Kim Jong Un
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pays his respects to former country leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, Feb. 16, 2018. Reuters

North Korea celebrated one of its most important holidays Friday, the birth anniversary of late leader, Kim Jong Il, who would have been 77 years old now. Kim Jong Un's father was born on Feb. 16, 1941, and died in 2011 following which his son took power of the reclusive country.

Kim Jong Un visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a national mausoleum to mark his father's birth anniversary, called the Day of the Shining Star, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The site is the resting place of Kim Jong Il and North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.

"He entered the hall of immortality where Kim Jong-il lies in state ... (and) paid deep homage and made bow," KCNA said in an English dispatch.

Top North Korean officials including Choe Ryong Hae, vice chairman of the central committee of the Workers' Party, along with former Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong and others accompanied the younger Kim to the site, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

"All participants agreed to make a firm commitment to realize the patriotic desires of General Kim Jong Il by completing the historical cause of strengthening the party and the construction of a strong socialist power," KCNA stated.

The event comes after North Korea released pre-recorded footage showing a separate event marking the birth anniversary. The video released late Thursday appeared to show Hwang Pyong So, a former top military officer who reportedly had been purged.

Meanwhile, to mark the birth anniversary of Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mainstream party newspaper the Rodong Sinmun reportedly flaunted the former leader's nuclear achievement.

"The republic's victory of building a state nuclear force is part of (Kim Jong-il's) revolutionary accomplishment," the newspaper said in a column.

Below are some lesser-known facts about Kim Jong Il.

1. Kim Jong Il had inherited his fear of flying from his father and always traveled in armored private trains. However, it turned out to be the place where the former leader died.

2. There were unconfirmed reports that Kim Jong Il was responsible for his younger brother Kim Shu Ra's death by drowning in the family's swimming pool in a mansion in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Il was five years old at the time of the incident.

3. According to some myths circulating in North Korea, Kim Jong Il had magical power to control the weather depending on his mood.

4. Kim Jong Il considered himself an Internet expert, even though his citizens were banned from using mobile phones or the Internet.

5. Reports in 2004 claimed that Kim Jong Il's former chef, the Japanese Kenji Fujimoto, was sent to foreign nations in search of delicacies for the leader. This came as a surprise as the leader refused to consume foreign food and drinks.

6. Kim Jong Il was a movie buff with a vast collection of more than 20,000 videotapes and DVDs and was particularly fond of movies starring Elizabeth Taylor. His other movie favorites included "Friday the 13th", "Rambo" and "Godzilla" movies and Hong Kong action movies.

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