This image, captured from North Korea's Korean Central TV on Jan. 1, shows an image of the trilateral summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (center), U.S. President Joe Biden (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David in August 2023. Yonhap

North Korea's state TV on Monday used images of the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan holding a summit in the background while broadcasting leader Kim Jong-un delivering a recent speech.

The footage of President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was shown on the North's Korean Central TV as it broadcast Kim's address at the year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party.

In the middle of Kim making remarks denouncing U.S. policy toward the North, the TV screen switched to a video clip and 10 photos of the landmark trilateral summit held at the U.S. Camp David presidential retreat in August.

It is believed to be unprecedented for the North's TV to show real images of the leaders.

"It is highly unusual," said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification. "It appears to suggest that North Korea intends to intensify propaganda toward residents this year." (Yonhap)