You may have noticed that pretty much every photo of Kim Jong Un talking to someone involves Kim talking, and the other guy taking notes. What the heck is going on there?

Prof James Grayson, a Korea expert at the University of Sheffield says what is happening is a demonstration of the Great One’s power, knowledge, wisdom and concern. 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.

“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,” says Grayson. “It’s about presenting him as having broad knowledge – however, it’s ridiculous, he can’t possibly know about all of these different things. It’s important, however, that the apparatchiks that surround him are seen to be hanging on his every word.”

[Source : BBC]