North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un may be gearing up for his second Hollywood-style TV production as the country celebrates the anniversary of the founding of its army on April 25. With its usual military parades and fanfare expected to highlight the event, the occasion is a fitting venue to get a glossy video production made to push the country’s propaganda.
According to NDTV, the army anniversary could well see the same pomp and military splendor that has been known to show off the country’s military arsenal. This has been Kim’s best-used platform to trot and show what the country could use to attack the US and its allies in the west as well as in Asia.
Expert analysts have warned that North Korea could take advantage of the celebration to conduct its second nuclear-bomb test since its first test run in September 2017. The supreme leader is well aware of how the west keeps a close watch on his movements for any telltale signs of nuclear movement. Using this audience leverage, Kim milks the opportunity by brandishing the country’s military hardware on state television during such national events.
Since Kim came to power in 2011, North Korea has been flaunting a new look in the way it has run its state television. The network has embraced broadcast elements that are likened to typical Hollywood productions including drone footage, MTV style cuts, and computer-generated imagery.
These broadcast effectuations have helped Kim push his propaganda and rally the support for the country’s struggles as it deals with its frail economy along with chronic food shortages brought on by international sanctions.
In 2012, Kim’s first successful missile test gave strong hints of how the country will be pushing its weapon’s propaganda. A camera was rigged on the missile as it blasted off, reeling in a style usually seen in Hollywood movies. This was a far cry from how his father Kim Jong Il, who had a love for big camera moments and kept a huge collection of movies.
Kim’s other cinematic propaganda videos also included one where he can be seen riding off into the sunset in a majestic scene galloping on a white horse.
His most recent video featured him in a TV spectacle last month that showed him wearing a black leather jacket and dark sunglasses as he walks out of a hangar in slow motion with his generals. The video which was released days after a failed ballistic missile test seemed to be reminiscent of a scene from Tom Cruise’s movie "Top Gun."
Kang Mi-jin, a defector from North Korea who runs a company in South Korea that tracts the North’s economy said, "Slick videos like the ICBM test footage translate into the credibility of the information it portrays.”
"The video made North Koreans believe in the country's ICBM capability, which further solidified Kim Jong Un's legitimacy to rule," she added.
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