North Korea has marked Kim Jong-un's birthday in a decidedly low-key manner.

Though the young leader's birthday is well-known throughout the country, it has yet to be celebrated with the kind of adulatory festivities that accompany the birthdays of his late grandfather and father.

Pyongyang residents did what they do every second Sunday of the New Year — they joined in sports events.

Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be 33 or 34 and the world's youngest head of state, assumed power after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in late 2011.

With the official period of mourning his father's death over and his own powerbase apparently solid, Mr Kim presided over a once in a generation party congress last May that was seen by many as something of a coronation and the beginning of the Kim Jong-un era.

However he has continued to keep a step or two behind his predecessors in the country's intense cult of personality.

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Mr Kim's grandfather, "eternal president" Kim Il-sung, and Kim Jong-il statues and portraits are found in virtually every public space or home.

Their pins are worn over the hearts of every adult man and woman.

Rumours were rife that a new pin featuring Kim Jong-un would be issued during the May party congress, but they proved to be unfounded.

The only time Mr Kim has been honoured in public on his birthday was in 2014, when former NBA star Dennis Rodman sang Happy Birthday to him before an exhibition basketball game in Pyongyang.

AP