Kim pays tribute to North Korean founder on death anniversary
Seoul, July 8 (EFE) .- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid a visit to the mausoleum of his grandfather Kim Il-sung to mark the death anniversary of the founder of the country and the Kim dynasty, the state media reported Wednesday.
Kim Jong-un paid tributes at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in the capital Pyongyang, housing the embalmed remains of Kim Il-sung, who died on July 7, 1994, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
The leader has visited the mausoleum of his late grandfather on his death anniversary every year since he took power in 2012, barring in 2018.
Members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party and other senior officials accompanied Kim Jong-un during the visit.
However, KCNA photos showed that the leader might have demoted at least two senior North Korean officials in the face of a crisis in the country.
The photos published by the official news agency showed that only four of the five members of the central committee stood in the front row during the ceremony.
Ri Pyong-chol, until now the fifth member of the politburo, was in the third row and wore a black Mao-style suit instead of the military uniform.
It strengthens the speculation that Kim Jong-un may have dismissed him from the politburo that has five members, including the leader.
Kim Jong-un had earlier blamed the leadership for causing a “crisis” in managing the pandemic in the country.
The other senior official demoted is Pak Jong-chon, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army.
Pak appeared in his usual second row but the insignia on his military uniform showed that he may have been demoted since he was wearing a vice marshal badge.
North Korea expects to receive 1.7 million doses of vaccines this year from the WHO-run Covax program.
The country, in its last report to the UN health agency at the end of June, said it had not yet detected a single case of Covid-19 after testing about 31,800 people. EFE
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