Published : Dec. 18, 2017 - 16:31
North Korea commemorated the sixth anniversary of its former leader Kim Jong-il’s death without holding a major event, but his son repeated his pledge to build a nation “self-reliant in defense.”
After Kim Jong-il died on Dec. 17, 2011, North Korea held large-scale gatherings on the first, second, third and fifth anniversaries to pay tribute to the late leader.
Even after the death of the country’s founder Kim Il-sung, the North held large commemorative gatherings only on the first three anniversaries, and then the fifth, 10th, 15th and 20th anniversaries.
Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)
South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters on Monday that as in the case of Kim Il-sung’s death, the North was holding large commemorative gatherings in that sequence for Kim Jong-il.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a Pyongyang mausoleum called the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to pay tribute to his late father on Sunday, the North’s state media reported on Monday.
The bodies of Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung are laid in state in the mausoleum.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Shinmun, a newspaper published by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, released one photo of Kim paying tribute and another showing a basket of flowers laid in front of the statues of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung.
The KCNA quoted Kim as saying during his visit to the mausoleum that he would “fight more unflinchingly” to make the North “independent in politics, self-supporting in the economy and self-reliant in defense.”
By Kim So-hyun (
sophie@heraldcorp.com)