Pyongyang's pro-dimple agenda revisited

Years ago on this blog, I posted a commentary on the 2016 short story Night Path in which I made the case that one of the characters is a supposed to be a stand-in for Kim Jong Un, on the grounds that he "knows everything, loves basketball, and has a dimpled smile" (my words). The dimples in question are mentioned incessantly throughout the story and comprise the greater part of this character's development. I knew there had to be a deeper meaning behind those omnipresent dimples, and when I noticed the character displaying other conspicuous qualities usually associated with the Leaders, I thought I had it solved.

However, I was forced to question everything after an uncomfortable fact was pointed out to me: Kim Jong Un has no dimples. 

There are plenty of photos circulating online of him grinning ear-to-ear, with nary the ghost of a dimple to be seen. I wondered: do Koreans have a different concept of what dimples are? Or perhaps have I been mistranslating 볼우물? But a Google Images search of the term confirmed it means just what I think it means, at least for South Koreans.

Either way, I had to confront the inescapable question: why did I think he had dimples? I didn't even question it at the time, even though I remember searching for a good photo to illustrate his dimples and coming up empty. 

After much soul-searching, I have come to the conclusion that I was brainwashed. Yes, moi, semi-professional analyst of North Korean propaganda, fell for one of their most insidious lies. 

Countless North Korean novels mention dimples appearing when the Leader smiles. I must have read enough of those stories to unconsciously absorb the image. And yet I cannot find photographic evidence of a dimple ever popping up on any of the three Leader Kims' faces. Kim Il Sung comes closest, appearing to have a slight indentation on his right cheek in some photos, but it may just be a fat crease:

I can think of no better illustration of the awesome power of propaganda than this – that it can blind you to the truth even when truth is literally staring you in the face.

A search of my digital collection found 105 references to dimples in 78 different North Korean novels and short stories. At a glance, it appears that about a quarter of these belong to the Leaders, and the others all apply to very positive and heroic characters. It seems there are no dimpled villains in North Korean literature (or perhaps they're just hidden beneath all the mustaches?). Their usage seems somewhat gendered, denoting sweetness in females and confidence/health in males, but virtuous spirit in both.

If none of the three Leaders to date ever had dimples, then why does North Korean literature make such an unsupportable effort to convince readers that they do? And why work so hard to portray dimples as a reliable sign of inherent goodness, when the Leaders themselves do not have them? 

There are only two possible explanations I can see: 1) Pyongyang's pro-dimple agenda goes deeper than I had previously thought – perhaps it is a Korean stereotype predating the Kim regime, one so firmly entrenched that it was easier to just retroactively graft imaginary dimples onto the Leaders' faces than to attempt to subvert the stereotype; or 2) There is a sizable group of North Korean writers who are secretly opposed to the regime, and this is their sneaky way of signaling to attentive readers that their words should not be trusted.

Whichever it is, my devoted followers, you'll just have to decide for yourselves. Meanwhile, stay vigilant, question everything, and don't believe the hype about dimples!