North Korea Bolsters Leader Kim with Birthday Loyalty Oaths

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a football game while visiting Kim Il Sung Military University on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 25, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a football game while visiting Kim Il Sung Military University on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 25, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
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North Korea Bolsters Leader Kim with Birthday Loyalty Oaths

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a football game while visiting Kim Il Sung Military University on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 25, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a football game while visiting Kim Il Sung Military University on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 25, 2024, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)

For the first time since leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011, North Koreans were asked to take loyalty oaths on his birthday, a South Korean research institute said, amid other steps the country is taking to solidify his rule.
The loyalty oaths, which Reuters could not independently verify, were administered on what is believed to have been Kim's 40th birthday on January 8, according to the South and North Development Institute (SAND), a Seoul-based organization that released photos of the oath in an ornate folder on Friday.
North Korea has never officially confirmed Kim's birth date, and traditionally such oath ceremonies have been held on the anniversaries of the birthdays of his father and grandfather, the nuclear-armed country's previous rulers.
"Kim Jong Un's choice to host a loyalty oath ceremony on his 40th birthday, as he begins his 13th year in power, signals a shift towards political assertiveness, departing from his predecessors' approach," SAND said in an analysis.
SAND's president, Choi Kyong-hui, told Reuters North Korea could move to designate Kim's birthday as an official anniversary as soon as next year.
The Kim family dynasty has ruled the country since its founding after World War Two, strengthening their grip on power by building cults of personality around them.
For the first time this year, North Korea stopped referring to the April 15 birth anniversary of founding leader Kim Il Sung as the "Day of the Sun," according to a Western tour agency that has partners in Pyongyang, and analysts who study state media.
"We should view this as part of North Korea’s effort to further bolster Kim Jong Un's leadership propaganda campaign," Rachel Minyoung Lee of the Washington-based 38 North program, said of the decision to drop "Day of the Sun."
She noted that while such efforts are not new, they happen in phases over the years, with North Korea visibly accelerating efforts to play up Kim’s leadership in certain years.
Kim has also been showing off his daughter at official visits to everything from factories to missile launches, in what analysts said is aimed at bolstering the family's claim to power.
Last month North Korea released a new song featuring North Koreans of different backgrounds ranging from children to troops and medical staff exuberantly belting out lines such as: "Let's sing, Kim Jong Un the great leader" and "Let's brag about Kim Jong Un, a friendly father".



Trump, Britain's Starmer Meet at the White House

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a welcome reception at the UK ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C., US Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a welcome reception at the UK ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C., US Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS
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Trump, Britain's Starmer Meet at the White House

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a welcome reception at the UK ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C., US Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a welcome reception at the UK ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C., US Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS

President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met at the White House on Thursday for their first in-person talks since the Republican leader upended US policy on Ukraine, the Middle East and global trade.

Starmer is the second European leader to meet Trump this week after French President Emmanuel Macron came to the White House on Monday for a friendly encounter that displayed stark differences about Russia's war with Ukraine and the US push for a quick ceasefire.

Trump, who came into office on Jan. 20, has shocked traditional US allies in Europe by drawing closer to Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a 'dictator', and demanding payback for US financial support for Kyiv, according to Reuters.

Zelenskiy is expected to be in Washington on Friday to sign an agreement with Trump on rare earth minerals, a deal the Ukrainian leader said would hinge on further US aid. Trump portrays the deal as a way to recoup American money that has been spent to support Ukraine. It includes no specific security guarantees for Ukraine, a US official said.

Starmer on Wednesday urged the United States to provide a security "backstop" for any European forces that take part in a potential peacekeeping role in Ukraine, saying that would offer Kyiv a lasting peace rather than a temporary pause in violence.

He has signaled that Britain will increase defense spending and is expected to try to reassure the US president that Europe will provide support and security guarantees to Kyiv if peace talks with Russia are successful. A senior Trump administration official told reporters they were pleased with Starmer's pledges to increase defense spending.

Trump has shattered foreign policy and domestic policy norms since the start of his second term, rattling allies by advocating for US ownership of the Gaza Strip and by promising trade tariffs on US friends and foes alike.

Trade was expected to be a topic between the two leaders as the US president demands more reciprocity from US partners, according to the Trump aide.

"We would want any economic relationship with the UK to be based on reciprocal and equal trade," he said.

Trump's relationship with Starmer got off to a friendly start in September with a two-hour dinner in New York at Trump Tower. The British leader's team said the atmosphere was warm with the "gracious host" offering foreign minister David Lammy a second helping of chicken.

Like Macron, Starmer will argue that a rushed peace deal with Russia, without the participation of Ukraine or European nations, might lead to further instability in Europe, which would not be good for the United States.

Starmer has said he is open to British troops providing security guarantees to Ukraine but only alongside other European nations and with "the right conditions in place."

European countries are concerned about the high level of conflict in Ukraine now, the US official said, while a ceasefire would give them more comfort that their role is more about peacekeeping than deterring active conflict.

"The type of force depends very much on the political settlement that is made to end the war," the US official said. "That trade-off is part of what the leaders today are going to be discussing."