The funeral yesterday of former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung will have reminded many defectors of the funeral of Kim Il Sung fifteen years ago.
When the North Korean media announced the news of Kim Il Sung’s death at 12P.M. on July 8, 1994, everyone was instantly lost to shock and grief.
Nobody imagined that Kim Il Sung, who had looked healthy and young for his age, would die so suddenly. Since the foundation of the state, there had been only one leader, there was no set precedent for national mourning and, of course, the idea of worrying about his death itself was unheard of until the moment it came to pass.
On the 9th, the news that Kim Il Sung University students were managing memorials before Kim Il Sung statues in every province, city and county was released, and cadres, students, officials of the National Security Agency and the People’s Safety Agency were mobilized to cherish the memory of the deceased leader.
The North Korean authorities decided at first to hold the funeral ten days after his death, but ended up expanding the mourning period by three more days, so the funeral was eventually held on July 20.
Every workplace, collective farm, People’s Unit, school and university had to mourn his passing by offering flowers at the base of his statues. In rural areas, where there are fewer statues, a memorial was set before a portrait in the local Kim Il Sung Revolutionary Institute, which extends down through every administrative level of society.
Everyone had to visit statues and offer flowers every day, so in the end there were no flowers left. Usually, flowers are offered only on the birthdays of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, but during that mourning period flower traders must have earned a great deal of money.
In general at that time, a single flower was worth five North Korean won, but at that time, it rose to 50 won.
Eventually, imitation flowers made with paper were set in front of the statues instead.
Mr. Lee, who entered South Korea in 2008 from Hamheung, South Hamkyung Province, explained, “Due to the constant demand for flowers, real flowers disappeared and some brought and offered paper flowers. However, cadres stressed that people should prepare real flowers, saying, ‘Natural flowers are an expression of our loyalty.’ As a result, some people left the cities for rural areas in order to seek flowers.”
On July 20, the funeral cortege headed into central Pyongyang from the vast Mt. Keumsoo Memorial Palace, before returning to the Palace. The citizens of Pyongyang were required to come out onto the street to see the car.
The crowd lined the main streets, crying, “Suryeongnim, Suryeongnim! (Great Leader! Great Leader!).” Provincial residents had to watch the funeral on television in units or workplaces. They created a sea of tears all across the nation.
But in terms of yesterday’s funeral, the most impressive thing from a defector’s point of view was that the South Korean media and people could freely debate the achievements of former President Kim Dae Jung. Reviewing the merits and demerits of his work and evaluating his career while in office, accepting people’s opinions and discussing whether the funeral should be a people’s funeral or a national funeral (both of which have a slightly different character) looked extremely liberal from a defector’s perspective.
One other strange thing was that there was no one telling people to express their condolences. Everybody, from politicians or citizens who had sharply opposed him to those who had vociferously supported him, went to the memorial to offer their condolences of their own free will.
Ms. Yoon, who used to live in Pyongyang and came to South Korea in 2009 said, “During the Kim Il Sung mourning period, it was so hard to cry like that. In fact, even when my parents died I couldn’t cry like that. The work place and organization I belonged to mobilized us forcefully, so there was no choice but to go to the statue. I had to wait my turn for around four or five hours. After offering flowers and crying loudly and emotionally, I was exhausted. I just wanted to go home.”
Mr. Kim, who was in elementary school in 1994, said, “After finishing morning classes, we had to head for the Kim Il Sung statue. The teacher checked every day if we had brought flowers or not, so I urged my mother to buy flowers. We children just cried like the adults, without knowing anything about the situation.”
