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| Sales of EBS Media and Scholas' puzzle set titled "Leaders ushering in the era of peace of the Korean Peninsula" have been put on hold. Captured from Scholas website |
By Jung Da-min
Sales of a three-dimension puzzle series, including one of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, have been put on hold after accusations that the puzzle glorifies Kim.
"We are planning to resume selling of the series, but will exclude the Kim Jong-un set," an official of Scholas told The Korea Times Monday. Teaching aid maker Scholas manufactures and markets the puzzles with EBS Media, the state-run education broadcaster's subsidiary for content applications.
Kim's puzzle is part of the "Leaders ushering the era of peace of the Korean Peninsula" series in which card instructions describe Kim as "the youngest head of state in the world." It also highlights Kim's role in the April 27 inter-Korean summit and June 12 U.S.-North Korea summit.
"... Kim Jong un, by reaching agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump on complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and guaranteeing peace on the Korean Peninsula, has set a new index toward world peace," the last paragraph reads.
Critics argue that this glorifies the North's leader.
Children assemble the puzzles made of Styrofoam and paper without using glue and scissors. As well as the North's leader, there are puzzles of President Moon Jae-in, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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| The new series of 3D puzzles titled "Leaders ushering the era of peace of the Korean Peninsula" consists of four sets for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Captured from Scholas website |
Posters featuring portraits of Kim Jong-un and his grandfather and father ― North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il ― have earlier caused controversy.
Separately, on Nov. 9, three-member Indie band Standing Egg posted on its Facebook account a figurine of Kim Jong-un's likeness, saying it was "too cute." It was on display at an exhibition titled "BukJoseon (North Korea in Korean) Fantasy" at Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul.
Faced with critical comments, Standing Egg deleted the post and apologized for causing political controversy.
"We took this work (figure) as witty and satiric pop art," the band said in a statement.
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