SEOUL, March 4, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - North Korea has unveiled one of its first-known statues of Kim Jong Un, using the "highly unusual" sculpture to depict the leader as a smiling man of the people, an analyst told AFP.

State-run Korean Central Television recently broadcast images of the half?body sculpture, depicting Kim smiling warmly with his right hand tucked in his coat pocket.

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter?Korean relations for Seoul, said it was the first such work depicting the third?generation leader.

"A statue of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was recently shown on Korean Central Television, and as far as we know, this is the first time it has been identified," the department said on Wednesday.

North Korea is dotted with massive statues venerating Kim's grandfather Kim Il Sung and his father Kim Jong Il -- the first two members of the family dynasty to rule the reclusive nation.

Expert Lim Eul-chul said such honours were typically reserved for the dead, making the sculpture of Kim "highly unusual".

"North Korea is now moving toward the peak of a leader?focused cult," said Lim, from the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.

"The statue is particularly notable because it is highly unusual for the regime to create a monument of a leader who is still alive."

The work stood out for its efforts to portray Kim as a more relatable figure, Lim told AFP.

"Rather than depicting him as a god-like figure, the North is likely to promote a narrative portraying him as a leader who earns people's respect and devotes himself to their welfare."

North Korea releases highly choreographed images to illustrate Kim's absolute grip on power.

He was shown riding a white horse up a sacred mountain in 2019, while other photos have shown him mobbed by fawning soldiers, shooting guns, and driving military vehicles.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2019 gifted North Korea a half-body bust of Kim during a visit to Pyongyang.