You will be given a definition of a task first, then some input of the task.
In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

BEIJING--North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seems to be leaning toward Russia for his first official visit abroad and not China, which would normally be the inaugural stop. 
  
 A number of sources familiar with the Russia-North Korea relationship said Moscow had extended an invitation to Kim Jong Un to visit next May, when ceremonies are planned to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. 
  
 In November, Kim Jong Un dispatched special envoy Choe Ryong Hae to Russia. 
  
 Choe is secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and considered the de facto No. 2 leader in North Korea. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. 
  
 During those meetings, Choe broached the possibility of a visit to Russia by Kim Jong Un, according to diplomatic sources in Beijing. 
  
 After his meeting with Choe on Nov. 20, Lavrov told reporters, "We are prepared for contact between the leaders of the two nations." 
  
 Russia will hold its commemorative ceremony on May 9, and is seeking to invite many foreign dignitaries. 
  
 If Kim Jong Un decides to make Russia his first foreign destination as North Korean leader, he will likely meet with Putin. 
  
 Russia has deepened ties with North Korea in recent months. Pyongyang fully supported Russia in its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. Russia also has plans to construct a gas pipeline to expand exports to South Korea. Pyongyang's cooperation would be indispensable for that project as the pipeline would go through North Korea. 
  
 Russia agreed this year to forgive about $11 billion (about 1.28 trillion yen) in loans to North Korea. The figure represents 90 percent of Russian loans to North Korea. 
  
 In November, Moscow opposed a resolution condemning the North Korean government for human rights abuses adopted at the U.N. General Assembly's Third Committee. 
  
 As yet, Kim Jong Un has not made a foreign trip since becoming North Korea's leader in 2011. Aside from its growing distance with China, North Korea remains a pariah in the international community over its missile and nuclear weapons programs, which resulted in an array of economic sanctions. 
  
 One obstacle to a visit to Russia in May is Kim Jong Un's apparent preference to undertake the journey when no other foreign leaders are present, sources said. 
  
 For Russia's part, having Kim Jong Un visit during a ceremony attended by other foreign dignitaries would allow Moscow to fend off the criticism that would surely arise from those nations which have poor relations with North Korea if it invited the North Korean leader for a separate trip. 
  
 (This article was written by Nanae Kurashige in Beijing and Akiyoshi Komaki in Moscow.) ||||| North Korea staged a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the death of its former leader Kim Jong-Il. 
  
 Trains, ships and cars sounded their horns and masses of North Koreans fell silent for three minutes as they bowed toward the mausoleum in Pyongyang where Kim Jong Il and his father, "eternal president" Kim Il Sung, lie in state. 
  
 It is a Korean custom to observe three years of mourning after the death of a parent. 
  
 With that period now behind him, the younger Kim may be more likely to initiate new policies that underscore his own priorities and goals, though it is believed that major departures from his father's path are unlikely. 
  
 Crowds laid flowers below statues and portraits of Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011, and his father Kim Il Sung, who died in 1994. 
  
 Kim Il Sung is still officially revered as the founder of the nation in North Korea. It is routine for North Koreans to lay flowers and pay their respects in front of images of their former leaders on all major anniversaries and holidays. 
  
 (APTN) 
  
 Since the death of his father, Kim Jong Un has indicated he wants to build the economy and improve the nation's standard of living, but he has also held firm to the North's longstanding - and extremely costly - focus on strengthening its military and developing its nuclear weapons capabilities. 
  
 North Koreans usually refer to Kim Jong Un as "our respected marshal", to Kim Jong Il as "our great general", and to Kim Il Sung as "our great leader". ||||| North Korea on Wednesday marked the third anniversary of the death of former leader Kim Jong Il, ending a traditional period of mourning and setting the stage for his son Kim Jong Un to further entrench himself as the country’s unchallenged leader. 
  
 A ceremony was held at Kumusan Palace of the Sun in the capital, Pyongyang, where Kim Jong Il’s body lies in state. Kim Jong Un was seen paying tribute along with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, in a broadcast by Korean Central Television, North Korea’s official TV network. 
  
 North Korean state media reported that all North Koreans observed three minutes of silence at noon, and that all car and trucks sounded their horns. 
  
 Though the commemorations were relatively low-key, the passing of the third year since Kim Jong Il’s death is significant in that it marked the end of the customary Korean three-year mourning period after the passing of a parent. Since Kim Jong Il's death, North Korea’s one-party system of governance has been kept almost unchanged, and in theory, Kim Jong Un could now seek to institute his own system. 
  
 “The end of the three-year mourning period can be used as a chance for Kim Jong Un to change the system and more thoroughly consolidate his power,” said Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies. 
  
 Kim Jong Un, believed to be in his early 30s, took over leadership of the isolated and impoverished country as a young and untested successor to his father. Early in his rule there were questions about whether he could win the allegiance of the older and more experienced men in the upper echelons of government. He appears to have been able to build a firm grip on power. 
  
 In recent days North Korea’s official media have run stories detailing Kim Jong Un’s accomplishments, including among them his purge of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek. Jang was the most prominent of officials from the Kim Jong Il era that Kim Jong Un has purged, in an apparent effort to put more people that are loyal to him in powerful positions. 
  
 Jon Chol Jin / Associated Press North Koreans gather Dec. 16 at Mansu Hill, where the statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Il tower over them North Koreans gather Dec. 16 at Mansu Hill, where the statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Il tower over them (Jon Chol Jin / Associated Press) 
  
 Kim Jong Il was well known in the West for his eccentricities, including his bouffant hairstyle, high-heeled shoes and huge film collection. He was generally reclusive and made few public appearances. As leader, Kim Jong Un has adopted a style more similar to that of his grandfather, North Korea founding leader Kim Il Sung, who carried himself in a more public, outgoing manner. 
  
 Like his grandfather, Kim Jong Un is often photographed at public events, grinning and hugging people, something his grandfather did often but his father avoided. Also unlike his father, Kim Jong Un regularly appears in public with his wife. 
  
 Kim Jong Il rarely traveled abroad, and his son has not ventured out of North Korea since taking over as leader. But on Wednesday, the Asahi Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper, reported that Kim Jong Un has been invited to Russia to attend a ceremony in May marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. 
  
 The newspaper quoted unnamed sources who said that the invitation had been conveyed to Kim through Choe Ryong Hae, a senior North Korean official who last month met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. If Kim does make the trip, it would be his first known trip abroad as North Korean leader. 
  
 The South Korean government did not convey an official gesture of condolence for the anniversary of Kim Jong Il's death. On Tuesday, one South Korean politician traveled to the border city of Kaesong in North Korea to present flowers. Opposition lawmaker Park Jie-won made the trip on behalf of Lee Hui-ho, widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. Lee, 92, went to North Korea for Kim Jong Il’s funeral in 2011, but was unable to travel this year due to her frail health. 
  
 Kim Dae-jung was in office from 1998 to 2003, and was the architect of the “Sunshine Policy,” a strategy that saw South Korea provide the North with unconditional aid in the hope of improved relations and eventual reunification. 
  
 Borowiec is a Times special correspondent. |||||
Output:
It's Korean tradition to mourn a parent's death for three years, and today North Korea reached a similar milestone marking the passing of Kim Jong Il in 2011, the Los Angeles Times reports. The country completed its mourning period with three minutes of silence—though it was also noted with the honking of car, ship, and train horns, the Telegraph reports. Meanwhile, residents placed flowers under statues of the former leader and his father, Kim Il Sung. "The end of the three-year mourning period can be used as a chance for Kim Jong Un to change the (governing) system and more thoroughly consolidate his power," says an expert in South Korea. Recent days have seen stories in state media celebrating the younger Kim's achievements thus far. As a leader, he has behaved more like his grandfather than his father, the Times notes: He's often seen in public with his wife, marking a contrast to his father's reclusive nature. It's even possible that he could travel abroad for the first time since becoming leader. He was recently invited to Russia for a celebration of the defeat of the Nazis next year, insiders tell Japan's Asahi Shimbun. Kim, however, would seemingly rather visit at a time when no other foreign leaders were in Moscow, the paper notes.