North Korea holds cooking contest to mark birth anniversary of late leader

Reuters - North Korea held a cooking contest on Thursday (February 14) in Pyongyang to mark the 77th birth anniversary of late leader Kim Jong Il. Video provided to Reuters by North Korea's official news agency KCNA, which Reuters cannot independently verify, showed North Korean chefs preparing food and visitors looking around a food exhibition at Pyongyang Noodle House. Kim Jong Il, who died of a heart attack on December 17, 2011, led the reclusive state for 17 years. North Korea has celebrated Kim's birthday on February 16 as a national holiday and calls it the "Day of the Shining Star".