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North Koreans read the Feb. 25 edition of the Rodong Sinmun, which focused most of its content on leader Kim Jong-un’s trip to Hanoi for his second summit with US President Donald Trump. (Yonhap News)
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Feb. 25 edition of paper mostly dedicated to Kim Jong-un’s “great journey of patriotic dedication”
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), launched a large-scale internal propaganda campaign on behalf of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s trip to Hanoi, which it described as a “great journey of patriotic dedication.” Four of the six total pages of the Rodong Sinmun’s Feb. 25 edition (pages 1, 2, 3 and 5) were dedicated to promoting Kim’s “great train journey,” as he embarks on an “official friendly visit” to Vietnam and his second summit with the US. The newspaper ran a column by WPK Central Committee Vice Chairman Pak Thae-song and resolutions of loyalty by the deputy prime minister (cum agriculture minister), the coal industry minister, the director of the State Academy of Sciences, and the chair of the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League. This contrasts with the calm that preceded the first North Korea-US summit. Propaganda campaign to shore up internal unity and support for summit Furthermore, a series of columns by high-ranking figures is a rarely used method of propaganda, even in the North. This is evidence of a need to shore up internal unity and support the actions of Kim Jong-un prior to his talks with US President Donald Trump. These pieces focused on two things, the first of which is praising Kim Jong-un. In the column that ran on the first page, Pak Thae-song said that “the entire nation was overtaken by powerful emotions” at the news of Kim’s “visit to a foreign country,” which he described as a “great journey of patriotism and love for his people” and “a historic happening.” Pak, who is the WPK Central Committee’s vice chairman of science and education, reportedly met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and learned about China’s experience of reform and opening as the head of a “goodwill observation group” in May 2018. The second focus was on promises to make progress on the WPK’s strategic line of economic focus. Coal Industry Minister Mun Myong-hak promised to “seize the high ground in coal”; Vice Premier and Agriculture Minister Ko In-ho pledged to “raise the shout of victory in increasing grain production around the country”; and State Academy of Sciences President Jang Chol vowed to engage in “scientific research activities to resolve issues fervently desired by the party and the people.” By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
