A North Korean soldier kicks a pole along the bank of Yalu River near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, February 4, 2014. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)

Schoolchildren play music to entertain and inspire people on their way home from work Tuesday, March 29, 2016 in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea has called a 70-day loyalty drive areas of a major congress of the ruling party scheduled for early May and everyone from students to coal miners have been mobilized nationwide to demonstrate their devotion to the leadership. (Photo by Eric Talmadge/AP Photo)

Two pins featuring former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung wearing different facial expressions are displayed in a glass case of Thomas Hui at his apartment in Hong Kong, China April 11, 2016. Collector Thomas Hui, 37, a former bank employee in Hong Kong, who is fascinated by North Korean pins and badges, has gathered over 100 featuring former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and has been buying and trading these Communist accessories since 2008. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

A woman stands in a gift shop in central Rason city, part of the special economic zone northeast of Pyongyang, in this August 30, 2011 file photo. North Korea is a militarized, male-dominated society, but it is women who are making the money as the insular nation allows an unofficial market-based economy to take shape. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

A traffic police woman whistles at a pedestrian, Monday, July 27, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea where its citizens are having a one-day national holiday to celebrate the country's 62nd anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

A woman wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus gets fever checked before going into the Pyongyang Railway Station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, August 13, 2020. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)

In this photo taken on April 14, 2022, people visit the Light Festival to celebrate the 110th birth anniversary of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP Photo)

A girl plays kayagum, stringed Korean harp, at the Tongmun kindergarten No.1 in Taedonggang District of Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Photo by Cha Song Ho/AP Photo)