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| North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, visit the Kumsusan Palace of Sun to pay tribute to Kim Il Sung, to mark the birthday of the founder of the state, in Pyongyang, in this photo supplied by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 16, 2021.(Photo by= KCNA via REUTERS) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] State media reported Friday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a mausoleum of his late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung to mark his birth anniversary.
Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on Thursday on the occasion of the 109th birth anniversary, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The mausoleum is where the bodies of his late grandfather and father lie in state. "Kim Jong-un, together with his wife, paid high tribute to the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il and extended the best wishes of immortality at the halls where the President and the Chairman lie in state," the KCNA said.
The birth anniversary, referred to in the North as the Day of the Sun, is the country's biggest national holiday marked by large-scale cultural and sports events. Since taking office in late 2011, Kim had paid tribute to the mausoleum every year to mark the anniversary, but he skipped a trip last year amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, prompting speculation about his health. Kim on Thursday's visit was accompanied by his top aides, including Kim Yo-jong, his younger sister; Jo Yong-won, secretary for Organizational Affairs of the party's Central Committee; and Pak Jong-chon, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, the KCNA said.
