[imText1]This Sunday sees Kim Jong Eun’s first birthday since he became leader of North Korea. As yet, no signs of anything special associated with the birthday have been detected.
“It has not been long since the mourning period ended so there is no sign of a birthday atmosphere,” sources report. “There have been no orders yet but, like last year, North Korea will likely informally allow the people to rest on that day.”
However, there is speculation that Kim Jong Eun’s birthday will not be treated as just another ordinary day by cadres, given that it is such a good opportunity to show allegiance to the new leader.
In the case of Kim Jong Il, his birthday became a national holiday the year after his father passed away. Given that Kim Jong Eun has started being referred to as the great leader/respected leader and is already supreme commander of the military, it would not be abnormal for his birthday to be elevated to the pantheon alongside February 16th and April 15th, the birthdays of the two former North Korean leaders.
On the contrary, however, marking Kim Jong Eun’s birthday on the calendar and celebrating it just 20 days after his father’s death would go against the atmosphere of emphasizing ‘Kim Jong Il’s last Instructions’ as a guiding force in North Korean politics.
In 2010, the year after Kim Jong Eun’s appearance as successor, the National Security Agency, Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces and every provincial People’s Committee unofficially celebrated his birthday. The people received an unofficial day off.
A high ranking North Korean defector predicted, “On February 16th the year after Kim Il Sung’s death, Kim Jong Il’s birthday was celebrated magnificently in a way it hadn’t been before. Again, this time they will proclaim Kim Jong Eun’s birthday to propagandize the fact that we have lost a fatherly leader but have another great leader.”
“Proclaiming Kim Jong Eun’s birthday will be used to obtain the loyalty of the people,” he added, going on, “Rather than Kim Jong Eun ordering it himself, the cadres below him will probably organize the event. In this situation, quickly declaring Kim Jong Eun’s birthday would be better to solidify the people. In celebration of Kim Jong Eun’s birthday there will likely be report meetings and loyalty resolve meetings nationwide.”
It will be interesting to see how far this goes. North Korea always holds report meetings of Party committees to commemorate Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s birthdays, not to mention organizing arts events such as the ‘February Spring Arts Festival’ and ‘April Spring Arts Festival’.
In addition, the state distributes sweets and cookies to children, a so-called ‘Gift of Love’ for kindergarten, elementary and middle schoolers.
On the other hand, other observers think that holding events of any major nature would be deemed as inappropriate so shortly after Kim Jong Il’s death.
One such expert from a state research organization told Daily NK, “To emboss his image, Kim Jong Eun will use the excuse of the ‘mourning period’ or ‘it doesn’t fit the current sentiment’ to pass over the birthday. Like Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s birthday there needs to be gifts ready to give out to the people but no such things has been noted, so it seems there will not be any big event this year.”
Meanwhile, in a regular briefing on the 6th, Kim Hyung Suk of the Ministry of Unification suggested a low possibility of major celebrations.
