The brooch was seen attached to the jackets of all North Korean officials who attended a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's Eighth Central Committee on Friday, a photo by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed on Sunday. ).
The photograph was also published in the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's official newspaper, Yonhap news agency reports.
It marked the first confirmation of the use of pins with the sole portrait of Kim Jong-un.
During inter-Korean working-level talks in 2013, North Korean officials confirmed to South Korean journalists that a pin featuring Kim Jong-un's portrait was created in early 2012, available in two shapes: round and square.
A portrait pin, a key symbol of the Kim family's cult of personality, must be worn by everyone in North Korea, from ordinary citizens to senior officials.
The pin depicting Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, began production and distribution in November 1970, while the pin of his successor, Kim Jong-il, began production in February 1992 to celebrating his 50th birthday.
Since Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011, brooches featuring dual portraits of both leaders have been widely distributed to the public.
The recent appearance of Kim Jong-un's pin with his solitary portrait at official meeting venues indicates "an intensified effort at idolatry," Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told the Agency on Sunday. Yonhap News.
Pyongyang appeared to have entered "a phase of intensified idolatry of Kim Jong-un," he said, suggesting that such efforts could "potentially extend to other aspects of North Korea's governance, including possible future changes to its constitution and the rules of the game." to further solidify Kim's status.
The photograph was also published in the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's official newspaper, Yonhap news agency reports.
It marked the first confirmation of the use of pins with the sole portrait of Kim Jong-un.
During inter-Korean working-level talks in 2013, North Korean officials confirmed to South Korean journalists that a pin featuring Kim Jong-un's portrait was created in early 2012, available in two shapes: round and square.
A portrait pin, a key symbol of the Kim family's cult of personality, must be worn by everyone in North Korea, from ordinary citizens to senior officials.
The pin depicting Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, began production and distribution in November 1970, while the pin of his successor, Kim Jong-il, began production in February 1992 to celebrating his 50th birthday.
Since Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011, brooches featuring dual portraits of both leaders have been widely distributed to the public.
The recent appearance of Kim Jong-un's pin with his solitary portrait at official meeting venues indicates "an intensified effort at idolatry," Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told the Agency on Sunday. Yonhap News.
Pyongyang appeared to have entered "a phase of intensified idolatry of Kim Jong-un," he said, suggesting that such efforts could "potentially extend to other aspects of North Korea's governance, including possible future changes to its constitution and the rules of the game." to further solidify Kim's status.
