Battling Bone-Chilling Temperatures for 2 Hours

On December 17th, marking the third year
anniversary of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il
s
death, a central commemorative event took place in Pyongyang at the square in
front of Kumsusan Palace. While the first and second anniversary ceremonies
were held indoors, this year it took place out in the open. Some tens of
thousands gathered in front of the Palace, including current leader Kim Jong
Eun, high level officials, soldiers, and local residents.
 


Residents gather outside of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun for the memorial  
ceremony  marking the third anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death. Image: KCTV

On this day, Seouls
daytime mercury level was at minus six degrees Celsius, but adding in the wind
chill factor, it stood at minus 15. Estimates from Seoul
s meteorological center put Pyongyangs
temperatures at minus seven but the wind chill value would have pushed that
down to 15 to 20 degrees below freezing. It
s hard to
imagine how cold people at the event would have been.
 

The taped broadcast of the event by
Pyongyang
s state-run Korean Central Television [KCTV]
was about an hour long. There were parts that appeared to have been edited out,
but the event seemed to have lasted for approximately an hour. The ceremony began
with Kim Jong Eun and senior officials entering and closed with their
departure, so even the highest of ranks would have been out in the
excruciating cold for at least an hour.

Throughout the event, it was profoundly evident
that 86-year-old Kim Yong Nam, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People
s Assembly, was struggling with the frigid temperature as he stood next to Kim Jong Eun. Kim Yong Nam would not have been alone in his discomfort. Kim Ki Nam, a secretary of the
Chosun Workers
Party, is 85; Choe Thae Bok, Chairman
of the Supreme People
s Assembly, is 84; and many other
senior officials in their 70s and 80s would have suffered in wind chill values
at minus 15 degrees. From what was displayed on screen, Kim Jong Eun seemed to
be the most resilient to the cold.


Kim Yong Nam’s discomfort in the frigid cold is abundantly obvious.
 Image: KCTV

The event would have painful for the old
senior officials, but the tens of thousands of residents and soldiers gathered
in the square would have suffered even more. People standing in the square must
be at the venue ahead of time to line up, so they would have been on site much
earlier standing out in the cold. Organizing such large numbers of groups in systematic lines would have required–at the very least–an hour, and considering travel time to the venue itself, most people would have been exposed to the cold for
at least two to three hours. Just by looking at KCTV footage, you can tell how
much pain they were in from their facial expressions.


North Korean residents wait in the square–shivering in the cold–to attend the
memorial ceremony. Image: KCTV

Why did Kim insist on holding the event
outdoors?

Why did Kim Jong Eun insist on holding the
event outdoors despite the harsh weather? On this day, KCTV provided
unprecedented special commemorative coverage from the wee morning hours, and
the country also held a nationwide silent tribute at noon–the  first  held since 2012. It seems that Kim was determined to hold a large-scale event to mark the day. As
some say, it could be his way of wrapping up his father
s era and laying the groundwork to open up a full-fledged era of his
own.

As the author sees it, this event could be
a result of his newly found confidence after purging his uncle Jang Song Taek. Regardless of how low the mercury plunges and whether tens of thousands have to
suffer in the cold, it could have been a display of his absolute power, able to determine anything with one simple utterance. Most people who attended the
ceremony are likely suffering from a cold, and the question is: what are they thinking now? 

*Views expressed in Guest Columns are not necessarily those of Daily NK.