Kim Jong-un rides horse up sacred mountain
(Baonghean) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rode a white horse up Mount Paektu, the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula, believed to be the birthplace of his late father.
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| Kim Jong-un rides a horse to visit a sacred mountain on the Korean peninsula. Photo: KCNA |
According to North Korean state media on October 16, Mr. Kim Jong-un also criticized US sanctions and called for efforts of "self-reliance."to disappoint America.
Kim often visits the mountain, considered one of the peninsula’s most sacred sites, before making major decisions or holding major political and diplomatic events. This latest trip has also raised speculation about whether any major decisions are imminent.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said their leader “climbed Mount Paektu, riding a white horse through the first snow of the season,” and released a series of photos of him riding a horse up the snow-covered mountain.
Mr Kim also visited a special tourist area under construction in Samjiyon county, at the foot of the mountain, and criticised US sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang.
“The situation of the country is getting worse due to the relentless sanctions and pressure from the hostile forces,” Kim said, according to KCNA. “The pain inflicted on the Korean people by the anti-DPRK hostile forces led by the US is no longer pain but has turned into anger.”
The leader asserted that “whenever the enemy tries to strangle us with the chain of pressure,” their country will make greater efforts to “live well under the slogan of self-reliance so that the enemy feels a headache and impatience.”
Mr. Kim congratulated and expressed gratitude to the construction workers for creating a “model mountain city, unique in the world,” while North Korea faced “all kinds of difficulties and challenges at the most critical time in its history.”
He instructed workers to complete the project before the 75th anniversary of the ruling party's founding next year.
Senior officials, including Mr Kim's sister Kim Yo-jong, accompanied the North Korean leader on his visit to Samjiyon. The visit comes after North Korea's working-level nuclear talks with the US in Stockholm earlier this month broke down, with Pyongyang accusing Washington of failing to come up with a new proposal.
