This picture taken on January 14, 2021 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 15 shows Pak Jong Chon, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, during a military parade celebrating the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is surrounded by performers during a celebration marking the nation's 74th anniversary in Pyongyang, North Korea, on September 8, 2022. (Photo by Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Photo)
This picture taken in late December 2022 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 2, 2023 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un meeting with representatives who participated in the 9th meeting of the Korean Boy Scouts during a commemorative photo session in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)
Divers perform during an event to celebrate the upcoming Christmas at the aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, December 1, 2023. Christmas is one of the biggest holidays celebrated in South Korea. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)
People attend the New Year's eve gala of youth and students at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, December 31, 2023. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)
Agricultural workers are rice-transplanting at the Namsa Co-op Farm of Rangnang District in Pyongyang, DPRK, on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)
South Korean tightrope walker Nam Chang-dong performs “Jultage” or Tightrope walking during the traditional festival “Dano” at Namsan Hanok village in Seoul, South Korea, 14 June 2021. The festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. Only 30 audience members were allowed to attend the performance amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA/EFE)