North Korea on Sunday marked the 106th anniversary of the birth of its late founder Kim Il Sung with no signs of provocations toward the international comm
PYONGYANG – North Korea on Sunday marked the 106th anniversary of the birth of its late founder Kim Il Sung with no signs of provocations toward the international community amid a reduction in tensions following Pyongyang’s shift toward diplomacy.
The anniversary, known in the country as the “Day of the Sun,” is a major holiday. National flags and placards have been placed along major streets of Pyongyang in celebration of the birthday of the founder, who died in 1994.
In the run-up to North Korea’s planned summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U. S. President Donald Trump, political slogans in public spaces made no mention of the country’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.
The nation’s leader, Kim Jong Un, grandson of Kim Il Sung, is expected to talk about denuclearization with Moon on April 27 and Trump at a summit to be held possibly by the end of May or in early June.
As on past anniversaries, citizens and military personnel laid flowers and bowed before giant statues of the founder and his son, Kim Jong Il, the previous leader who died in 2011, on Mansu Hill in the heart of Pyongyang from early morning.
“It does not matter how the international situation changes. I am determined to offer everything to pave the way for building a powerful Korea,” Yang Yong Ae, the 50-year-old employee of the Sports Ministry, said.
