North calls for increased loyalty to leader Kim Jong-un on founder's birth anniversary
Published: 15 Apr. 2026, 17:16
![Performers are on stage at Pyongyang on April 13 in celebration of the 114th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung, in this photo released by the North’s state news agency, the Korean Central News Agency, on April 14. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/15/c6bc0ec4-1696-4ed0-a239-73836a3b52fd.jpg)
Performers are on stage at Pyongyang on April 13 in celebration of the 114th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung, in this photo released by the North’s state news agency, the Korean Central News Agency, on April 14. [YONHAP]
North Korea called for increased loyalty from party members and citizens to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday, the birth anniversary of state founder Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-un's late grandfather, highlighting the two leaders' shared people-centered policies.
The ruling Workers' Party of Korea's newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, wrote that the founder's policy of serving the people continues under the current leader's leadership, describing the people-centered approach as the “perpetual political philosophy” of the ruling party and state.
“With unwavering loyalty, [we] should uphold the ideology and leadership of respected general secretary [Kim Jong-un], who carries forward the sacred history of supreme leader [Kim Il Sung's]” people-centered policy, the newspaper said.
The newspaper also called for greater resolve and a march toward the day when the ruling party's top priority of improving people's welfare is fully realized.
North Korea observes the founder's birth anniversary, known as the “Day of the Sun,” as one of the country's most important national holidays. However, it has refrained from using the honorific term in recent years, apparently in a bid to shift the focus of loyalty to the current leader.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency separately announced that the Socialist Women's Union of Korea, the Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea and other social groups held events to mark the founder's birth anniversary and pledge allegiance to the current leader.
Young people and students are set to hold an outdoor rally at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on Wednesday evening to celebrate the anniversary, according to state media.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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