Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un paid respects to his grandfather Kim Il-Sung as the country marked the birthday Tuesday of its late founder with renewed calls for loyalty to the ruling Kim dynasty.
At the stroke of midnight, Kim Jong-Un, accompanied by top military leaders, visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang - the mausoleum holding the embalmed body of his grandfather, the North`s official KCNA news agency said.
The similarly preserved body of Kim`s father, Kim Jong-Il, whom he succeeded as leader in December 2011, is housed in the same building.
"Kim Jong-Un, together with other visitors, paid homage to Kim Il-Sung in the humblest reverence for him," KCNA reported.
Kim Il-Sung died of a heart attack in 1994. His birthday is known as the Day of Sun in North Korea and is a major national holiday.
The centenary of his birth in 2012 was marked by a major military parade and Kim Jong-Un`s first public speech.
There were no indications of a similar parade being prepared today, but the South`s Yonhap news agency cited officials as saying Pyongyang might be readying a symbolic show of military force.
"Artillery pieces including multiple rocket launches and self-propelled guns are being assembled near Pyongyang," it quoted an unidentified government official as saying.
The official said it was "highly likely" the North may carry out a large scale drill on Friday, to coincide with the end of South Korea`s annual joint military exercises with the United States.
In an address to top military, party and government leaders to mark today`s holiday, the North`s nominal head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, urged all military personnel to pledge their loyalty to Kim Jong-Un.
"Being loyal to Comrade Kim Jong-Un`s leadership is the decisive guarantee to carry forward with the Great Comrade Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il`s thoughts and accomplishments," he was quoted as saying by the ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.