A propaganda troupe perform a flag- waving routine outside the central railway station in Pyongyang, North Korea on September 27, 2017. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP 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)

North Korean women soldiers take part in a military parade Saturday, April 15, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

North Korean soldiers participate in a mass military parade at Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015. North Korea was marking the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

In this June 17, 2014 photo, a North Korean man takes shelter in the rain next to long propaganda billboards in the town of Samjiyon in North Korea's Ryanggang province. The Associated Press was granted to embark on a weeklong road trip across North Korea to the country’s spiritual summit Mount Paektu. The trip was on North Korea's terms. An AP reporter and photographer couldn't interview ordinary people or wander off course, and government “minders” accompanied them the entire way. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)

This picture taken on September 9, 2021 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows a parade of “paramilitary and public security forces” to celebrate the 73rd founding anniversary of North Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo/Stringer)

In this picture taken on January 5, 2022, people take part in a demonstration march after the Pyongyang City rally to carry out the decision of the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP Photo)