NK leader visits mausoleum to mark late grandfather's death anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a mausoleum for his late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung to mark the 28th anniversary of his death, according to state media Friday.

Kim paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of Kim Il-sung and the current leader's late father Kim Jong-il lie in state, on the occasion of the memorial day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, without specifying when the visit was made.

Kim Il-sung, who founded North Korea in 1948, ruled the country until his death in 1994.

The North's leader was accompanied by participants of a special workshop of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) that ended Wednesday in Pyongyang, as well as Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizational affairs of the WPK's Central Committee, and Ri Il-hwan, secretary of the WPK Central Committee.

"He paid homage to the President and the Chairman as a token of his best wishes for immortality to the great leaders who built the WPK into a powerful Juche-type revolutionary party," the KCNA said in an English-language article, referring to Kim's late grandfather and father, respectively. Juche means self-reliance.

The latest visit marked the first time that Kim was accompanied by participants of a particular gathering for the occasion, highlighting the recent workshop's importance.

The five-day workshop, which was attended by Kim Jong-un, was held to establish the "monolithic leadership system" of the party's central committee in an apparent move to tighten internal discipline.

Kim has paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on his late grandfather's death anniversary every year since he took power in 2012, with the exception of 2018. (Yonhap)