THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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North Korea celebrates 10 years of Kim Jong Un as top party leader

North Korea celebrates 10 years of Kim Jong Un as top party leader

North Korea unveiled a new portrait of state leader Kim Jong Un at a national meeting on Sunday (April 10) to commemorate 10 years of Kim’s rule, as part of events expected to be held within the week to showcase the regime's power.

In a speech during the meeting, Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and one of the most senior officials under Kim, said the North Korean leader "has finally achieved a historic goal of completing the state's nuclear power programme."

Kim assumed power after his father Kim Jong Il died in December 2011. Monday (April 11) marked 10 years since the younger Kim was elected as the top party and state leader. In practice, only one candidate appears on each ballot in North Korean elections and the Kim family has ruled the country for its entire history.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, four of which during Kim Jong Un's rule. Tensions in the Korean peninsula have sharply escalated after North Korea tested two ballistic missiles on Feb. 26 and March 4 that involved a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system that the country is developing, and as it conducted a full ICBM test – the first since 2017 – on March 24.

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