But who are those men meticulously taking notes? They're not journalists, but soldiers, party members or government officials, says Prof James Grayson, Korea expert at the University of Sheffield.
What is happening is a demonstration of the leader's supposed power, knowledge, wisdom and concern, says Grayson. It's "on-the-spot guidance", something instigated by his grandfather Kim Il-sung in the 1950s. "It's part of the image of the great leader offering benevolent guidance," says Grayson.
Despite the fact that tablets are available in the country, paper notebooks remain the favoured medium. "These are pictures that will be broadcast on television and shown in the state media, so those who are there want to be seen recording Kim Jong-un's every word." It's about presenting him as having broad knowledge - however, it's ridiculous, he can't possibly know about all of these different things, says Grayson. "It's important, however, that the apparatchiks that surround him are seen to be hanging on his every word."
According to Prof Steve Tsang, chair the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham, the note-takers will be writing extremely carefully. "They wouldn't want to write down anything that was, say, politically inaccurate, or it might come back to bite them." The notes are not usually published or available for the public to view, says Tsang. "If anything comes out of them, it would be via the propaganda department. Whether it was what was actually said, or is different to the guidance given at the time, doesn't matter.
Culled From BBC
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