North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center in the second row, and other key officials attend a national memorial service marking the 30th death anniverary of the North's national founder Kim Il-sung in Pyongyang, in this picture carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, July 9. Yonhap North Korea has held a national memorial service and concert, attended by its leader Kim Jong-un, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of national founder Kim Il-sung, state media reported Tuesday. The memorial events on Monday appeared to be held at a similar level to those on the 20th and 25th anniversaries despite speculations that North Korea might scale them down to focus on the personality cult for the incumbent leader.
Kim Il-sung, late grandfather of Kim Jong-un, died due to heart failure on July 8, 1994, at age 82. Clad in a black suit, the North's leader attended the first national memorial service event for the state founder in five years at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, according to photos carried by North Korea's state media. Kim also took part in a memorial concert held at the Samjiyon theater.
Flanked by key officials, Kim Jong-un also paid tribute to the state founder at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the embalmed bodies of the current leader's father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather, Kim Il-sung, lie in state. It marked his first visit to the mausoleum this year. Kim Il-sung is long known as the role model for Kim Jong-un, whose hair and fashion.
