As North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un enters
his 5th year in power, North Korea’s state-run enterprises reportedly celebrated his birthday with performances and gatherings.
On the 8th, our Daily NK reporter spoke
with a source in South Pyongan Province, who told us that although Kim Jong
Un’s birthday has not been designated an official holiday on this year’s
calendar, state-run businesses celebrated the “Marshal’s day of birth” by working to fulfill edicts to create a “vibrant, festive holiday atmosphere.”
“Provincial
Party and People’s CommitteeNorth Korean people's committees are akin to local governmen... More officials along with various administrative bodies
held small-scale congratulatory performances and birthday parties starting at
6 in the evening,” the source said.
This news was corroborated by a source in North Pyongan Province.
She added that local army units and soldiers had the day
off to mark the occasion of the leader’s birthday, and each small and
medium-sized army unit prepared artistic performances ranging from physical
feats to plays. To comply with orders to stimulate a celebratory mood, housewives around the nation, donning hanbok [traditional Korean attire] and lining the streets of cities across the country, danced and sang en masse to honor Kim Jong Un.
Students ranging from middle school to
university were also obliged to participate in a diverse range of performances within their branch of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League. Such displays included presentations, songs , and short theater performances centered on expressing “love and loyalty” to their leader. For their part, workers at state-run factories all
attended performances at their respective factories after finishing their tasks for
the day but before they were allowed to clock off, according to the source.
Although there were no propaganda posters
or materials in the streets advertising the leader’s birthday, and the various
celebrations put on by the people are “supposed to have the appearance of
being spontaneous events, they are all happening at the behest of the Central
Party,” the source noted. This, she went on to explain, was part of the
leadership’s efforts to draw out voluntary expressions of loyalty from the
people ahead of the Party Congress scheduled for May of this year.
“The Party cadres ordered the celebratory
events to have the appearance of spontaneity, but, in actuality, citizens bemoaned having to force a festival atmosphere
during the coldest time of the year,” the source
concluded.
