intense speculation after the broadcast of images of Kim Jong Un walking on a white horse

These images, broadcast by the national news agency KCNA, accompany a text evokingnoble bursts"in the eyes of the young North Korean leader and qualifying his ride"great event of fundamental importance"for the country.

The officials present were convinced that "there is going to be a big operation to strike the world again with astonishment and take a step forward in the Korean revolution"according to the agency.

Analysts said the walk could signal a new direction in the country's politics.

"In the past, Mr. Kim went to Mount Paektu before any major political decision", observes Shin Beom-chul of the Asan Institute of Political Studies, Seoul.

Mr. Kim was on this mountain in December 2017, before the diplomatic openings that led to his historic summit with US President Donald Trump.

White horses and snow-capped peaks

Negotiations have been skating since February's failure of a second Kim-Trump summit, and North Korea has raised the tide with a series of missile tests.

Images of leaders riding white horses across snow-capped peaks, particularly Mount Paektu, haunted posters and portraits in the days of Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, and his grandfather, Kim Il Sung.

For B.R. Myers, a North Korean propaganda expert and a professor at Dongseo University in South Korea, these images evoke the imperial theme of a leader who protects the purity of the nation from corrupt forces from outside.

Mr. Kim also visited the site of a gigantic construction project in Samjiyon District, at the foot of Mount Paektu, according to KCNA. He blamed the country's difficulties for international sanctions on the initiative of the United States.

"The country's situation is difficult because of the incessant sanctions and the pressure of the hostile forces, and many difficulties and trials are before us."said Kim, according to the agency.