North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid respects to his grandfather, former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, as the country yesterday marked the birthday of its late founder with renewed calls for loyalty to the ruling Kim dynasty.
At the stroke of midnight, Kim Jong-un, accompanied by top military leaders, visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang — the mausoleum holding the embalmed body of his grandfather, the North’s KCNA news agency said.
The similarly preserved body of Kim’s father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, whom he succeeded as leader in December 2011, is housed in the same building.
‘HUMBLEST REVERENCE’
“Kim Jong-un, together with other visitors, paid homage to Kim Il-sung in the humblest reverence for him,” KCNA reported.
Kim Il-Sung died of a heart attack in 1994.
His birthday is known as the Day of Sun in North Korea and is a major national holiday.
The centenary of his birth in 2012 was marked by a major military parade and Kim Jong-un’s first public speech.
There were no indications of a similar parade being prepared yesterday, but the South’s Yonhap news agency cited officials as saying Pyongyang might be readying a symbolic show of military force.
“Artillery pieces including multiple rocket launches and self-propelled guns are being assembled near Pyongyang,” it quoted an unidentified government official as saying.
The official said it was “highly likely” the North may carry out a large scale drill on Friday, to coincide with the end of South Korea’s annual joint military exercises with the UN.
In an address to top military, party and government leaders to mark Tuesday’s holiday, the North’s nominal head of state, Kim Yong-nam, urged all military personnel to pledge their loyalty to Kim Jong-un.
“Being loyal to Comrade Kim Jong-un’s leadership is the decisive guarantee to carry forward with the Great Comrade Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il’s thoughts and accomplishments,” he was quoted as saying by the ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.
‘DEAR LEADER’
“No matter what winds may blow, we must put firm faith in Dear Leader Kim Jong-un and follow his lead,” Kim Yong-nam said.
The daily carried a frontpage portrait of a beaming, bespectacled Kim Il-sung standing against the backdrop of Mount Paektu — seen by many Koreans as the place of their ancestral origin.
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