In pictures: Birthday for a Dear (dead) Leader in North Korea
Late leader Kim Jong-il would have been 71
North Korean soldiers lay flowers at the base of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to pay their respects in Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. North Koreans turned out to commemorate what would have been the 71th birthday of Kim Jong-il, who died on Dec. 17, 2011.David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press
North Korean soldiers and others gather in front of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to pay their respects in Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013.David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press
Female North Korean traffic police officers gather in front of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to pay their respects in Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013.David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, fourth from the right, and officials attend a wreath laying ceremony in front of a statue of North’s founder Kim Il-sung and his son and late leader Kim Jong-il at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School in Pyongyang on the occasion of birth anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong-il, which falls on Saturday, in this undated recent picture released by the North’s official KCNA news agency on February 16, 2013.KCNA/Reuters
Offerings of flowers are lined up as North Koreans bow in front of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to pay their respects in Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013.David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press
North Korean children play with the camera of a visiting photographer as people gather in front of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013.David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press
North Korean children roller-blade in Pyongyang, on the birthday of their late leader Kim Jong-il, in this photo taken and provided by Kyodo February 16, 2013.KYODO/Reuters
North Koreans dance to celebrate the birthday of their late leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, in this photo taken and provided by Kyodo February 16, 2013.KYODO/Reuters
North Korean women walk past bronze statues of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung, left, and late leader Kim Jong-il at Mansudae in Pyongyang, in this photo taken and provided by Kyodo, February 16, 2013, on the birthday of Kim Jong-il.KYODO/Reuters
Rows of North Korean children stand and salute at a sports arena in Pyongyang for a national meeting of the Children’s Union on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. North Koreans commemorated on Saturday what would have been the 71th birthday of leader Kim Jong-il who died on December 17, 2011.Jon Chol Jin/The Associated Press
North Koreans attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School in Pyongyang on the occasion of birth anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong-il in this undated recent picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency on February 16, 2013.KCNA/Reuters
Members of the Mansudae Art Troupe take part in a music and dance performance, titled “Love the Country,” at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre on the occasion of the birth anniversary of North Korea;s late leader Kim Jong-il on February 16, 2013 in this picture taken and released by the North’s official KCNA news agency on Saturday.KCNA/Reuters
In South Korea, meanwhile, North Korean defectors and South Korean activists near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, prepare to launch 10 helium balloons carrying leaflets against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. They flew the 200,000 propaganda leaflets across the border to denounce the nuclear test and late leader Kim Jong-il’s birthday.Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press
Helium balloons carrying leaflets against Kim Jong Un's dictatorship are launched by North Korean defectors and South Korean activists in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013.Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press