North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reduced his public activity in recent years but has accelerated his personality cult by using the title reserved for the country's late founder, South Korea's unification ministry said Thursday.
Kim was referred to with the title "President" on 26 occasions in state media reports in the first seven months of this year, up from 23 in 2022, according to data from the ministry. The figure was also up from 16 occasions in 2021 and four in 2020.
Since 2020, the secretive regime has used the title for Kim Jong-un and bolstered the frequency of its use as a way to cement the dictatorship, the ministry said.
"Great President" is a title used to idolize the country's late founder, Kim Il-sung, who is also known as the incumbent leader's role model.
The North's leader has conducted public activities on 57 occasions so far this year. In the first half of this year, the number of his public inspections reached 32, fewer than the average of 62 in the past.
Kim has carried out military-related inspections on 30 occasions so far this year, while the number of his economy-related activities came to four.
Since assuming power in 2011, Kim's public activity has been largely on the decline after peaking at 214 in 2013. The number of his "field guidance" excursions has fallen below 100 since 2017.
Meanwhile, North Korea's serious food situation seems to be somewhat alleviating, aided by supplies of summer farm produce, such as potatoes and corn, the ministry said.
The North's food situation appears to have deteriorated amid deepening economic hardships caused by its COVID-19 border closure and disruptions in a state-controlled food supply system, with deaths from starvation occurring in some regions.
"The North's crop production may not be bad for this year, given that the country has not suffered severe damage from heavy rains," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Still, ordinary North Koreans appear to be shouldering heavy costs to purchase food as food prices spiked early this year.
The price of flour soared 445 percent in the first quarter, compared with the same period of 2019, one year before the country imposed COVID-19 restrictions.
Source: Yonhap News Agency