People gathered en masse at a stadium in the capital yesterday on the eve of the so-called “Day of the Sun” to honor Kim and laud the new leadership of his grandson, Kim Jong Un, according to a report by South Korea’s Yonhap News, citing the state broadcaster in Pyongyang. The younger Kim, who is thought to be less than 30 years old, took over the nation after his father died of a heart attack on Dec. 17.

The launch debacle prompted a rare public admission of failure and raised questions over whether Kim can secure his grip on the military and government as he confronts international condemnation and an economy that struggles to feed its own people. North Korea fired the rocket in defiance of warnings it would scupper an American food aid deal, and the crash touched off a scavenger hunt by the U.S. and South Korea for pieces of the debris.