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)

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)

A poster depicts a disinfection worker in North Korea on May 23, 2022. The COVID outbreak in the isolated country, confirmed about two weeks ago, has stoked concerns about a lack of vaccines and medical supplies, while experts said a nationwide lockdown could deepen a food crisis in the country of 25 million. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)

This picture taken on October 10, 2020 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on October 11, 2020 shows the military parade during a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea at Kim Il-sung Square of Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)

Gymnasts from the Pyongyang Circus Theater perform during Mother's Day Monday, November 16, 2020, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)

In a photo taken on July 6, 2017 soldiers of the Korean People' s Army (KPA) watch a fireworks display as part of celebrations marking the July 4 launch of the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, in Pyongyang Fireworks lit up the sky over Pyongyang' s Juche Tower as North Korea celebrated its launch of intercontinental ballistic missile, a milestone in its decades- long weapons drive. On July 4 – the United States' Independence Day – it launched a Hwasong-14 rocket that analysts and overseas officials said had a range of up to 8,000 kilometres, which would put Alaska and Hawaii within reach. (Photo by Kim Won-Jin/AFP Photo)