Latest news with #KimIl-sung
Korea Herald
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
N. Korea's Kim skips family mausoleum visit on founder's birthday for 3rd year in row
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. The Korean Central News Agency reported that Premier Park Thae-song; Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the North'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 ll-sung and his son, 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. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
N. Korea urges enduring loyalty to state leader on his grandfather's birthday
North Korea recalled the revolutionary feats of late national founder Kim Il-sung on his birth anniversary Tuesday, stressing enduring loyalty to his grandson and current state leader Kim Jong-un. The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's ruling party newspaper, carried the message in an editorial on the day the country marked the 113th anniversary of the founder's birth. "The juche (self-reliance) ideology, established by the supreme leader (Kim Il-sung) is being continuously developed and enriched by the extraordinary ideological activities of ... respected comrade Kim Jong-un," the newspaper said, urging loyalty to ensure the realization of his ideas. The paper praised the current leader's key state visions, such as those on developing the defense industry, as "scientific implementation doctrines" that are propelling the country's socialism toward steady progress. "By more thoroughly consolidating the respected comrade's sole leadership system, the strong spirit of advancing the revolution ... solely in line with his ideological will must be upheld," it noted. In celebration of the founder's birth anniversary, North Korea also held various cultural and commemorative events across the nation, including an art performance at the Pyongyang Youth Palace, on Monday, the state-run North Korean Central News Agency also reported. In recent years, North Korea has steadily decreased the use of the reverential term for the founder's birthday, "the Day of the Sun," as the country increasingly distances Kim Jong-un's authority from his ancestors and focuses its idolization campaign on the current leader. The North is instead increasingly referring to the founder's birth anniversary simply as April 15 or the April national holiday. "The North is expected to continue diluting (the legacy of Kim's) ancestors while maintaining the idolization campaign (for him), though it may proceed gradually in consideration of public receptivity," an official at South Korea's Unification Ministry said. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
First foreign runners since 2019 hit Pyongyang, stirring hopes of North Korea reopening
North Korea opened its doors to foreign participants at the Pyongyang International Marathon on Sunday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a six-year hiatus. The event has drawn attention to whether the opening is a symbolic gesture toward a broader move to reopen the country to foreign tourism on a full scale. North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Monday that the 31st Pyongyang International Marathon was held to mark the anniversary of the country's late founder Kim Il-sung's birth, which falls on April 15. 'The event featured full marathon, half marathon, 10km, and 5km races, and included athletes from North Korea, China, Romania, Morocco, and Ethiopia, as well as marathon enthusiasts from various countries and regions around the world,' KCNA said in a Korean-language dispatch. In the elite marathon race, North Korean runners swept the boards with the men's and women's titles going to home-based competitors. The host country also swept the podium at the half marathon, taking gold, silver and bronze in both men's and women's events. Among amateur competitors, Polish runners swept the top three spots in the men's marathon, while a Hong Kong competitor took the women's amateur event, KCNA added. 'Around 200 foreign athletes from 46 countries are said to have participated, raising attention to whether this could signal the full resumption of foreign tourism,' Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson for the Unification Ministry, said of the marathon during a regular press briefing Monday. 'There was a recent case where North Korea resumed tourism for foreigners, only to suspend it again. The fact that the Pyongyang marathon race was held as scheduled under such circumstances is deemed as North Korea's intention to resume tourism to foreign visitors," Koo added. The marathon took place about a month after North Korea abruptly closed the special economic zone in the northeastern border city of Rason to foreign tourists — excluding South Korean and US citizens — in early March, following a brief reopening that began on Feb. 20. Rason was the first region in the country to reopen to tourism during the pandemic. Young Pioneer Tours, an independent tourism agency specializing in tours to North Korea, said the country remains officially closed to tourism as of Sunday, however. Koryo Tours, the sole foreign operator licensed to register amateur entrants, said Sunday that this year's 2025 Pyongyang Marathon took place on the same day, and over 500 participants took the capital's roads. 'Among them were around 200 international amateur runners, making this one of the most diverse editions yet — with many countries represented,' Koryo Tours, an independent British tour operator based in Beijing, said on its website. According to a list of medal winners put together by Koryo Tours, the elite category featured athletes from at least two countries — North Korea and Ethiopia. The amateur races drew participants from at least 13 countries: Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Macau, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Professional runners were invited by North Korean authorities in accordance with strict qualifying times, according to a previous notice from North Korea's Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports. But amateur participants had different registration procedures: those from East and Southeast Asia, except for Singapore and Hong Kong, registered through North Korea's state agencies, while the others, including Singapore and Hong Kong, were required to register through Koryo Tours.
Korea Herald
07-04-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
First foreign runners since 2019 hit Pyongyang, stirring hopes of reopening
North Korea opened its doors to foreign participants at the Pyongyang International Marathon on Sunday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a six-year hiatus. The event has drawn attention to whether the opening is a symbolic gesture toward a broader move to reopen the country to foreign tourism on a full scale. North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Monday that the 31st Pyongyang International Marathon was held to mark the anniversary of the country's late founder Kim Il-sung's birth, which falls on April 15. 'The event featured full marathon, half marathon, 10km, and 5km races, and included athletes from North Korea, China, Romania, Morocco, and Ethiopia, as well as marathon enthusiasts from various countries and regions around the world,' KCNA said in a Korean-language dispatch. In the elite marathon race, North Korean runners swept the boards with the men's and women's titles going to home-based competitors. The host nation also swept the podium at the half marathon, taking gold, silver and bronze in both men's and women's events. Among amateur competitors, Polish runners swept the top three spots in the men's marathon, while a Hong Kong competitor took the women's amateur event, KCNA added. 'Around 200 foreign athletes from 46 countries are said to have participated, raising attention to whether this could signal the full resumption of foreign tourism,' Koo Byoung-sam, spokesman for the unification ministry, said of the marathon during a regular press briefing Monday. Koryo Tours, the sole foreign operator licensed to register amateur entrants, said Sunday that this year's 2025 Pyongyang Marathon took place on the same day, and over 500 participants took the capital's roads. 'Among them were around 200 international amateur runners, making this one of the most diverse editions yet—with many countries represented,' Koryo Tours, an independent British tour operator based in Beijing, said on its website. According to a list of medal winners put together by Koryo Tours, the elite category featured athletes from at least two countries — North Korea and Ethiopia. The amateur races drew participants from at least 13 nations: Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Macau, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Professional runners were invited by North Korean authorities in accordance with strict qualifying times, according to a previous notice from North Korea's Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports. But amateur participants had different registration procedures: those from East and Southeast Asia, except for Singapore and Hong Kong, registered through North Korea's state agencies, while the others, including Singapore and Hong Kong, were required to register through Koryo Tours. The marathon took place about a month after North Korea abruptly closed the special economic zone in the northeastern border city of Rason to foreign tourists — excluding South Korean and US citizens — in early March, following a brief reopening that began on Feb. 20. Rason was the first region in the country to reopen to tourism during the pandemic. Young Pioneer Tours, an independent tourism agency specializing in tours to North Korea, said the country remains officially closed to tourism as of Sunday.
Korea Herald
07-04-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
First foreign runners since 2019 hit Pyongyang, stirring hopes of reopening
North Korea opened its doors to foreign participants at the Pyongyang International Marathon on Sunday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a six-year hiatus. The event has drawn attention to whether the opening is a symbolic gesture toward a broader move to reopen the country to foreign tourism on a full scale. North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Monday that the 31st Pyongyang International Marathon was held to mark the anniversary of the country's late founder Kim Il-sung's birth, which falls on April 15. 'The event featured full marathon, half marathon, 10km, and 5km races, and included athletes from North Korea, China, Romania, Morocco, and Ethiopia, as well as marathon enthusiasts from various countries and regions around the world,' KCNA said in a Korean-language dispatch. In the elite marathon race, North Korean runners swept the boards with the men's and women's titles going to home-based competitors. The host nation also swept the podium at the half marathon, taking gold, silver and bronze in both men's and women's events. Among amateur competitors, Polish runners swept the top three spots in the men's marathon, while a Hong Kong competitor took the women's amateur event, KCNA added. 'Around 200 foreign athletes from 46 countries are said to have participated, raising attention to whether this could signal the full resumption of foreign tourism,' Koo Byoung-sam, spokesman for the unification ministry, said of the marathon during a regular press briefing Monday. Koryo Tours, the sole foreign operator licensed to register amateur entrants, said Sunday that this year's 2025 Pyongyang Marathon took place on the same day, and over 500 participants took the capital's roads. 'Among them were around 200 international amateur runners, making this one of the most diverse editions yet—with many countries represented,' Koryo Tours, an independent British tour operator based in Beijing, said on its website. According to a list of medal winners put together by Koryo Tours, the elite category featured athletes from at least two countries — North Korea and Ethiopia. The amateur races drew participants from at least 13 nations: Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Macau, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Professional runners were invited by North Korean authorities in accordance with strict qualifying times, according to a previous notice from North Korea's Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports. But amateur participants had different registration procedures: those from East and Southeast Asia, except for Singapore and Hong Kong, registered through North Korea's state agencies, while the others, including Singapore and Hong Kong, were required to register through Koryo Tours. The marathon took place about a month after North Korea abruptly closed the special economic zone in the northeastern border city of Rason to foreign tourists — excluding South Korean and US citizens — in early March, following a brief reopening that began on Feb. 20. Rason was the first region in the country to reopen to tourism during the pandemic. Young Pioneer Tours, an independent tourism agency specializing in tours to North Korea, said the country remains officially closed to tourism as of Sunday.
