North Korean authorities recently began crafting measures to provide holiday gifts to mark the 80th birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il on Feb. 16.
North Korea convened a ruling party politburo meeting on Jan. 19 to discuss plans to celebrate Kim’s birthday and the 110th birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung on Apr. 15 as a “major festival of victory and honor that will live long in the history of the nation.”
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK last Friday that the provincial party committee convened an emergency meeting on Jan. 22 to implement the politburo’s decisions. He said the meeting discussed practical measures to distribute holiday gifts for the “Day of the Shining Star,” as Kim Jong Il’s birthday is called in North Korea.
At the meeting, the chief secretary of the provincial party called on all officials and party members in the province to take the lead in gathering holiday supplies to mark the birthdays of the two late leaders, otherwise known as the “greatest holidays of the nation.”
He called on all units to take every measure to ensure the provision of holiday gifts by finding “hidden reserves,” rather than simply complaining about difficulties.
During the meeting, local food factories, including Chongjin Essential Food Factory, were ordered to wage a “day and night struggle” to provide one kilogram of snacks and candies to each family.
Local factories and enterprises were also ordered to provide 150 grams of pork based on the number of people in each household.
Additionally, the authorities have generated a climate of competition, telling officials that they will evaluate their competence based on the quantity and quality of the holiday provisions they supply.
Factories and enterprises are hesitant, however, complaining that they cannot provide pork or rice when they have no money.
