Asia Pacific|These Sure Are Photos of Kim Jong-un on a Horse
North Korea’s state news agency said the dictator’s eyes were “full of noble glitters” during his Putin-esque photo shoot.
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Let us not think too deeply about this one. Kim Jong-un did a photo shoot on a horse.
TheNorth Koreandictator rode the white steed through snowy fields, galloping between dusted trees, pausing for an aw-shucks-I ‘m-on-a-horse smile at the camera. His servants in the state media said on Wednesday that his eyes “were full of noble glitters.”
While Mr. Kim has no shortage of obviously posed propaganda photos, “world leaders on horseback” has been a very special genre at least sinceVladimir Putin‘s famous bare-chested entry in 2009. This doesn’t come along every day.
The geopolitical impact of the news was limited. Unless, that is, you trust the North Korean state media, which called Mr. Kim’s horseback ride up Mount Baekdu “a great event of weighty importance in the history of the Korean revolution.”
Mount Baekdu is considered a sacred mountain laden with symbolism, the mythical birthplace of the Koreans. A volcano that straddles the Chinese and North Korean border – the Chinese call it Changbaishan – it is a central setting for North Korean propaganda, a place where soldiers are sent on pilgrimages to swear loyalty to their leader. North Korea insists that Mr. Kim’s father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, was born in a log cabin there, despiteproof that he was born elsewhere.
In the past, Mr. Kim has visited Mount Baekdu before making major decisions, giving rise to speculation that this latest trek could portend a shift in policy toward the United States. An attempt to revive denuclearization talks between the two countriesbroke down this month.
“Having witnessed the great moments of his thinking atop Mount Paektu, all the officials accompanying him were convinced with overflowing emotion and joy that there will be a great operation to strike the world with wonder again and make a step forward in the Korean revolution, ”reported the North Korean state news agency, which spells Baekdu that way.
Anyway, here’s Mr. Kim riding through a forest.
Though Mr. Kim chose not to go full Putin, keeping his torso covered with a parka in the cold, he is part of a somewhat exclusive club of current world leaders to have been photographed on a horse. (A much less majestic horseback photo of Mr. Kim from2012suggests that he has grown into the role.)
That club includesJustin Trudeauof Canada, which you maybe could have guessed. Yep,Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, saddled up. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkeyfell off a horse in 2003but summoned the courage to (hop back on one) 14 years later. Other confirmed riders includeNarendra Modiof India,Joko Widodoof Indonesia andAndrés Manuel López Obradorof Mexico.
To our knowledge, President Trump has not been photographed on a horse, thoughhe did get near onerecently. Of the Democratic hopefuls for president,Bernie Sandersappeared on a horse in a 1987 video, andTulsi Gabbardwas photographed on one for a New York Times article in August.
Daniel Victor is a Hong Kong-based reporter, covering a wide variety of stories with a focus on breaking news. He joined The Times in 2012 from ProPublica.@bydanielvictor
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