North Korea

Amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula over the North’s nuclear test, North Korea had a ceremony celebrating the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Down with Imperialism Union (North Korea’s first revolutionary group organized by Kim Il Sung in 1926 to overthrow imperialism in Manchuria, China). North Korea showed off its volition to confront the U.S. by mobilizing tens of thousands of students to hold a massive torch marching in Pyongyang. Meanwhile, the North’s Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) yesterday released an image of Kim Jong Il attending the concert of North Korean People’s Army. It is the first time Kim made a public appearance since the nuclear test.