The Pyongyang Times: Inside the mouthpiece of Kim Jong-un

TODAY’S front page features Kim Jong-un with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Two months ago, the front page of the Pyongyang Times looked very different.

IT’S regarded as the voice of the North Korean regime and is translated into both English and French for its foreign visitors.

The Pyongyang Times, the weekly voice of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is full of patriotism, some anti-US propaganda and the country’s achievements in industry and science.

At least it was more so — even up until two months ago.

The state-owned newspaper is the foreign language edition of the Pyongyang Sinmun.

While North Korean elites are able to read it, there’s no doubt who its intended audience is — the West.

The pages are filled with details from KCNA, the official mouthpiece of the regime, and reflect the view of ruling elite.

While a March edition features some anti-US and Japanese propaganda, today’s edition features the country’s leader with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang.

The two met on May 9.

Mr Pompeo and Kim meet on May 9. Picture: KCNA vis KNS/AFP

“Mike Pompeo expressed gratitude to Kim Jong-un for taking time to see him, saying that his visit is designed to personally convey the verbal message of President Donald Trump and gear up for the US-DPRK summit,” it reads.

It goes on to suggest “Mike Pompeo expressed heartfelt gratitude to Kim Jong-un for according gracious hospitality to him and his party while in Pyongyang and for holding very good talks with full agreement. And he voiced his readiness to work hard to ensure a successful US-DPRK summit in his capacity as US Secretary of State.

“Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un promised to meet him again and saw him off.”

Not long ago, a US representative being on the front page with the North Korean leader was unthinkable as the two nations’ leaders were involved in a war of words, sending tensions on the peninsula soaring.

Just two months ago, the propaganda mouthpiece was less glowing about the US publishing a raft of articles devoted to anti-US propaganda.

One article in its March 17 edition headlined “Deadly Shootings Commonplace in US” detailed how dangerous the country is and said US President Donald Trump is doing little to fix it.

“The US President, whom is backed by the National Rifle Association, also tries to shirk his responsibility, saying he would talk about it later,” it read.

The front page of the Pyongyang Times dated Saturday, March 17.

The paper also took a swipe at the US social system, comparing it to North Korea’s.

“The rampant gun violence is fully revealing the true identity of the US as the number one human rights abuser in the world,” it said, before warning business and the “social system” was to blame.

The March edition took a further swipe at the US, accusing it of further isolating Venezuela with the aim to “overthrow the Maduro government and set up a pro-US regime”.

In another piece it took aim at US ally Japan accusing it of piggybacking on the US in its anti-DPRK propaganda and warning subservience will lead to destruction.

Another article, “Despicable Dogfight”, targeted the conservative government in South Korea, accusing one party of being “corrupt conservatism with vested rights”.

Of 31 articles in the edition, at least six were devoted to propaganda against hostile nations, four articles to sporting achievements and 12 devoted to industry and research achievements with headlines such as “Industrial Sectors Fulfil First-quarter Plans”.

The front page lead story was devoted to the achievements of the workers’ party while revealing the Pyongyang Thermal Power complex has gone into top gear helping to “minimise the loss of electricity”.

Harsh propaganda published in that March edition of the Pyongyang Times came ahead of the historic inter-Korean summit held in the southern side of the Demilitarised Zone last month.

The historic talks with President Moon Jae-in marked the first time one of the ruling Kim leaders has crossed over to the southern side of the Demilitarised Zone since fighting in the Korean War ceased in 1953.

The stories from March have an anti-US slant.

A South Korean leader last visited the North in 2007, more than a decade ago.

The heavy propaganda in the March edition also came ahead of the Kim-Trump summit to be held in Singapore next month.

Mr Trump said on Twitter that the meeting will take place in Singapore on June 12.

In comparison, today’s edition of the Pyongyang Times features no such anti-US language — but does make mention of the Panmunjom summit meeting.

“The whole Korean nation and the world were surprised to see the fact that the north-south summit meeting held especially at Panmunjom, a truce village symbolic of more than 70-year national division and inter-Korean confrontation,” one article reads.

“Only four months before, a hair-trigger situation likely to lead to a war at any moment hovered on the Korean peninsula.”