North Koreans commemorated Kim Jong Il’s birthday on Sunday by paying visits to statues of the former leader and attending various events in his honor. State media was filled with praise for the father of the country’s current leader though there were notably fewer references to the “Day of the Shining Star,” a name used for the holiday. This appears to be an effort by Kim Jong Un to raise his status relative to his predecessors.

The state-run news agency released a commentary criticizing AUKUS and the U.S.-led security partnership in the Asia-Pacific