North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly visited the mausoleum of his late father and predecessor to commemorate the eighth anniversary of his death.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Tuesday that Kim paid his respects to Kim Jong-il at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, where he and Kim's grandfather Kim Il-sung lie in state.

KCNA said Kim paid tribute and laid flowers at the statues of his father and grandfather.
 
The North Korean leader was reportedly accompanied by key party officials, including Choe Ryong-hae and Pak Pong-ju, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the ruling Workers' Party Central Committee.

The state-media report did not carry any particular mention of the rising tensions between North Korea and the U.S. ahead of a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang for Washington to change its position in denuclearization talks.