North Korea held a memorial service on Saturday on the fifth anniversary of the death of its second leader, Kim Jong Il, with a senior official calling for the same type of allegiance to the current regime under his son.

Leader Kim Jong Un and numerous senior officials attended the service outside the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, where the embalmed bodies of the state's two previous leaders — his grandfather and father — lie in state.

Choe Ryong Hae, a vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party, delivered an address in which he praised Kim Jong Il's contributions to the country and urged that all continue to be loyal to the third leader.

Kim Jong Un, whose father died of a heart attack on Dec. 17, 2011, at age 69, made no remarks during the service.

Sirens sounded across the North Korean capital at noon, and citizens observed three minutes of silence.