Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have skipped a visit to the family mausoleum on the birth anniversary of his grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung as North Korean media on Wednesday reported only on a visit by other key officials.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Premier Park Thae-song; Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of North Korea's parliamentary standing committee; and other high-ranking cadres visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun the previous day, when the country marked the founder's 113th birth anniversary. The report did not include Kim Jong-un among those who visited the palace.
The Kumsusan Palace is a mausoleum in Pyongyang that houses the preserved bodies of Kim Il-sung and his son, the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is also the father of the current leader. Kim Jong-un had made annual visits to the mausoleum on the founder's birthday since 2012 after taking power following his father's death the previous year but suspended the tradition in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He resumed visits to mark his grandfather's birth in 2021 and 2022 but has not made the trip on the birth anniversary since. South Korean officials link the recent reduction in his visits to the mausoleum to his efforts to distance his authority from his ancestors and solidify his stand-alone leadership.
The KCNA separately reported various events were held across the country to celebrate the founder's birth anniversary, including an evening party among young students at Kim Il Sung Square in the capital, and flower baskets were laid before the founder's statues nationwide.