Goodbye Chairman Kim; Hello President Kim

by 8DonCo Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:31 pm

North Korean leader rebrands in bid to look more normal to the wider world while demurring on a full-on personality cult at home

SEOUL – What does the dictator who has everything gift himself? A new job title, apparently.
At a time when economically pummeled North Korea is refraining from such egregious acts as missiles launches or nuclear tests – likely as it awaits the results of the Biden administration’s policy review – the Pyongyangology community has been electrified by Kim Jong Un’s latest rebrand.
In a report last week, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency called Kim “president” of the State Affairs Commission rather than his customary title of “chairman” of that body.
A typo? Nope.
This week, in a report on Kim’s latest visit to the “Palace of the Sun” just outside Pyongyang – where his father, Kim Jong Il, lies in the state of mummification by which communist leaders achieve immortality – the same media dubbed him “president.”