N. Korea commemorates ruling party's founding day

North Korea on Tuesday commemorated the 72nd founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party urging the expedition of a war against the US, a state-media report said.

In an editorial, the Rodong Sinmun daily said the North Korean regime calls on the dignity and independence of the state's "Juche" or self-reliance ideology and that military power would guarantee its victory, reports Efe news.

The editorial also referred to an unprecedented escalation in tension between Pyongyang and Washington and urged North Koreans to overcome the latest international sanctions imposed on the country for its nuclear and missile tests this year.

The anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party is one of the four main major annual holidays in North Korea along with the birth anniversaries of Kim Jong-un's father and grandfather Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il (April 15 and February 16, respectively) and the National Foundation Day (September 9).

In a plenary meeting on October 7, new appointments were made, including that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's younger sister Kim Yo-jong, who was elected as one of the new members of the party's Politburo Standing Committee.

Experts believe the appointment of Kim Yo-jong, who is believed to be around 30 years old, strengthens the succession plan of the Kim dynasty.

Meanwhile, Fighters for a Free North Korea, a group of North Korean defectors sent a dozen balloons with around 300,000 pamphlets, strongly criticising Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programme and human rights abuses by the Kim regime.

--IANS

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