North Koreans rally wearing masks after military parade

SEOUL (HRNW) – Thousands of North Koreans have packed into Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung square to pledge their support for the government — all of them wearing masks, unlike at a military parade only two days earlier.

Authorities held the rally on Monday at the start of an “80-Day Campaign”, a mass mobilisation drive to boost the economy ahead of a ruling party congress in January.

Such efforts, often dubbed “battles”, feature extra-long work hours and additional duties and are commonplace in North Korea in the lead-up to major events.

Troops, workers and students, all of them wearing facemasks, packed into the square, holding slogans including “Let’s keep pace with the steps of our dear leader, Comrade Kim Jong Un”.

It was a change from the military parade the North held at the weekend as part of the commemorations for the ruling party’s 75th anniversary, when neither Kim nor any other participants had their faces covered.