Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rode a white horse to Mount Paekdu, considered the birthplace of his late father and the sacred highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, amid speculation that the trip may suggest a major policy change could be forthcoming.
On Wednesday, Pyongyang’s state media reported that Kim rode to Mount Paekdu and “revolutionary battle sites” where his late grandfather, Kim Il-sung staged anti-Japanese and independence struggles, calling for a fight against “imperialists” and “class enemies”, Yonhap News Agency reported.
His trip to the mountain was the second of its kind since October when he visited there, slamming the US for maintaining sanctions against Pyongyang and calling for self-reliance against such hostile acts.
Following the trip, Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official newspaper on Thursday carried a series of columns written in the names of high-ranking officials, urging “intensified efforts for self reliance and a fight against outside forces’ scheme to isolate and oppress” Pyongyang.
“As long as we have the revolutionary spirit of Mount Paekdu, and revolutionary spirit of self reliance, we can survive on our own and open the door for development and prosperity of our own style,” Vice Premier Kim Tok-hun said in a column. (IANS)