Kim Appears in Public After Nuke Test

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il publicly appeared nine days after the nuclear test. It has also been 13 days since Kim reportedly attended a meeting of his battalion commanders and military leaders.

The North Korean media reported yesterday that Kim attended a concert performed by the North Korean military on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the “Down with Imperialism Union,” his father Kim Il Sung’s first official organization, without giving details about the date of the performance.

He did not orchestrate the concert but simply watched it. However, this is quite different from the past when the leader laid low for a long time every time the communist country was isolated in conflicts with the outside world.

It can be interpreted as his attempt to take on the current situation. Now that DPRK used nuclear tests as its last resort, he does not need to keep such a low profile as in the past.

The other day, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement that Pyongyang would take measures it regards appropriate, condemning the UN Security Council’s resolution to impose sanctions on the country.

In this regard, Kim’s presence in public for the first time since the nuclear tests was meant to proclaim to the world that there is no backing down now for the DPRK.

The military choir and orchestra are the vanguard of propagandizing the military-first policy, called “Seon-gun politics.” Kim praised them as “trumpeters for the Seon-gun revolution” and added that their concerts empower him in hardest times.” He attended as many as 30 such concerts from 1996 to 1999.

Kim’s attendance this time is said to be a show of his firm resolve to go ahead with “Seon-gun politics” against sanctions from the international community.

zsh75@donga.com