Kim Jong-Un Looking at Things by Johan A. G. Kringlen

Kim Jong-un looking at things is a meme that emerged late December, 2011. Basically, Kim Jong-un looking at things is exactly that, pictures of North Korea's leader looking at things, without no given context.
Here’s an example:

Most of the pictures show Kim Jong-un with either some military personnel or as in the above picture, with his father. In most cases there is no apparent ‘event’, other than that he is looking at something. This ranges from a guitar, some dirt and weapons to armored vehicles.

When did it become popular?

Some historic background: North Korea's much riddled and loved leader, Kim Jong-il, died 17. th December 2011. To step up as new leader was his son, Kim Jong-un. Soon after, the meme appeared. It became fairly popular, and claimed to be the best new site by deathandtaxesmag.com. Even so it seems to be losing popularity, which is illustrated in the table below.

Why did it become popular?

To understand why the meme became popular, we have to look at how it originated. North Korea has a history of weirdness, chosen to be mostly isolated from the rest of the world, there has been little outreach to it's neighboring nations, or any else for that matter. This vow of silence has only been broken periodically when they've felt like shooting up a military missile.

Its former leader Kim Jon-il has been parodied on many occasions. Maybe most known is the Team America movie, a puppet-action-comedy movie by the creators of South Park. Here he is the main villain, and coordinator of a terrorist scheme. But perhaps more importantly, he also starred as a meme, called Kim Jong-il looking at things. As you might imagine, it looks a lot like the one discussed here.

Now there is a new leader, and everyone has their eyes on Kim Jong-un. Although there is a lot to be said about his father, Kim Jong-un is more unknown to the public. So popularizing a meme dedicated to him looking at random things is amusing and also lets us get to know him.
It seems as if the role of leader of North Korea brings several implications, having a meme with your name followed by the phrase ‘looking at things’ is one of them.
Lets face it, we need some comic relief when it comes to North Korea. And who better to fill that role than the new, heaven-born, Supreme Leader?