KIM JONG-UN has channelled Game of Thrones by riding a white horse across a historic battlefield in North Korea.
The dictator was pictured surrounded by top officials on Mount Paektu, the highest mountain in the country and a spiritual home for many North Koreans.
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Among the group were first lady Ri Sol Ju, advisor Jo Yong Won, and vice chairman of the country’s State Affairs Commission Choe Ryong Hae.
Mount Paektu sits near North Korea’s border with China and plays an important mythological and cultural role in the societies of both states on the Korean peninsula.
It is mentioned in the national anthem of both countries and appears on the national emblem of North Korea.
The images, released today, have echoes of hit fantasy series Game of Thrones, in which rival alliances fight for dominance in a fictional world.
The expedition comes days after the opening of the so-called “utopia” town of Samjiyon nearby.
An English-language report by The Koran Central News Agency, the country’s state-run news outlet, said: “Kim Jong Un, the great leader of our revolution who opens up the period of a great leap for the development of the revolution, personally left the sacred trace in the revolutionary battle sites in Mt Paektu area… through knee-high virgin snow.
“Riding a steed across the vast area of Mt Paektu together with the commanding officers who accompanied him, he recollected the bloody history of the guerrillas who recorded dignity on the first page of the history of the Korean revolution by shedding their blood in the vast plain of Mt Paektu.”
It also said the trip had been intend to inspire in North Koreans an “indefatigable revolutionary spirit” amid “unprecedented blockade and pressure imposed by the imperialists”.
‘BUCKLE UP FOR BIG YEAR’
John Delury of Seoul’s Yonsei University told Reuters the images were intended as an ominous warning sign to the West about North Korea’s intentions for the near future.
“The message is buckle up, it’s going to be a big year for us next year,” he said.
“And not a year of diplomacy and summitry, but rather of national strength.”
He said the ride was full of militaristic symbolism and intended to send a bellicose message to Kim’s domestic audience.
The pictures come amid continuing tensions between North Korea and the United States over the hermit kingdom’s nuclear weapons programme.
The two countries have held intermittent talks in recent years, but no deal has yet been reached.
Yesterday, North Korea gave the US until December 31 to end what it called “hostility” and salvage the talks, saying that it was “entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get”.
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