North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid his respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the 13th anniversary of his father Kim Jong Il’s death.
On Wednesday, Rodong Sinmun, the Workers’ Party’s official newspaper, reported that Kim visited the palace on December 17 to “humbly pay his respects and wish for the eternal life of the General.”
The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun houses the preserved bodies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Kim has visited the palace annually since his father died in 2011, except in 2022.
Key officials accompanied Kim, including Premier Kim Tok Hun, Party Secretary Jo Yong Won, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly Choe Ryung Hae, and Deputy Chairman of the Party’s Central Military Commission Ri Byong Chol.
The newspaper also noted that Kim and his entourage laid floral baskets before Kim Jong Il’s statue, pledging to uphold Kim Jong Un’s ideology and leadership with unwavering loyalty, vowing to achieve significant transformations and advancements across all sectors of socialist construction, thereby ushering in a new era of comprehensive national development.
In addition to Kim’s tribute, the newspaper noted that large crowds gathered at Mansu Hill Grand Monument, where Kim Jong Il’s statue stands, to commemorate him. The article described the scene as “overflowing with patriotic loyalty.”
This year, without a major milestone anniversary like a 5th or 10th year, North Korea appears to have opted for a more subdued commemoration of the late leader’s death.