North Koreans given bizarre order to protect Kim Jong-un's portraits from storm

The North Korean regime is built on propaganda, and the government expects people to worship its leaders and everything that symbolises their unlimited power.

Every house and office in the country feature compulsory imagery of Kim Jong-un, his father, Kim Jong-il, and his grandfather and the dictatorship’s founder, Kim Il-sung, and removing or neglecting them is punishable by law.

Even accidental damage to this propaganda symbol can lead to an execution.

As North Korea is now preparing for tropical storm Khanun that threatens to bring heavy rain and strong winds, people were issued a warning over protecting these power tokens at any cost.

Here is what the local authorities said.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un found a sweet way to pay tribute to his friend and ally Vladimir Putin when the latter couldn't be come and meet him, here is why he did.

Also, find out what the leader of North Korea is getting up to in his private forest.

People risk jail over Kim-Jong-un's portraits

It’s no secret people in North Koreans are forced to religiously worship their leaders and keep their portraits visible in their homes and places of work.

As they are now facing an imminent natural disaster - heavy rain and strong winds caused by tropical storm Khanun - they are ordered to focus on ‘ensuring the safety’ of propaganda symbols relating to the Kim dynasty.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party, urged citizens to do everything possible to keepportraits of Kim Jong-un, his father, Kim Jong-il, and his grandfather and North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung intact.

The newspaper also asked the suppressed nation to safeguard all the statues, mosaics, murals and other monuments to the dictators that were ruling it since 1948.

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Expert: Kim Jong-un's portraits are 'sacred religious symbols'

It is mandatory in North Korea to put up pictures of the leaders in offices and houses.

The government organises regular inspections to make sure the instructions are followed.

People are also required to keep the portraits of the Kim dynasty as carefully as possible, and any laid-back attitude towards them is considered to be a serious offence.

Out of the known cases, a woman was once jailed for failing to save the portraits of the Korean leaders during a house fire. She was charged with committing a political crime.

What’s more, she reportedly wasn’t allowed to keep her children in the hospital during the investigation while people also routinely get denied antibiotics to ease the consequences of their burns in such cases.

Khanun, which made landfall on the Korean peninsula on Thursday, is expected to cause a devastating impact on the impoverished North of the country, where weak infrastructure and deforestation have increased its vulnerability to flooding.

One can only hope that people won’t have to suffer even more in an attempt to avoid jail over their leaders’ imagery.

Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University, commented:

These statues and portraits are not just symbols but are sacred religious symbols – essentially icons. Every religion since times immemorial expects its faithful to be ready to die – or at least suffer – in order to save sacred icons.

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Sources used:

- The Guardian: 'North Koreans ordered to protect portraits of Kim Jong-un as tropical storm Khanun looms'

- Times Now News: 'Woman charged with political crime, arrested for not saving Kim Jong-un's portrait during house fire'