{"id":48070,"date":"2022-04-16T02:27:42","date_gmt":"2022-04-16T02:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=48070"},"modified":"2022-04-16T02:27:42","modified_gmt":"2022-04-16T02:27:42","slug":"north-korea-celebrates-founders-birth-without-military-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=48070","title":{"rendered":"North Korea celebrates founder\u2019s birth without military parade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Tens of thousands turn out in Pyongyang\u2019s main square to enjoy light shows and art exhibitions in honour of Kim Il Sung.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

Published On 16 Apr 2022<\/span>16 Apr 2022<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

North\u00a0Korea\u00a0celebrated the 110th anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il Sung on Friday with fireworks, a procession, and an evening gala in Pyongyang\u2019s main square, with thousands of people in colourful traditional dress singing and dancing.<\/p>\n

Nuclear-armed Pyongyang usually uses the holiday \u2013 known as the Day of the Sun \u2013 to show off its latest weaponry.<\/p>\n

But while this year\u2019s event follows a flurry of weapons testing \u2013 three weeks ago the country carried out its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test since 2017<\/a> \u2013 there was no sign of the usual military parade.<\/p>\n

Leader Kim Jong Un visited his grandfather\u2019s mausoleum and attended a \u201cnational meeting and a public procession\u201d in Pyongyang\u2019s Kim Il Sung Square<\/a>\u00a0but gave no reported public remarks. A senior official spoke at the meeting, saying that North Korea would overcome all difficulties and always emerge victorious, state news agency KCNA reported.<\/p>\n

State media aired live footage of an evening gala in the square after sunset on Friday, following concerts, art exhibitions, and ideological seminars.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/img>
North Korea staged a light show as part of its commemorations to mark the birth of the country\u2019s founder Kim Il Sung, traditionally the country\u2019s most important holiday [Cha Song Ho\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was also a light festival in the centre of Pyongyang, with dancing fountains and decorated boats on the Taedong River, KCNA said.<\/p>\n

The festival \u201cartistically depicted\u201d Kim Il Sung\u2019s native home and \u201cthe sacred mountain of revolution, Mt Paektu,\u201d KCNA said. Residents could take photos in front of arches lit with phrases such as \u2018Pyongyang Is Best\u2019 and \u2018We Are the Happiest in the World\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came to see the lighting festival with my daughter. Looking at it today, it\u2019s really cool. The most impressive thing in particular is this one that says \u2018self-reliance\u2019,\u201d Ri Bom Chol, a 40-year-old doctor, told an AFP news agency reporter in Pyongyang.<\/p>\n

\u2018Love is forever\u2019<\/h2>\n

Analysts, along with South Korean and US officials, had widely expected North Korea to mark the occasion with new weaponry, or even a test of the country\u2019s banned nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

But there was no mention in state media of any military parade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Seoul-based specialist site NK News said analysis of satellite imagery suggested that training was taking place at the Mirim military parade training base, with a few thousand troops marching in formation. Images from Planet Labs had also shown an increasing number of tyre marks around a secure garage area for heavy weapons at the site, suggesting practice drives were taking place, it added.<\/p>\n

Experts say April 25 \u2013 the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army \u2013 is the next most likely date for the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the two anniversaries are just 10 days apart, it seems a bit difficult to hold a parade on both occasions,\u201d Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/img>
People bow before the statues of late North Korean leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, during the Day of the Sun celebration on Friday [Jon Chol Jin\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kim Il Sung died in 1994 but is the country\u2019s \u2018eternal president\u2019, and his preserved body lies in state in a red-lit chamber at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the outskirts of the capital.<\/p>\n

North Koreans are taught from birth to revere Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il<\/a>, and all adults wear badges depicting one or both men.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the days go by the yearning for the great leader is growing,\u201d Ri Gwang Hyok told an AFP reporter in Pyongyang as they visited statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove is forever,\u201d said 33-year-old Ri.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Source<\/p>\n

: <\/p>\n

Al Jazeera and news agencies<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tens of thousands turn out in Pyongyang\u2019s main square to enjoy light shows and art exhibitions in honour of Kim Il Sung.Published On 16 Apr 202216 Apr 2022North\u00a0Korea\u00a0celebrated the 110th anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il Sung on Friday with fireworks, a procession, and an evening gala in Pyongyang\u2019s main square, with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}