North Korea kicked off celebrations this week for its biggest holiday in honor of founding leader Kim Il Sung, beginning a spring art festival that features video performances by foreign artists from friendly countries like Russia and China.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolences to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over flooding in a southwestern region, the latest in a series of increasingly frequent correspondence between the two leaders in recent years.

Vice foreign minister Kim Son Gyong denounced a recent U.N. resolution on human rights as a U.S