North Korean state media focused on promoting Kim Il Sung’s legacy around the 81st anniversary of the country’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule on Saturday. It credited Kim Il Sung for freeing the nation and used the occasion to legitimize the Kim family’s hereditary rule while asking its people to be loyal to the leader as anti-Japanese guerilla fighters did to the founder. 

Anti-Japan messaging continued throughout the week. Although Pyongyang didn’t attack Tokyo directly, domestic newspapers reprinted criticism of Tokyo from its allies Beijing and Moscow. 

State media also stayed