LESS RESPECT FOR THE FAT BOY IN PYONGYANG: If the UPI report is accurate, this is a most welcome trend!

Ordinary North Koreans are less careful about addressing Kim Jong Un in respectful terms, and in some cases, showing esteem for the leader invites public ridicule, sources in the country say.

A source in North Hamgyong Province told Radio Free Asia the trend dates back to the era of Kim Jong Il, who ruled the country between 1994 and 2011.

“Even when Kim Jong Il was alive, there was a gradual shift to no longer addressing the leader in honorifics,” the source said. “It was only until we entered the Kim Jong Un era the trend has come out in the open.”

Less respect, however, has strict limits:

But after the execution of Kim’s uncle-in-law Jang Song Thaek, illusions of a better future crumbled.

“There are always state agents among the closest of friends and neighbors,” the source said. “But no one has yet to be punished for not addressing Kim Jong Un in honorifics, so the system of idolization seems to be collapsing.”