The birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was not designated a holiday in three 2024 calendars recently obtained by Daily NK.
The three calendars, which were published by North Korea’s Foreign Languages Publishing House, contain images from military parades, scenery of Mt. Baekdu, and gifts Kim received from international figures.
Like in years past, Kim’s birthday on Jan. 8 was not designated a holiday in any of the calendars, nor did the calendars make particular mention of the day. Kim has been in power for over 10 years, but North Korea has yet to designate his birthday as a holiday.
In contrast to other holidays, the birthdays of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung (Apr. 15) and Kim Jong Il (Feb. 16) are marked in red with thick borders.
North Korea designated Kim Jong Il’s birthday a provisional holiday on Feb. 16, 1975. The country made his birthday an official holiday the following year. Kim Jong Il’s birthday was elevated to one of the nation’s biggest holidays in 1995 and named the “Day of the Shining Star” in 2012.
North Korea has 70 days of holiday this year, two more than South Korea. However, the 2024 calendars make no mention of additional days of commemoration or state holidays.
As in years past, major national celebrations like the Solar New Year (Jan. 1), Lunar New Year (Feb. 10), the Great Moon Festival (Feb. 24), and Korean Thanksgiving (Sept. 17), and state holidays such as Military Foundation Day (Apr. 25), Day of the Foundation of the Republic (Sept. 9) and Party Foundation Day (Oct. 10), are marked as public holidays.
With no five or ten-year anniversaries this year, North Korea is unlikely to organize major events such as military parades in 2024. However, given Kim Jong Un’s order issued at a plenary party session in late December to bolster war preparations in the army, munitions, nuclear weapon and militia sectors, the country may carry out provocations to show off its military power.
A key propaganda tool
Meanwhile, North Korea is using this year’s calendars as an important means to display its military power and promote the regime.
One of the calendars includes photos from the military parades to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s military and the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War. In particular, the calendar highlights efforts to increase the country’s military strength by using photos of strategic weapons mobilized for the parades as background images.
Another calendar contains images of gifts the Kim family received from foreign leaders and other overseas figures starting from the early 2010s, which are likely aimed at highlighting the regime’s international support.
This calendar includes an image of the traditional swords Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged during their summit in 2019, but it did not include a photo of the high-end Russian rifle Kim received during his summit with Putin last year. It is intriguing why an image of the relatively recent gift was not included.
The third calendar features images of Mt. Baekdu from all four seasons. The calendar is likely intended to promote people’s solidarity with the regime given that the government promotes the mountain as a “holy place of the revolution.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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