PYONGYANG (Dispatches) - North Korea on Friday commemorated the 10th anniversary of former leader Kim Jong Il’s death with calls for greater public loyalty toward his son and current leader Kim Jong Un.
During an outdoor ceremony, senior North Korean official Choe Ryong Hae called Kim Jong Il “the parent of our people” who built up the potential for the North’s military and economic might. Under Kim Jong Un, Choe said North Korea’s “strategic status” has been boosted and urged the public to “faithfully uphold” his leadership.
On Friday, state television broadcasts showed people observing several moments of silence and bowing before portraits and statues of the former leader.
Kim Jong Un was shown with hundreds of officials at a ceremony outside the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in the capital, Pyongyang.
At midday Friday a siren blared for three minutes. Cars, trains and ships blew their horns, national flags were lowered to half-staff and masses of people climbed Pyongyang’s Mansu Hill to lay flowers and bow before giant statues of the past leaders.
“We should make our every effort to bolster our single-minded unity ... by standing united behind respected comrade Kim Jong Un,” the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in an editorial.