North Korea Celebrates Ruling Party’s Founding Anniversary

By Staff, Agencies

North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of its ruling Workers’ Party with a mass gymnastics show featuring tens of thousands of performers.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un along with his top aides watched as huge crowds of dancers, gymnasts and martial arts performers took part in the Mass Games at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on Sunday, state-run KCNA reported.

The famous games represent a major event in the North’s annual calendar, which features tens of thousands of people taking part in synchronized theatrical and gymnastic performances. An attraction for foreign tourists, the show has also been a source of foreign currency for the government.

The games were resumed in 2018 after a five-year pause.

The spectacular shows, which usually draw many people from China, went ahead this year contrary to earlier speculation that the North will call off the event as part of strict border controls and quarantine measures regulated to prevent a spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year’s performance is set to run until the end of the month.

Published photographs of the event by state media showed Kim and other officials at the stadium while they were not wearing masks, in contrast to the crowd of spectators behind them.

The event titled, “Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance, ‘Great Guidance’” came a day after North Korea held a nighttime military parade which showcased the country’s latest weapons, among them a new intercontinental ballistic missile, and a new submarine-launched ballistic missile.

Late last month, Pyongyang said it had sufficient war deterrent and aimed to shift the nation's focus to economic development.

North Korea’s ruling party is now planning to find ways of improving the national economy and people's living standards, according to official media reports.

The United States has imposed wide-ranging sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs since 2006. The UN has also slapped the country with separate sanctions.

North Korea's Kim and US President Donald Trump met three times, which ended inconclusively largely owing to Washington’s refusal to lift the sanctions in exchange for Pyongyang's suspension of nuclear and missile tests.