This picture taken on July 15, 2024 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 16 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (front L) inspecting the shellfish farming situation at a shallow sea farm area in Sinpo in South Hamgyong Province. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





This picture taken on July 27, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 28, 2024 shows celebrations to mark the 71st anniversary of the end of the Korean War, in front of the Victory Monument of the Fatherland Liberation War in Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for the building of a “people's paradise”, as Pyongyang marked the anniversary of the end of the Korean War on July 27. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observes rescue efforts in flooded areas near the country's border with China, which has been hit by heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Gaemi, in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, on July 28, 2024 in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)





This picture taken on July 28, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 29, 2024 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un looking out from a car as he inspects the area for flood damage after record-breaking heavy rains in the city of Sinuiju, North Pyongan province. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





This picture taken on August 15, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on August 16, 2024 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (C) visiting the children of flood-affected victims, who were relocated from the northwestern part of the country, as they eat at a dining hall in Pyongyang. State media said on August 10 that North Korea would move more than 15,000 flood victims to the capital, as leader Kim Jong Un insisted recovery efforts would be “based on self-reliance” despite offers of aid from abroad. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





People pay their respects before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at Mansu Hill as North Korea marks its 79th National Liberation Day, commemorating the end of Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II, in Pyongyang on August 15, 2024. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP Photo)





A photo taken from an observation tower in the South Korean border town of Paju, shows North Korean soldiers building strongholds along the Imjin River, which runs across the inter-Korean border, in Kaepung county, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, 29 August 2024. (Photo by Yonhap/EPA/EFE)





North Korean dance during an evening gala as they celebrate the country's 76th founding anniversary at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, September 8, 2024. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)





This photo taken on September 11, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on September 13, 2024 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the training base of the special operation armed forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





President Kim Jong-un is surrounded by cadets at a military training base at an undisclosed location in North Korea on September 11, 2024. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks on during the test of what KCNA described as a new tactical ballistic missile, in this picture obtained by Reuters on September 19, 2024, in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)





This picture taken on September 30, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on October 1, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (centre R) meeting players and coaches who won the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, at the headquarters of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





This picture taken on October 2, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on October 4, 2024 shows troops taking part in training at a base of the Korean People's Army's special operations forces in the western region, at an undisclosed location in North Korea. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un said his forces would use nuclear weapons “without hesitation” if Pyongyang's territory was attacked by the South and its ally the United States, state media reported on October 4. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





A view shows the live ammunition shooting training of the graduates of the 75th class of O Jin U Artillery Academy, in progress, at an undisclosed location, in North Korea, in this handout picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on October 6, 2024. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)





North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the National Defense University in Pyongyang, North Korea on October 7, 2024. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)





People visit the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to pay their respects on the occasion of the 79th founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea at Mansu Hill in Pyongyang on October 10, 2024. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP Photo)





A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows a performance as part of celebrations for the 79th anniversary of the founding of Workers' Party of Korea at the party's Central Cadres Training School in Pyongyang, North Korea, 10 October 2024. According to KCNA, North Korea held a celebratory concert and banquet in Pyongyang on 10 October to mark the 79th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea. (Photo by KCNA/EPA)





Young people, including students and youth league officials, sign petitions to join or return to the army this week, according to North Korean state media, at an undisclosed location in North Korea in the second decade of October 2024. (Photo by Korea Central News Agency via Reuters)





This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on October 23, 2024 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) visiting a strategic missile base at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





People welcome members of the North Korean women's under-17 football team on a street in Pyongyang on November 9, 2024. North Korea beat Spain on penalties November 3 in the Dominican Republic to clinch a record third Women's World Cup at under-17 level, adding it to their title in the under-20 version in September. (Photo by Kim Won-jin/AFP Photo)