Why did traffic controller Ri Kyong Sim get rewarded with the title of Hero of the Republic, together with a new flat for herself and her family?
Recently she safeguarded the headquarters of the revolution in an unexpected situation by displaying her heroic self-sacrificing spirit of defending the leader resolutely,
says the Rodong Sinmun on 10 May. New Focus International has a more detailed story from sources in Pyongyang:
A fire broke out opposite the cross-roads traffic-post where Ri Kyong-Sim was on duty. When the propaganda poster with Kim Jong Un’s name caught on fire, Ri went to put it out.
According to the report, under North Korea’s Grade 1 War-Readiness State, there are “stepped-up efforts to protect icons and statues depicting the Kims”, and the poster in question had Kim Jong Un’s name on it.
