North Korea opens Kim Jong Un photo exhibition
State media says the show highlights “immortal exploits” from the current party leadership cycle.
Government and Cultural Heritage
North Korea has opened a national photo exhibition celebrating the “immortal exploits” of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, presenting what state media called a period of “gigantic transformation” under his rule.
The exhibition, titled “Ushering in an Era of Gigantic Transformation for Comprehensive Development of Korean-Style Socialism,” opened January 5 at Pyongyang’s Okryu Exhibition House, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
It showcases photographs from the term of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Eighth Central Committee and presents Kim as the central architect of political independence, economic self-reliance and national defense.
The Eighth Party Congress took place in January 2021, and the exhibition covers the years since then, positioning it as a retrospective on Kim’s current policy cycle.
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The opening comes as North Korea remains largely closed to foreign observers, leaving state-run exhibitions and official photography as a rare public-facing substitute for independent art and cultural production.
Photographs published by KCNA show the exhibition staged in a convention-style exhibition hall lined with a continuous display of images that appear arranged to move visitors through a single narrative, effectively becoming a hagiography of Kim.
The images on the walls show Kim, always centered, standing at podiums, saluting troops, meeting foreign leaders and posing in front of newly completed buildings and illuminated cityscapes, while crowds of visitors pictured in orderly rows appear to be studying the photographs.
But the way the exhibition is framed for internal North Korean audiences shows it functions less like a historical archive than a visual substitute for transparency. Economic success is presented through images of completed infrastructure, while diplomatic legitimacy is reduced to handshakes and flag-backed meetings, without accompanying data or policy detail.
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The opening was attended by senior party officials, including Ju Chang Il of the Workers’ Party Central Committee and Culture Minister Sung Jong Gyu, KCNA reported.
Ju reportedly said in a speech that the period covered by the exhibition was one of “excitement,” and that the country had demonstrated its “absolute power” through “epochal successes” across all sectors of socialist construction.
He expressed confidence that the exhibition would encourage the public to rally behind new goals expected to be announced at a future party congress, KCNA reported.
The photography exhibit aligns with broader efforts by Pyongyang to codify its recent activities as cultural heritage.
In October, Kim delivered a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for building the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations, as Russia’s Victory Museum opened an exhibit dedicated to Moscow’s relationship with Pyongyang that acknowledges North Korea’s involvement in the Ukraine war.
Kim said that the museum would include sculptures of North Korean soldiers and officers, as well as other works of fine art and photographs honoring them.
“Present here are families of the martyrs and the soldiers who fought in the operations for liberating Kursk,” Kim said in the speech. “It is quite fortunate, pleasing and gratifying for me to see the soldiers, who were returned after being wounded and have recovered their health.”
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