{"id":472,"date":"2026-05-04T08:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/472\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T08:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T08:37:23","slug":"kim-jong-un-cult-of-personality-alarms-north-koreans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/472\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Jong Un cult of personality alarms North Koreans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kim<\/a>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un<\/a> presides over a vote at the first session of the 15th Supreme People\u2019s Assembly in Pyongyang<\/a> on March 23, 2026. Photo: Rodong Sinmun\/News1<\/p>\n

North Korea has launched an intensified cult of personality campaign<\/a> around leader Kim Jong Un following the Ninth Congress<\/a> of the Workers\u2019 Party<\/a> of Korea (WPK), held in February 2026, sidelining the ideological legacies of his predecessors and generating widespread confusion among ordinary North Koreans, a source inside the country told Daily NK on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Political education<\/a> sessions held at institutions, enterprises<\/a>, and neighborhood watch units across the country have increasingly centered on what authorities are calling \u201cKim Jong Un ideology\u201d and his leadership achievements, according to a source in North Hamgyong province. Lecture materials<\/a> and study<\/a> guides distributed after the Ninth Party Congress<\/a> have shifted away from the teachings and instructions of Kim Il Sung<\/a> and Kim Jong Il, instead presenting Kim Jong Un\u2019s directives and vision as the sole standard of the current revolutionary era.<\/p>\n

Instructors at political sessions have reportedly told participants that Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il \u201cremain only as historical symbols<\/a> of their respective eras, enshrined alongside the immortality towers. All current policy must be grounded strictly in the instructions of Marshal Kim Jong Un.\u201d The shift has left a growing number of North Koreans disoriented.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the Ninth Party Congress<\/a>, a storm of Kim Jong Un-ism has been blowing,\u201d the source said. \u201cThe teachings of the former leaders are being pushed aside and forgotten. The sense of mission demanding absolute obedience to the Marshal\u2019s orders is being hammered home, and it\u2019s causing enormous confusion among the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donju targeted as private economy crackdown widens<\/p>\n

The confusion has been compounded by an economic directive that arrived March 31, ordering that donju (wealthy<\/a> entrepreneurs who operate semi-independently within North Korea\u2019s informal market<\/a> economy<\/a>) and private economic actors be fully brought under state control<\/a> by Oct. 10, the anniversary of the Workers\u2019 Party of Korea\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n

The order, which represents a sharp departure from the tacit tolerance of market activity that has characterized recent years, has sent anxiety spreading through the population. The source said authorities are now framing the affluent merchant class as \u201cremnants of class struggle,\u201d with privately run shops and food<\/a> service businesses being transferred wholesale into state ownership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe move to forcibly incorporate donju into the framework of socialist<\/a> workers<\/a> is shocking people,\u201d the source said. \u201cBusinesses that were operated with private capital<\/a> are being absorbed by the state all at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Korea has long relied on donju and private economic activity as a de facto pillar of economic stability amid chronic shortages<\/a>, but the post-Ninth Congress policy shift signals the regime\u2019s intent to bring that sector under direct state management.<\/p>\n

The tightening grip of political and economic control since the party congress has prompted some North Koreans to express nostalgia for the Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il eras.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the times of the Great Leader and the General, the state couldn\u2019t solve people\u2019s livelihood problems, but it<\/a> at least guaranteed the ability to trade<\/a> and make a living,\u201d the source said. \u201cPeople say that life was hard then too, but the Marshal\u2019s era is many times harder and more frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n

Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n

\n Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information<\/a> through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media<\/a>, satellite<\/a> imagery, or defector<\/a> accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.\n <\/p>\n

\n Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea \u2014 discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report<\/a> on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge<\/a> between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what\u2019s happening inside one of the world\u2019s most closed societies.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presides over a vote at the first session of the 15th Supreme…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[449,455,448,452,446,447,141,31,451,450,34,453,454],"class_list":{"0":"post-472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-north-korea","8":"tag-crackdowns","9":"tag-donju","10":"tag-ideology","11":"tag-jangmadang","12":"tag-kim-il-sung","13":"tag-kim-jong-il","14":"tag-kim-jong-un","15":"tag-korea","16":"tag-markets","17":"tag-ninth-party-congress","18":"tag-north-korea","19":"tag-propaganda","20":"tag-workers-party-of-korea"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}