North Korea emphasized loyalty to Chairperson Kim Jong Un on the 31st anniversary of Chairman Kim Il Sung.
The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 9th that "the entire people of the country solemnly commemorated our country's esteemed founding father, the eternal chairman of the republic, on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of Comrade Kim Il Sung's death."
According to the news agency, flags were flown at half-mast across North Korea, and visitors flocked to the Mansudae Hill, where Kim Il Sung's statue is located, and the Kim Il Sung Square where his body is kept, with various gatherings taking place.
Participants in the gatherings "praised the lifelong achievements of our esteemed leader who has infused the history of the Korean revolution with immortal vitality and laid the foundation for the construction of a powerful and prosperous state through self-reliance and self-defense," the news agency reported.
However, unlike last year, when a large-scale memorial event was held to mark the 30th anniversary, this year has shown a relatively subdued atmosphere without major events.
The Labor Party's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, placed related news about the Kim Il Sung memorial events on pages 1 to 2.
Korean Central Television also quickly reported that Chairperson Kim Jong Un paid respects at the Kim Il Sung Square from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. the previous day, while rebroadcasting films documenting Kim Il Sung throughout the day.
In addition, the Rodong Sinmun ordered absolute loyalty to Chairperson Kim in a front-page article titled "Let's internalize the revolutionary thought of the Party Central Committee."
The newspaper reported: "By raising the revolutionary thought of the Party Central Committee as the banner of struggle and the weapon of advance, our style of socialism has been firmly maintained even in the harshest environments where others would have stumbled a hundred times, leading to a new era of great creation and transformation that will shine brightly in the history of our country for millennia."
It continued: "Our national defense capability is continuously making leaps without limits, and the grand changes and remarkable achievements are giving the entire population greater confidence that the Party’s plans and determination to make our country the strongest and richest nation will surely be realized in the near future."
It emphasized, "Let everyone cherish the revolutionary thought of the Party Central Committee as the most vital and dedicate themselves to the struggle for the prosperity of our style of socialism, thereby raising the dignity and grandeur of the invincible power of a great Kim Jong Un's Korea even higher."