North Korea on Saturday marked the birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il with no outward provocation against the United States, in the run-up to a second summit between the two countries later this month.
National flags and placards have been placed along major thoroughfares of Pyongyang in celebration of the father of the current leader, Kim Jong Un, who has recently pledged to revitalize the nation's economy hit hard by international sanctions.
Ahead of Kim Jong Un's planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 27-28 in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, political slogans in public spaces made no mention of the country's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.