North Korea has celebrated the 78th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party by issuing new postage stamps bearing images of leader Kim Jong Un's recent visit to Russia in praise of his diplomatic achievement.

On Tuesday, North Korea's state-run TV covered a large-scale celebratory event in central Pyongyang from Monday night through early Tuesday, the day of the anniversary.

The new stamps were issued to commemorate Kim's September visit to Russia's Far East, his first in four years. Their design features Kim meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a spaceport.

North Korea's newly established space agency, the National Aerospace Technology Administration, published its first article on Tuesday.

It said, "Space development including military reconnaissance satellites is an indispensable strategic option for guaranteeing the security interests and right to existence" of North Korea.

Pyongyang announced that it would launch such a satellite this month. The launch follows attempted launches in May and August, both of which ended in failure.

The country is thought to be carefully selecting the date for the launch, taking into consideration its diplomatic schedule.

Thursday will mark 75 years of diplomatic relations with Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to visit North Korea this month.
Kim has not made a media appearance for nearly two weeks.