2019, a year of tough diplomatic ups and downs between Kim Jong Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and United States President Donald Trump. Seoul, South Korea – Images from North Korea have a near superpower ability to go viral, whether it be a photo of Kim Jong Un watching shirtless men soak in luxury hot springs or a shot of the North Korean leader riding a white stallion through the snow.
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