Frigid Cold Sparks Internal Fire

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.