The portraits vanish, analysts vexed

Portraits of North Korea8217;s leader, Kim Jong II, have been quietly taken down this fall in some important institutions in the country1...

Portraits of North Korea8217;s leader, Kim Jong II, have been quietly taken down this fall in some important institutions in the country8217;s capital, Pyongyang, several diplomats there say.

Analysts are debating the reasons, with explanations including a demotion of North Korea8217;s 8216;8216;Dear Leader8217;8217; to a simple desire to place the portraits in more ornate frames.

In a country where the cult of the Kim family is a primary binding force, people have been sent to prison for failing to dust a portrait of their leader or for allowing ink drops to blot his image in a newspaper. A woman who died trying to rescue Kim family portraits from a burning school was elevated by the state-controlled media to national heroine.

But according to reports from Pyongyang by the Itar-Tass news agency and an ambassador in the capital, guests at recent receptions of the North Korean Foreign Ministry have seen only portraits of Kim8217;s father, Kim Il Sung, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla leader who founded North Korea in 1945.

8216;8216;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,8217;8217; the Itar-Tass correspondent wrote of the scene in the People8217;s Palace of Culture.

Separately, a European ambassador in Pyongyang has told his country8217;s ambassador in South Korea that he had started noticing last month that Kim Jong Il portraits that had been displayed outside some schools and other institutions in Pyongyang were gone, the ambassador said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

8216;8216;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,8217;8217; the Seoul-based ambassador said. 8216;8216;But I wouldn8217;t bet on any explanation. It could be part of some kind of reform.8217;8217;

nbsp;	Kim sighted with troops

		nbsp;	8226; SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has visited a military unit, the country8217;s official KCNA news agency reported on Wednesday, just hours after reports surfaced that his portrait had been removed from some public places. The KCNA report about Kim8217;s latest inspection did not give the date or location of his visit, although the wording suggested it was near the Demilitarized Zone. 8212;Reuters Story continues below this ad	nbsp;

There has been no official reaction from North Korea to the reports. But a North Korean diplomat in Moscow was quoted last evening by Itar-Tass as saying:8216;8216; This is false information, lies. Can the sun be removed from the sky? It is not possible.8217;8217;

A Western aid worker in Pyongyang said by telephone Tuesday that traffic there was normal and that the airport was operating as usual.

In Tokyo, analysts at Radiopress, a Japanese news agency that monitors the North Korean news media, were mystified. 8216;8216;To me, it does not look like a coup d8217;etat,8217;8217; said a senior analyst who asked not to be identified. 8216;8216;But somehow, the images have been removed in an orderly way.8217;8217;

In Seoul, a government intelligence analyst reported that in recent days North Korea8217;s state radio has shifted one catch phrase from 8216;8216;Kim Jong Il, ruling according to the Kim Il Sung legacy8217;8217; to simply 8216;8216;Ruling by Kim Il Sung,8217;8217; leaving out the younger Kim8217;s name. 8212;NYT