SEOUL (AFP): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's conspicuous absence from commemorations for his grandfather Kim Il Sung's birth anniversary this week suggests he could be looking to emphasise his own authority over his family's legacy, analysts said.
The April 15 birthday of the North's founder is the most important celebration of the nuclear-armed country's annual political calendar, known as the Day of the Sun.
The state KCNA news agency did not mention him in a Thursday report on senior officials visiting the Kumsusan Palace to pay the"highest tribute" to the two late leaders. "Kim Jong Un wants to break away from the past, as well as the North's traditional cult of personality," said Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector and researcher in Seoul."He wants to come across and brand himself as a leader who is modern and competent, rather than a descendant of his predecessors.
But in another departure from normal practice, there appeared to be no outsize basket from Kim before the two men's giant statues in Pyongyang on Wednesday, when citizens attended to bow before them.
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