North Korea Celebrates 70th Anniversary

Photos by Wong Maye-E

North Koreans mobilized en masse to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the 1945 founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

North Korea’s leadership often uses anniversaries to rally the nation behind the military or the party, while at the same time reinforcing the primacy of the leader himself. The particularly strong emphasis on making the party foundation anniversary this year a lavish fete is also seen by some foreign analysts as a sign that Kim Jong Un is trying to build up the party’s standing relative to the military.

Though both institutions are strong, the power balance among various government organs in North Korea is a delicate one and maintaining that balance is a key to keeping Kim’s leadership solid and unchallenged. Giving some credence to that argument, North Korean officials have recently stressed the role of the party in improving the standard of living for the people and a rocket launch that some foreign analysts expected to happen before the anniversary now appears to be unlikely. “Our party sees the steady improvement of the people’s standard of living as its main concern above everything else,” professor Kim Chang Gyong, of the North Korean Association of Social Scientists, said in an interview with an Associated Press Television News crew. “Our party is now concentrating on building an economically powerful socialist state.”

AP Photographer Wong Maye-E was on assignment in North Korea to document the anniversary. Below is a gallery of her photographs. 

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, salutes at a parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared Saturday that his country was ready to stand up to any threat posed by the United States as he spoke at a lavish military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the North’s ruling party and trumpet his third-generation leadership. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Fireworks explode over the Taedong River as part of 70th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party early Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

In this Oct. 10, 2015 photo, a soldier stands at a parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Koreans wave decorative flowers and some break into tears as they parade past their leader Kim Jong Un, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Korean soldiers march beneath a portrait of late leader Kim Jong Il as they parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Military soldiers watch a joint concert between the Moranbong band and the State Merited Chorus in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Korean military soldiers wave as they parade past North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Oct. 10, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

A North Korean soldier salutes during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Koreans hold decorative flowers during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

In this Oct. 10, 2015 photo, North Korean veterans gather before the start of a parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Maye-E Wong)

Jets fly over the Juche Tower during a parade on the Kim Il Sung Square, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Korean soldiers in historic uniforms march during a parade on the Kim Il Sung Square, Oct. 10, 2015, in Pyongyang, (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Koreans watch a joint concert between the Moranbong band and the State Merited Chorus in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Koreans parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is seen in silhouette as he waves at a parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 10, 2015. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared Saturday that his country was ready to stand up to any threat posed by the United States as he spoke at a lavish military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the North’s ruling party and trumpet his third-generation leadership. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Korean soldiers parade through Kim Il Sung Square with their missiles and rockets during a mass military parade, Oct. 10, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Korean military soldiers raise the Workers’ Party flag, Oct. 10, 2015, in Pyongyang, (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Koreans cheer beneath an image of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung as they parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

In this Oct. 10, 2015 photo, a North Korean military soldier is silhouetted on the Kim Il Sung Square after a mass military parade, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

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Text excerpted from the AP news story, North Korea Gears Up For Lavish Anniversary Celebration, by Eric Talmadge. 

 

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