Published : Nov. 7, 2018 - 11:01
What appears to be the first official portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared in the North earlier this week in time for the visit of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, British broadcaster BBC reported Wednesday.
Citing footage of Pyongyang's Korean Central Television, BBC said that huge portraits of Kim and Diaz-Canel were on display at the terminal building of Pyongyang Sunan International Airport on Sunday, when the Cuban president arrived there and was greeted in person by the North's leader.
(Reuters)
Kim reportedly saw off Diaz-Canel at the same airport Tuesday after his three-day visit to Pyongyang.
Portraits of Kim's father and grandfather hang in almost all important buildings throughout North Korea, but it is the first time that Kim's own painted portrait has been disclosed in public.
Kim rose to power in 2011.
The new larger-than-life artwork shows Kim smiling, looking slightly to his left, while wearing a Western style suit and tie, BBC said.
An analyst told BBC that the painted portrait of Kim seems to indicate that the North could be beginning to take steps to develop his personality cult. (Yonhap)