Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il portraits

Visual depictions of Kim Il Sung have been commonplace in North Korea since the 1940s following the example of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union and Mao Zedong in China.

[citation needed] In the past, they were mandatory in certain public places as well, such as factories, schools, airports, railway stations, and rail and subway carriages.

[3] By Kim Il Sung's 60th birthday in 1972, North Korea had more leader portraits than the Soviet Union or China ever did.

[5] The order to do so became unofficial so that North Korean propaganda could claim that there was a spontaneous movement that supported Kim Jong Il.

A portrait of Kim Jong Un was displayed for the first time in public in November 2018 during a visit of Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel to Pyongyang.

[9] In May 2024, at the opening of a training school for cadets of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), another large portrait of Kim Jong Un was displayed at the building front.

[10] Andrei Lankov, an expert on North Korea, notes that the set of rules regarding the portraits changes frequently, making it "remarkable for its constant fluidity".

[15] Still, neglecting care for the portraits is considered a rather minor offense, and as such, it is a typical confession that people make during mutual criticism sessions.

[16] Random checks for the portraits are carried out,[11] monthly at least during Kim Il Sung's reign,[17] but the inminban (neighborhood watch) sometimes tips people off of inspections.

[12] When a North Korean family mourns a dead member, ceremonial greetings and offerings are made to the deceased, but only after the two portraits have been given the same treatment.

[18][14] In addition to homes, offices, factories, shops, hospitals, classrooms and libraries sport the portraits,[14] as do decks of ships and fronts of trains.

[15] Such a feat can raise the societal status of a person considerably by improving their songbun (ascribed social rank in North Korea).

[20] Saving portraits is based on an arbitrary interpretation of the Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System.