Seoul:
North Korea is handing out free uniforms to all students in the communist state to celebrate the 100th birthday of its deceased founder Kim Il-Sung, Pyongyang said on Saturday.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said free uniforms were being distributed to all students of elementary, middle and high schools and universities to mark the "Day of Sun" on Sunday.
It said the uniforms had been prepared thanks to the "fatherly benevolence" of late leader Kim Jong-Il, who died in December last year. He was succeeded by his youngest son Jong-Un.
"Thanks to Comrade Kim Jong-Un, new school uniforms are being provided to students,
embracing them in the Great General's warm love, even after he left us," it said.
KCNA said the North started giving away free uniforms in earnest after the Korean War of 1950-53. In 1959, all North Korean students were given free uniforms on a directive from Kim Il-Sung.
The tradition continued under the communist dynasty even at times of economic difficulties, according to KCNA.
North Korea on Friday unveiled giant new statues of Jong-Un's father and grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, at a mass rally in the capital.
The North is likely to stage a military parade to mark the 100th birthday on Sunday, according to South Korean newspaper reports. Kim Il-Sung, a former anti-Japanese guerilla leader, died in 1994.