Body
We were intrigued by a KCNA story reporting that Kim Jong Un—AKA “rockstar” according to the Washington Post—is sending autographs out to the people. What is more intriguing is that they actually show Kim Jong Un’s signature, and in one case—reproduced below—a brief note. Is there a handwriting analyst in the house?
As with all such things in North Korea, the whole exercise is tightly stage-managed. The printed cards all say “Respectfully send (this letter) to our party and our people's Supreme Leader comrade Kim Jong Un from: faculty and students of the Kim Il Sung Higher Party School; from the commander and the unit members of the Paektusan Songun Youth Shock Brigade, and so on. The card is then returned to the unit signed and dated by Kim Jong Un.
In the case below, Kim Jong Un appends a note saying "A strong (thriving) tomorrow will come closer by the strong march of the youth. Always straight, following the party forward!" We can already hear the “party-firsters” saying “I told you so.”
But there is one further bit of information: what will we call the rockstar now that the Great and Dear Leaders have passed? It turns out that only the letter from the Socialist Youth League addressed KJU as "dear comrade," while all the others used the "Supreme Leader [최고지도자 / 최고령도자]".
Apart from the fact that the English version of the report tends to provide a summarized, less-propagandized version of the original Korean report, we also notice a slight gap in the translation of the following text:
“[Those who sent the letters] vowed to remain true to the leadership of Kim Jong Un, identical to President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, with firm faith that Kim Jong Il will always be with them.”
The corresponding paragraph in Korean reads:
“[Those who sent the letters] respectfully prayed, with the steadfast aspiration of the people of the entire country, for the well being of the respected comrade Kim Jong Un, who is the destiny and the banner of eternal victory of the Kim Il Sung people [민족] and the Kim Jong Il Chosun, and the Supreme Leader [최고령도자] of our Party, State, and Military.”
We may also need some help from a linguist on this one, but the English one seems to have less problem of equating the rockstar to his predecessors while the Korean one seems to emphasize the fact that he is the Supreme Leader.
Socialist Youth League letter translated above
Signed autograph from another true "Rockstar"