Kim Jong-un, chairman of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, ascended Mount Baekdu on horseback with military officials, reported Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency on the 4th. The photo shows Chairman Kim on a white horse. Yonhap News.
North Korea, ahead of the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day on August 15th, has idolized the late Kim Il-sung as a 'legendary hero of the anti-Japanese struggle' and called for loyalty across generations.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party, published a two-page article on the 3rd titled "Looking Up to the Great Benefactor of Fatherland Liberation, the Patriotic Genius of All Ages," praising Kim Il-sung as "the great leader, the legendary hero of the anti-Japanese struggle, and the patriotic genius of all ages."

However, the article soon shifted its focus to Chairman Kim Jong-un.

The newspaper recalled the 'Baekdu Mountain Horseback March' by stating, "The dear Secretary General (Kim Jong-un) also galloped across the Baekdu plains on horseback..." and then praised, "Our people, inheriting the spirit of the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters who brought about the liberation of the fatherland following the great leader (Kim Il-sung), have an absolute and unchanging conviction that they will surely win as long as our dear Secretary General (Kim Jong-un) is with us."

This represents a generational idolization campaign using Mount Baekdu, where Kim Il-sung purportedly fought in anti-Japanese armed struggles. After his attempts to lift sanctions against the United States were thwarted, Chairman Kim Jong-un undertook a horseback march across the Mount Baekdu region in December 2019, braving heavy snow.

The Rodong Sinmun's publication of such an article ahead of the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day is interpreted as an emphasis on Chairman Kim Jong-un's struggle against external forces pressuring North Korea today, much like his grandfather fought against Japan.

Furthermore, the newspaper, in a third-page article titled 'The Attitude of Respecting the People Must Be Unwavering,' promoted Chairman Kim Jong-un's 'love for the people' spirit.

The newspaper wrote, "The people are like the heavens that the Secretary General deeply respects with unwavering loyalty," adding, "Our Secretary General, who unhesitatingly bends down to greet ordinary people and incorporates their humble thoughts directly into policy."

It then urged officials to guard against bureaucracy, stating, "Party officials (cadres) must make the Secretary General's great view of the people and people's philosophy their motto and thoroughly implement it in their practical party work."

Yonhap News