Kim Jong-un visits mausoleum

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un commemorated his father Kim Jong-il's ninth death anniversary by visiting a mausoleum were the late leader's body lies in state, state media reported on Thursday.

In a report, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the incumbent leader paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. The report however, did not mention the date of the visit, reports Yonhap News Agency. Kim Jong-il, the second Supreme Leader of North Korea, died on December 17, 2011. He took office in 1994 after the death of his father Kim Il-sung, the country's first Supreme Leader.

According to the report, Kim Jong-un was accompanied by his sister Kim Yo-jong and other close aides, including Choe Ryong-hae, the North's No. 2 leader and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, and Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party. In the past, the North held large-scale gatherings in Pyongyang to commemorate Kim Jong-il death on the first, second, third and fifth anniversaries, said the Yonhap News Agency report. The Yonhap report however, said that it was unlikely for the country to organise any gathering this year amid its ongoing campaign against the coronavirus pandemic. (IANS)

Also Read: North Korea publicly executes its citizen, sources say it was a punishment for breach of COVID rules

Also Watch: Thieves decamp with money and valuables from Sonitpur Naamghar