Kim Jong Un and his military photo-ops
Kim Jong Un visits the Wolnae Islet Defence Detachment in North Korea’s western sector near the disputed maritime frontier with South Korea in this undated photo.
Compared to some world leaders who can't seem to get enough of the limelight, there's not many photos of North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
It's tempting to try and read too much into every photo in an attempt to discern some salient information about the hermit kingdom and its foreign ways. But it's important to keep in mind the majority of pictures available to the media are supplied by North Korea's state news.
These pictures are – like so many state released photos – meant to impart a message to the watching public. So what's the message we're supposed to receive from these photos of Kim Jong Un, who has lately been very busy as tensions with South Korea and the US continue to increase?
Well, that is the message – Kim Jong Un is busy doing important stuff. The pictures are meant to tell us (true or false) that it's leader has everything under control.