▲ This file photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un placeing a wreath at the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang on July 28, 2022, to mark the 69th anniversary of the Korean War armistice that fell on the previous day, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. The tower commemorates Chinese soldiers who died while fighting for the North in the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea refers to the three-year conflict as the Great Fatherland Liberation War and designates the date of the armistice signing as Victory Day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

NK leader-armistice anniversary

N.K. leader pays respects to fallen soldiers ahead of Korean War armistice anniv.

SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited cemeteries to pay respects to the country's soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War and to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of armistice, state media said Wednesday.

The Korean War ended with an armistice agreement on July 27, 1953. The North calls the war the Great Fatherland Liberation War and designated the armistice signing date as Victory Day.

Kim visited the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery in Pyongyang on Tuesday on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Korean War armistice, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

He was accompanied by Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam and other military leaders.

During his visit, Kim said the "miracle of July 27" is a "great victory of significance in the human history as they inflicted eternally indelible disgrace and defeat on the U.S. imperialism, the chieftain of aggression, and prevented a new world war."

Kim also visited the cemetery of martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) in Hoechang County, South Pyongan Province, to pay "high tribute" to them on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the armistice, the KCNA said in a separate report.

He stressed that the "great victory won by the peoples of the DPRK and China at the cost of their blood is invariably displaying its great vitality still now, century after century."

Top officials accompanied Kim, including his powerful sister Kim Yo-jong and Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizational affairs at the ruling Workers' Party, as well as Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.

Meanwhile, the KCNA said a Russian military delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has arrived in Pyongyang for a ceremony to mark the armistice anniversary.

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