SEOUL: 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 Saturday. The three-year Korean War ended 71 years ago on July 27, 1953 with a ceasefire that has never been replaced by a peace treaty.

Pyongyang regards the conflict as a victory, and the anniversary is a public holiday. Kim said on Friday that it was the “sacred mission and duty of our generation” to “reliably defend our ideology and social system” and “build a people’s paradise”, according to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency. “Comrade Kim Jong Un said it is the sacred mission and duty of our generation to protect the ideology and system defended by the previous generation of war victors with blood ... and to build a paradise for the people,” KCNA said.

The North Korean leader also hailed China’s support during the war and said the “friendship established as the ties of kindred would be firmly carried forward”.

He visited memorials honoring the veterans of the war, including the Tower of Friendship commemorating the Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers who fought alongside North Korean forces, KCNA said. Pyongyang’s state media also said young North Koreans celebrated the anniversary, vowing to “to inherit the soul of the victorious wartime generation”. 

North Korea signed an armistice agreement with the United States and China on July 27, 1953 ending the battle in the three-year war. U.S. generals signed the agreement representing the United Nations forces that backed South Korea. North Korea calls July 27 “Victory Day” even though the armistice drew a border dividing the Korean peninsula roughly equally in area and restoring balance after the two sides had made major advances back and forth during the war.

South Korea does not mark the day with any major events. Festivities were held throughout North Korea to celebrate the day including banquets, a parade by the revolutionary youth vanguard and a mass dance in Pyongyang’s main square attended by patriots under celebratory fireworks, KCNA said. — Agencies