This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Dec. 18, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un, center, visiting the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun the previous day to pay tribute to his late father, Kim Jong-il, on the 13th anniversary of his death. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a mausoleum for his late father to mark the 13th anniversary of his death, the North's state media reported Wednesday.

Kim paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun the previous day, where the bodies of state founder Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, late father of the current leader, lie in state, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim Jong-il died of heart failure on Dec. 17, 2011 at age 69.

The North's leader was accompanied by senior party and government officials, including Premier Kim Tok-hun and Jo Yong-won, a party secretary. Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the leader, also joined the commemoration.

Except in 2022, the North's incumbent leader visited the mausoleum every year on the occasion of his father's death anniversary.

This year, North Korea held commemorative events on a small scale to honor the former leader, as the country tends to lavishly mark key anniversaries that end in a five or zero.

North Korea has been bolstering the personality cult for Kim Jong-un while refraining from excessively extolling the late former leaders. (Yonhap)