Joshua H. Pollack

First let’s consider the pictures. Kim (plus entourage) on a white horse, scaling Mt. Paektu on a white horse, frankly evoke the myth of Kim Il Sung and his guerrilla band.

Emulating the founder is nothing new. It’s the core of KJU’s public persona. But this event is unusually emphatic, almost a historic reenactment.

Now let’s consider the text.https://twitter.com/joshjonsmith/status/1184241605617668096?s=21 …

A) “a great event of weighty importance” - your fat-shaming joke goes here.

B) Kim recalls the “road of arduous struggle” involved in building national power (nukes and missiles) - and he would cross those metaphorical mountains again in high spirits, if needed. Speaks for itself.

C) But Kim is plotting a course now for the nation to achieve prosperity “by its own efforts.” The nuclear mission remains achieved; the economic mountain remains unconquered.

D) “in the face of all headwinds.” Kim warned of “headwinds,” I.e., persistent US hostility, as early as his remarks after signing the Panmunjom summit joint declaration. The pursuit of sanctions relief is no longer an immediate priority.

E) “the great moments of his thinking atop Mt. Paektu” - a momentous occasion, we are being told, and the prelude to a new policy course.

That’s the “solitary genius” theme. Kim Jong Il was portrayed (retroactively) as having engaged in similar solitary outdoor pondering (although at a different place) before brilliantly formulating “military-first politics.”

F) “to strike the world with wonder again.” Could mean anything. It’s tempting to see this as foreshadowing a return to space launches, though: similarly awesome compared to ICBMs, but with a civilian, “economic” flavor.