PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA (Reuters) — North Korea held an international figure skating festival on Monday (February 15) in Pyongyang to celebrate the 74th birth anniversary of its late leader Kim Jong Il.
Video provided by North Korea’s official news agency KCNA, which Reuters cannot independently verify, showed the opening ceremony of the festival where people watched performances by figure-skaters from North Korea, Russia, Latvia, Belarus and Canada.
The 24th Paektusan Prize International Figure-skating Festival is scheduled to take place in Pyongyang from Monday to Wednesday (February 17), KCNA added.
Kim Jong Il’s birthday is on February 16 and has been labelled the “Day of the Shining Star”, celebrated by the communist state as a national holiday.
Kim died of an apparent heart attack in December 2011 after ruling North Korea for 17 years.
His youngest son Kim Jong Un, named North Korea’s “Great Successor”, took over after his father’s death.