I Spy With My Little Eye: Trouble for Choe Ryong Hae?

Kim Jong Eun Makes Appearance, Choe Ryong Hae Eyes Camera

Roh Hae Cheol, of the Daily NK, points to a problem for somebody in "Playing to the Gallery: Choe Images Attract Attention" (January 6, 2014):

In recent days, the official daily publication of the Chosun Workers' Party, Rodong Sinmun has been publishing . . . images of Kim Jong Eun performing onsite inspections . . . [but] Choe Ryong Hae . . . stands out in the [two] images [above], not Kim . . . . Within . . . North Korean propaganda methodology, . . . such [images] as these . . . emphasize the leading role and wisdom of the supreme leader . . . . Kim should be in the center . . . , and other officials and personnel . . . should observe him or his actions . . . . [In] the two images cited, Choe is visible in the background staring straight into the camera . . . . Choe's actions, and the decision to publish the photos, . . . [are] abnormal and inappropriate . . . . [Such official images] are managed . . . by the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party, and should only be authorized . . . once the background, leader's expression and accompanying personnel have all been [checked, so] . . . . either the images were deliberately released to emphasize . . . Choe . . . , or the action was not deliberate and the officials who . . . permitted the images . . . could face censure.

Does somebody want to get Choe in trouble? He's been said to have been one of the principal advisers to Kim Jong Eun in the recent execution of Jang Song Thaek. Even if the publication of these photos is accidental -- and those would be two consecutive, highly unlikely careless 'accidents' -- they put Choe in a bad light, for Choe's enemies could argue that Choe should always keep his focus on the Great Leader during such official events and that the photos show him openly ignoring Kim Jong Eun. Keep in mind that earlier photos of Jang Song Thaek showed him openly ignoring Kim Jong Eun at official events. Such photos were analyzed for their political meaning, and many commentators suggested that those photographs indicated the powerful position of Jang, given that he could openly ignore Kim. But we see where that got him.

Does the sick state up north need another purgative? Stay tuned . . .