マスクを着けない金正恩氏、威厳保つイメージ戦略か

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】北朝鮮の国営メディアはここ2週間で、軍事演習を指導する金正恩（キム・ジョンウン）朝鮮労働党委員長の様子を4度にわたり伝えているが、同伴した将校たちから金氏を際立たせる点の一つとして、新型コロナウイルス対策のマスクがある。金氏だけが、マスクを着けていないのだ。（写真はマスクをした将校に囲まれながら軍事演習を視察する金正恩氏。朝鮮中央通信配信）
　北朝鮮は、隣国の中国から世界中に拡散した新型ウイルスの流行阻止に総力を挙げて取り組んでおり、数千人の隔離や、外交官を含む外国人数百人の自宅待機といった措置を取っている。
　国営メディアは市民に対し、健康関連の指示に従うよう呼び掛け、人々がそろってマスクを着用している姿を伝え続けている。ただ、唯一の例外が、最高指導者の金氏だ。
　北朝鮮は金氏のイメージを注意深く管理・調整している。専門家らは、マスクを着けていない金氏の姿には意図的なメッセージがあると指摘する。
　韓国の北朝鮮関連ニュースサイト「ＮＫニュース」の上級アナリスト、レイチェル・ミニョン・イ氏は、金氏が「自分は新型ウイルスを恐れておらず、感染を超越した存在であることを人々に示したいのかもしれない」と述べた。
　韓国・東国大学の高有煥教授（北朝鮮学）は、マスクを着用した画像は「カリスマ性を傷つける」ものであり、「自分の身を守るためにウイルス感染を怖がっている臆病者のように」みえる恐れがあると指摘している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/03/17-13:03）

As he watches his troops firing rockets and artillery shells, one of the many things that marks North Korean leader Kim Jong Un out from the officers alongside him is his coronavirus mask: it isn't there.
Kim has overseen multiple military drills in recent weeks as Pyongyang mounts an all-out drive to prevent an outbreak of the disease that has swept around the world from neighbouring China.
Thousands have been quarantined and hundreds of foreigners, including diplomats, confined to their residences.
State media constantly exhort citizens to obey health directives and publish images showing universal facemask use -- except by the supreme leader.
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, mouthpiece of the ruling party, and official news agency KCNA have shown Kim supervising firing exercises from a trench, tent or shelter four times in the last two weeks.
Every time he has had his face uncovered under a black fur hat, while all the officers next to him have worn black masks.
The North carefully controls and calibrates imagery of Kim, and analysts said his uncovered features send an intended message.
He may want to show people that he is not afraid of the virus, that he is above infection, said Rachel Minyoung Lee, senior analyst with specialist site NK News.
It is consistent with the crux of North Korea's leadership propaganda: that the Kim leadership is exceptional in every way.
There would be no sense he was contradicting the official virus guidance, she added: North Koreans know that he is in an altogether different league.
Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University, said an image of Kim wearing a mask could risk undermining his charisma... as if he is some sort of a coward, afraid of catching the virus for his own sake.
They aimed to project an image of Kim impervious to the coronavirus as the leader of the Paektu bloodline.
The Paektu bloodline is a term for the Kim family who have ruled the North for three generations.
It references the sacred mountain seen as the spiritual birthplace of the Korean people, where the North's founder Kim Il Sung is said to have fought Japanese occupiers during World War II.
Kim was twice last year pictured riding a white horse up Mount Paektu in what was seen as a symbolic appropriation of his grandfather's leadership image.
The North often plays up physical and other similarities between the two men, and the fur hat Kim has been wearing in recent photos recalls old images of Kim Il Sung, including one reproduced on a stamp in 2013.
It looks like he is going for his grandpa's fashion again, said Lee.