North Korea Monday highlighted the accomplishments of its late founder Kim Il-sung as it prepares to celebrate the 103rd birthday of Kim, the current leader’s grandfather.
Pyongyang is set to commemorate the “Day of the Sun” on Wednesday in grand fashion to show its respect for the leader who died in 1994. Since 1997, the North has celebrated the April 15 anniversary with lavish sporting events and festivals after designating his birthday a two-day national holiday.
The communist party’s official newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, on Monday allocated most of its sections to highlighting the accomplishments that the late leader made during his leadership.
The newspaper also carries photos showing that Kim met with ordinary people when he was young.
The late leader provided “a solid foundation for the sovereignty of the country and the prosperity of the nation for all ages,” said the Korean Central News Agency, the North’s official media.
The anniversary comes as North Korea’s current leader, Kim Jong-un, has consolidated his power after the end of the three-year mourning period following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.
Kim, who is believed to be in his early 30s, took power in late 2011 after his father died of heart attack.
The North’s leader has vowed to simultaneously pursue nuclear weapons and economic development, commonly known as “byongjin policy,” making the country more isolated in the international community. Seoul and others have called on the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
At a parliamentary session that convened in Pyongyang on Thursday, North Korea reaffirmed its will to continue to expand its nuclear capability while trying to bolster its weak economy this year.
North Korea is under heavy sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council for its nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013 and ballistic missile launches. Some experts said that Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal could expand to up to 100 bombs by 2020.
The young leader’s grandfather created “juche” or the North’s guiding ideology, which emphasizes self-reliance and independence.
The current leader is seen as imitating his grandfather’s fashion and governing style.
The North’s newspaper on Monday failed to report photos that included both the young leader and his grandfather. Analysts said that such photos showing closeness between the two do not exist. (Yonhap)
