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North Korea released a series of photos Wednesday showing leader Kim Jong Un riding a white horse to a sacred mountain he has often climbed before making key decisions. Near the mountain, Kim reportedly vowed to overcome US-led sanctions that he said had both pained and infuriated his people. The images and Kim's rhetoric appeared aimed at bolstering his leadership at home as the North tries to pressure the US into making concessions in nuclear diplomacy. The photos showed a bespectacled Kim wearing a long, light-brown coat and riding on horseback up snow-covered Mount Paektu. (Reuters Photo)
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The mountain, the highest point on the Korean Peninsula, is sacred to North Koreans, and both it and the white horse are symbols associated with the Kim family's dynastic rule. (Reuters Photo)
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The official biography of Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il, says the second-generation leader was born on Paektu when a double rainbow filled the skies. (Reuters Photo)
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The white horse is also a propaganda symbol for the Kim family, which has ruled North Korea for seven decades with a strong personality cult surrounding family members. (Reuters Photo)
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Kim previously visited Mount Paektu before executing his powerful uncle in 2013 and entering into diplomacy with South Korea and the US in 2018. (Reuters Photo)
