Snoozy Kim Jong-un dozes off during political assembly
Kim Jong-un appears to be taking a nap during North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly. / Yonhap
By Lee Han-soo
North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, was caught dozing in the Supreme People’s Assembly on Wednesday.
Kim had just been appointed chairman of a newly created state body called the Commission on State Affairs, solidifying his one-man rule.
But Kim’s attention faltered and a camera filming the event caught him still for five seconds with his eyes closed.
Although the picture quickly turned to an audience member, the footage seems to have mistakenly been edited into the recorded broadcast aired on Korean Central Television.
Kim’s nap is controversial because South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported that Kim had executed Hong Yong-chol, a senior North Korean military official, for taking a nap at a military rally the leader attended.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un participates in the Supreme People's Assembly. / Yonhap News Agency
Meanwhile, Kim has tightened his grip on power through assembly, during which he was elected as the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's chairman, replacing his previous title of the party's first secretary.
Wearing a Mao-style suit, Kim attended the parliamentary meeting where the communist country revised its Constitution and renamed the National Defense Commission (NDC) as the commission on state affairs, according to the state media. Previously, Kim was the first chairman of the NDC.
The NDC served as a powerful state organization under the Kim Jong-il regime which also advocated a military first, or "songun," policy.
Workers' Party of Korea members hold a voting ticket to appoint Kim Chairman of the Commission on State Affairs. / Yonhap News Agency
"With the new state title, the North's current leader will likely cement one-man rule at a similar level to the absolute power enjoyed by his late father and grandfather," said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute.
The assembly usually convenes in April, attended by hundreds of deputies, to finalize the country's budget spending and overhaul Cabinet organs. But the North held a smaller meeting in late March ahead of the party congress.
Military officials celebrate Kim being appointed Chairman of the Commission on State Affairs. / Yonhap News Agency
The parliamentary meeting comes as the U.N. Security Council slapped tougher sanctions on North Korea in March for its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in the following month.