Throngs of North Korean residents flocked to Kim Il Sung-Kim Jong Il bronze statues nationwide to pay their respects on Wednesday, Chosun Central Television and other state-run media reported, emphasizing a spirit of remembrance and mourning as the country marked the third anniversary since the death of former leader Kim Jong Il.

However, among those lining up at the Kim statues in the bone-chilling cold, most were harboring a burning desire for the mourning proceedings to wind up as quickly as possible. 

“Businesses, students, and members of the Chosun Democratic Women's Union, and all able-bodied residents were handed down orders to lay flowers at the foot of the statues over the course of two days – yesterday and today,” a source in North Hamkyung Province told the Daily NK on December 17th. “Provincial Party offices, special businesses and first and second-ranking factories prepared wreaths, while smaller factories and regular households paid their respects with a single blossom.”

“Since thousands of people crowd around the front of the statues, it usually takes over an hour to put the flowers down,” the source said. “As people wait in the freezing cold, on the surface they may appear to be immersed in commemorative thoughts, but internally they’re questioning why they have to do something like this in the middle of winter.”  

Each provincial area hosts twin Kim statues to which people make deferential visits on certain occasions--mandatory or otherwise. In the case of the third anniversary of Kim Jong Il's death, work groups offered up their wreaths and factory workers paid visits to the site in groups of 30 to 40 people. For their turn at a ten second silent tribute, people have to stand in icy conditions for an hour. 

“[He] had to die in cold weather like this, making life miserable for those alive," those mobilized for the memorial events have grumbled. “Ill-natured people torment those alive like this even after they die."

Some type of commemorative event is held annually, so the people--innovative as always-- are finding ways to make things easier on themselves amid a wealth of worries, according to the source. Because all they need to do is lay down flowers, people are making use of early morning hours or visiting late at night to speed up the process.

“Some enterprise workers have taken to lying to their manager, claiming to have already visited the statues with their family early in the morning so they can get away from the organization's group visit,” he added.

Time is not the only burden residents bear as a result from these events: fiscal concerns contribute significantly to their aversion to participation. If people fail to pay their respects, they are rebuked for lack of loyalty to the Kim family, so laying flowers is an absolute necessity, but securing them can prove onerous for most. “Instead of fresh flowers, people get one or two artificial flowers, and on the streets that usually costs about 500 KPW [0.06 USD] for a stem,” the source explained.

Large families that cannot afford to buy these flowers even make their own at home to save money. “For a family of five, the money required to buy flowers would yield enough rice for them to enjoy a filling meal,” he concluded.

On the same day, Rodong Sinmun plastered its pages with articles claiming the "spirit of devotion" residents demonstrated across the country in mourning the loss of Kim Jong Il.