The following article is a column by Tatiana Gabroussenko, a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University in Seoul.  

North Korean leaders are known for their “on-the-spot” guidances, where they traditionally provide bits of advice and critiques about the nation’s projects before state media cameras. In 2020, Kim appears to have largely ditched this tradition, holding by far the fewest on-the-spot guidances out of any year he spent in power. 

He’s also changing the very nature of how these visits unfold. 

DPRK state propaganda strives to portray leader Kim Jong Un as the modern-day equivalent of his father