North Korean government and party officials visit the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Tuesday, to pay tribute to North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung, and his son Kim Jong-il, marking the 78th anniversary of the country's founding. The mausoleum enshrines the mummified bodies of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. (KCNA via Yonhap)
North Korean government and party officials visit the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Tuesday, to pay tribute to North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung, and his son Kim Jong-il, marking the 78th anniversary of the country's founding. The mausoleum enshrines the mummified bodies of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. (KCNA via Yonhap)

North Korea's senior party and government officials have visited the mausoleum of late former state leaders to commemorate the national founding anniversary, state media said Wednesday.

They visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang the previous day, where the embalmed bodies of state founder Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jung-il lie in state, on the occasion of the country's 78th founding anniversary, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

"The participants made deep bows to them, praying for their immortality," the report said, adding they "pledged to work harder in the vanguard of historic struggle for the eternal dignity and prosperity of the motherland and happiness of the people."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not take part in the visit, but a flower basket from him was laid at the statues of the two late leaders, according to the report.

On the same day, labor innovators and persons of merit were also "invited to the celebrations" of the anniversary and paid tribute, according to the KCNA.

In a separate dispatch, the media reported high-ranking officials, including Premier Pak Thae-song and Jo Yong-won, a secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee, visited national cemeteries. (Yonhap)