By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
North Korea marked its so-called “Day of the Sun” on Wednesday, in honor of what would have been late founder Kim Il-sung's 103rd birthday.
April 15 has been a key date for festivities on the North Korean calendar since 1997.
Kim's death in 1994 has done nothing to diminish his official status as Eternal President in a reclusive nation now led by his grandson, Kim Jong-un.
The state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper published an image of the younger Kim paying his respects shortly after midnight at Pyongyang's Kumsusan Palace of the Sun -- where the embalmed bodies of the North's first two leaders are preserved.
This year’s “Day of the Sun” was the first since North Korea's current leader completed a three-year period of mourning for his father, Kim Jong-il.
Kim Jong-un is often viewed by analysts as attempting to emulate his grandfather's charismatic leadership style -- along with other founding legacies such as the North's continuing emphasis on military strength and brutal handling of political dissent.
The United Nations maintains a close watch over Pyongyang under its third-generation leadership, having sanctioned the reclusive state for its nuclear and missile activities.
North Korea was officially established in 1948, after the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japanese rule in 1945. Its separation from South Korea was cemented after the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
