North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the completion ceremony of a greenhouse farm in North Pyongan Province, where he posed for a large commemorative photo with soldiers and youth who contributed to the farm’s construction.
The Workers’ Party of Korea’s official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on Monday that Kim participated in the ceremony at the Sinuiju Greenhouse Farm and took photos with the construction workers. The paper described this as a photo of love, underscoring the special significance of pictures with the supreme leader in North Korea.
On that day, the newspaper dedicated six of its eight pages to coverage of the greenhouse farm completion ceremony. Pages 3-5 featured extensive coverage of the commemorative photos, with page 4 notably displaying nine photos without any text. The expansion from the usual six pages to eight, with one full page dedicated to photos, indicates the high importance North Korea placed on this event and Kim’s participation.
While not a precise analysis, the photos in Rodong Sinmun suggest that approximately 4,800 to 5,000 people were present in each photo. With 13 such photos published, it’s estimated that around 65,000 workers were involved in the greenhouse farm’s construction.
Following catastrophic flooding along the Yalu River in the summer of 2024 that devastated the Sinuiju area, North Korea initiated a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the region. The greenhouse farm on Wihwa Island, the largest island in the Yalu River, is part of this effort. The project aims to create embankments and utilize the river’s resources for agricultural production.
According to North Korean media, the farm’s size is estimated to be about 1.5 times the area of Yeouido (2.9 km², about 717 acres), a significant urban area in Seoul.
Since the groundbreaking ceremony on February 10 last year, Kim has shown particular interest in the project, visiting the construction site four times in 2024 alone – on August 1, September 18, October 17, and November 26 – to personally inspect progress.
During the completion ceremony, Kim praised the Sinuiju Comprehensive Greenhouse Farm as one of the most extensive projects undertaken during the 8th Central Committee’s term (2021-2025). He hailed it as a valuable asset symbolizing the remarkable progress of the era.
Kim expressed his joy, stating that it’s truly gratifying to see this new foundation for life unfold here, where residents have long considered flooding an inevitable fate. Now, protected by robust defenses capable of withstanding even millennial floods, they can engage in joyful labor.
This development appears to be a strategic move by the state to address a region that has struggled with disaster management, effectively turning a crisis into an opportunity. As the 9th Party Congress approaches, this initiative seems aimed at reinforcing the regime’s people-first ideology to foster unity.
The prominent featuring of Kim’s photos with construction workers in Rodong Sinmun exemplifies North Korea’s typical photo politics strategy.
In North Korean society, photos taken with the supreme leader, known as No. 1 photos, hold immense value, comparable to cherished family heirlooms.
Appearing in the same frame as Kim can secure an individual’s social status, offering advantages in party membership, education opportunities, and career advancement. Conversely, failing to protect the leader’s portrait during emergencies can result in severe consequences.
After the photo session, Kim praised the workers, declaring that with such reliable successors, the Korean revolution will remain forever invincible. He promised to meet them again in Pyongyang during the upcoming 9th Party Congress.
