... [A]ccording to reports from Pyongyang by the Itar-Tass news agency and an ambassador in the capital, guests at recent Foreign Ministry receptions have seen only portraits of Mr. Kim's father, Kim Il Sung, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla leader who founded North Korea in 1945.
"Only a light rectangular spot on the yellow whitewashed wall and a nail have remained in the place where the second portrait used to be," the Itar-Tass correspondent said of the People's Palace of Culture.
Separately, a European ambassador in Pyongyang has told his country's ambassador in South Korea that he started noticing last month that Kim Jong Il portraits that had been displayed outside some schools and other institutions in Pyongyang were now gone, the Seoul-based ambassador said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
"One possible explanation is some shift of power, a weakening of the position of Dear Leader, who has not been seen in public for some time," the ambassador in Seoul said. "But I wouldn't bet on any explanation."
There has been no official reaction from North Korea to the reports. But a North Korean diplomat in Moscow was quoted Tuesday by Itar-Tass as saying: "This is false information, lies. Can the sun be removed from the sky? It is not possible."
Right. There are conflicting reports mentioned here — one aid worker is quoted in the article as having visited several schools, hospitals, etc, where the Dear Leader's visage is intact and proudly displayed, so I don't really know what to make of it, exactly. My North Korean kremlinology skills are highly undeveloped (heck, I don't even know what the Pyongyang equivalent of the Kremlin is called, if there even is one) but this sounds like something could be afoot. Very odd, but good timing — we're studying Japanese-Korean relations in class this week and next in my Japanese Foreign Policy course.
Update: A newfound sense of modesty on the part of the Dear Leader, or is he just feeling his age? Your guess is as good as mine...