2024-05-06 14:08:39
For the first time since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011, North Koreans have been asked to pledge allegiance on his birthday amid other measures in the country to consolidate his rule, the South Korea Research Institute said today for the development of the North and the South, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
The pledges of allegiance, which the agency has not been able to independently confirm, were taken on Kim’s alleged birthday, January 8. The institute has published photos of the oaths.
North Korea has never officially confirmed Kim Jong-un’s date of birth, but traditionally such swearing-in ceremonies have been held on the birthdays of his father and grandfather, who ruled the country before him.
“Kim Jong-un’s decision to hold a roaring ceremony on his 40th birthday, beginning the 13th year of his rule, signals a shift toward greater political assertiveness,” said a report by the Northern Development Institute. and Duha, its President Choi Kyung-hui has said that North Korea may declare Kim’s birthday an official anniversary next year.