By Andreas Lorenz
Young North Koreans are suddenly wearing chic outfits, men gel their hair like South Korean actors, and private markets have more flexible opening hours. Do these tiny differences signal a change in course by the country's new leader, Kim Jong Un?
He openly acknowledged the failed rocket launch in April, held a 20-minute speech on television, opens his coat on warm days during visits to barracks and factories, and even lets his underlings occasionally embrace him. Indeed, some six months into being North Korea's "Great Leader," Kim Jong Un is distancing himself from his late father's style of ruling.
For Kim Jong Il, admitting to an embarrassing fiasco, making television appearances and getting close to the people would have been unthinkable. But his son seems much more carefree, appearing in public with a woman at his side and attending a gala featuring actors dressed up as Disney characters.
It's still too early to judge whether the rotund young man with an odd haircut will turn out to be a reformer in this quasi-religious state. Also unclear is whether he can or wants to free himself from the circle of the elite relatives and military figures surrounding him. But there are tiny signals indicating that this could be the case. Private markets in Pyongyang now have more flexible opening hours, and there has even been open criticism about the poor management of an amusement park.
Read the full story at Spiegel Online