North Koreans pledged their loyalty to leader Kim Jong-un Wednesday as the isolated nation commemorated the third anniversary of the death of his father Kim Jong-il.
   
Pyongyang's state media churned out reports lauding the former leader, referred to as "Dear Leader" or the "Sun" of Korea, and the current leader's accomplishments over the past three years.
   
The main newspaper Rodong Sinmun carried a large picture of Kim Jong-il on its front page, coupled with an editorial extolling him.

Other pages were filled with pictures of him and related stories.
  

On the second and third pages, the newspaper also highlighted Kim Jong-un's "victory" in the fight against western powers and said the era of the "great" leader had fully begun.
   
Korean Central Television has also been airing related programs without interruption, according to the South's unification ministry.
   
"We have confirmed that Korean Central Television has been broadcasting overnight without a daily final program yesterday," the ministry's deputy spokeswoman Park Soo-jin said at a press briefing. "It's rather unusual."
  

The North's leader Kim Jong-un is expected to host a national ceremony to commemorate his father and pay tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a mausoleum in Pyongyang, later Wednesday.
   
Participants in the event will be closely monitored by North Korea watchers seeking to analyze the standing of key figures inside the secretive regime.
   
In particular, the North's leader is entering the fourth year since his father's death, which may herald the start of a leadership style less influenced by the legacy of his father.
   
In accordance with Confucian tradition, Koreans observe 3 years of filial duties after the death of a parent. (Yonhap)