North Korea calls 3-day mourning period for Castro

In this photo distributed by the North Korean government, Choe Ryong Hae, right, a vice chairman of North Korea's Workers' Party, is sent off before leaving Pyongyang, North Korea, for Cuba Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service. Reports from Pyongyang said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a wreath to the Cuban Embassy and that a delegation of senior North Korean officials, led by Choe, left for Havana to attend the late Fidel Castro's memorial services. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this photo distributed by the North Korean government, Choe Ryong Hae, right, a vice chairman of North Korea's Workers' Party, is sent off before leaving Pyongyang, North Korea, for Cuba Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service. Reports from Pyongyang said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a wreath to the Cuban Embassy and that a delegation of senior North Korean officials, led by Choe, left for Havana to attend the late Fidel Castro's memorial services. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) (The Associated Press)

North Korea is observing a three-day period of mourning for Fidel Castro, seen by the North as a rare comrade-in-arms against the common enemy of the United States.

State media reported Monday that the North has ordered flags outside official buildings be flown at half-staff to honor Castro. The iconic Cuban leader died Friday at age 90.

Reports from Pyongyang said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a wreath to the Cuban Embassy and that a delegation of senior North Korean officials has left for Havana to attend Castro's memorial services.

According to a Japanese agency that monitors North Korean media, Castro is the first foreign political figure to be honored in such a manner since Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004.