Pyongyang (AsiaNews) – Making the great general happy was the goal of North Korea’s most important national celebrations. Held on Saturday 16 February to mark the birthday of Kin Jong-il, the Dear Leader, this year’s anniversary was less lavish than usual. Famine and the temporary halt to foreign humanitarian aid during the nuclear crisis have so harshly tried the population that the Communist regime’s top leaders were unable to stir so much “popular jubilation” out of people and get them into the streets.
Every year the event entails mass games, kimjongilia and kimilsungia (hybrid flowers created to honour North Korea’s current dictator and his late father) flower shows and theatrical representations retelling the story of the dictator’s life.
And to top it all off and show the greatness of the Korean people, each February is marked by a “record harvest” which is in reality the result of year-long hardships.
On Saturday though, things did not go off as usual. The capital did host a series of plays and popular dances, and in the palaces of Socialist power various gastronomic events and flower shows did take place, but elsewhere in the country few tried to emulate Pyongyang; outside of the capital people remained in the shadows, joining celebrations only at 2 pm to sing a new anthem in honour of Kim Jong-il’s greatness.
Putin, al-Qaddāfī, Castro and al-Asad sent official greetings to the dictator for “peace and progress in North Korea”.