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North Korean media glorifies leader Kim as 'greatest man in the world' after re-election

Published: 25 Feb. 2026, 12:07

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, front center, attends the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on Feb. 22. [YONHAP]

North Korean state media launched a glorification campaign for leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday, following his recent re-election to the highest party post, calling him the “greatest man in the world” and describing his leadership as tantamount to a “miracle.”

“The entire people across the country were moved by endless excitement and exaltation” over Kim's re-election, read an article carried by the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper published by the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).

At the ongoing party congress, the first since 2021, Kim was re-elected as general secretary of the WPK. The congress opened last Thursday to review policy results from the previous congress and set new goals for the next five years.

Under party rules, the WPK elects its general secretary — who represents and leads the entire party — at a congress which takes place every five years. At the start of his rule, Kim held the title of “first secretary.” The title was changed to “chairman” at the Seventh Party Congress in 2016, then to “general secretary” at the Eighth Party Congress in 2021.

The newspaper article said “great things,” or achievements that would be difficult to accomplish even over the course of several centuries, had been attained in the past five years, and likened them to “a miracle.”

The article specifically lauded “the absolute defense capability,” “the construction boom” and regional development as major feats under Kim's leadership, crediting Kim with “three miracles” in Sinuiju, a northwestern city ravaged by flooding in 2024: the rescue of flood-affected residents, the post-flood recovery efforts and the construction of the greenhouse farm.

The article also emphasized Kim's “people-first” policy, glorifying him as a “great mother of all miracles for the people” and the “greatest man in the world” who, it said, has a strong and particular love for the people.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN, YONHAP [[email protected]]