Succession Watch

Yonhap is reporting that North Korea is busily printing portraits of the new emperor-in-waiting. If this is true, it would be the story I’ve been waiting for to convince me that Kim Jong-Eun is indeed being groomed as the spiritual successor to Kim Jong-Il, and it would also strongly suggest that Kim Jong-Il’s health is terrible. Jong-Eun is clearly unready to take real power, and probably is a net negative even as a spiritual figurehead. To elevate him is a rushed and desperate act. The regime wouldn’t do it this quickly if it expected to have Kim Jong Il around for more than five years.

Update: Meanwhile, R. Elgin at The Marmot’s Hole links to a series of KCNA pictures of Kim Jong Il giving on-the-spot guidance. I suppose if you’re reading this site, you may be one of the few people who finds this sort of thing interesting. I was actually looking for those spots on his face, which weren’t evident, although plenty of makeup was (#20, #27). It’s also curious to me why he’s wearing sunglasses in every one of these pictures, even indoors in dank factory floors, or when the lighting suggests that the weather is overcast. There isn’t one other person wearing sunglasses in any of the other pictures. I wonder what that means.

In an apparent gesture of mourning toward Michael Jackson, in #6, #13, and #24 Kim is wearing a glove on his left hand but not his right. His left hand is stuffed stiffly into his pocket in #20, but it’s partially visible in #16, #23, and #27.

The man in #11 wears an expression like he’s waiting for the announcement of his death sentence.

A few of the pictures look vaguely suspicious. Not being expert on such things, I suppose it’s possible that North Korea’s cotton crop is harvested in November (#7). Something is not quite right about #8, but I can’t put my finger on what it is. In #26 and #30, the lighting in the background doesn’t seem to match that in the foreground. Also, Kim is of suspiciously average height in #26, which might just mean that the photographers posed him with other short men.

Also, the girl in #23 might possibly be hot without that surgical mask.