This Lapel Pin Isn't Just a Pin

For the first time, North Korean officials have been seen wearing lapel pins with the image of leader Kim Jong Un, another sign the North is boosting his personality cult to the level bestowed on his late dictator father and grandfather. North Koreans are required to wear pins over their hearts which for decades bore images of either the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, or his son Kim Jong Il, or both. The existence of pins dedicated to Kim Jong Un had not been verified until state media published photos on Sunday showing officials wearing his pins at a ruling Workers' Party meeting, reports the AP. The Korea Times notes it's not clear whether regular citizens have started to wear Kim Jong Un pins.

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The pins are part of a state-sponsored mythology surrounding the Kim family which treats Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il like gods. They are memorialized with numerous statues across North Korea, their birthdays are two of the country's main holidays, and their portraits are hung in all homes and offices. Few question current leader Kim Jong Un's hold on power, but few images honoring the 40-year-old have been displayed in public since he took power in late 2011 upon his father's death.

Recently, however, he has begun taking steps to boost his own personality cult while also trying to further move out of the shadow of his father's and grandfather's legacies. In May, his portrait was publicly displayed along with those of the two other Kims for the first time at a Workers' Party-run training school. In January, Kim announced he will no longer pursue peaceful unification with South Korea, a decadeslong policy cherished by his father and grandfather. Observers also say North Korea appears to be refraining from using terms like "the Day of Sun," a reference to the April 15 birthday of Kim Il Sung.

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Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said the wearing of Kim Jong Un pins isn't surprising, given that he has been consolidating his rule for over a decade. "The question is, now that Kim has stepped out from the shadow of his predecessors, whether he will undertake policy adjustments to break with North Korea's past economic failures," Easley said. (More Kim Jong Un stories.)