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North Korea is celebrating a major holiday today - Here's a guide to its other important holidays
North Korea is celebrating a major holiday today - Here's a guide to its other important holidays
David ChoiApr 15, 2018, 18:41 IST
Pyongyang city civilians celebrate the successful completion of the hydrostatic test for the intercontinental ballistic rocket installation in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang.Reuters/KCNA
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Though North Korea is widely seen as a regime notorious for its human-rights violations and bellicose rhetoric, like other countries, it observes several national and traditional holidays.
North Korea's official holidays range from the birthday of its leaders, to its Thanksgiving Day based on the lunar calendar. Despite placing greater importance on national holidays, traditional holidays in North Korea are still observed and are comprised of cultural activities that are also recognized by South Korea.
North Korea's major holidays are considered a day of rest, however; for traditional holidays, North Koreans are believed to make up the missed work on a Sunday before or after the holiday, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry.
Here's a look at some of North Korea's major holidays that are observed as a day of rest:
Arguably more significant than New Year's Day on January 1, the first day of the Korean lunar calendar, or "Seollal," is celebrated by both North and South Korea.
Though the holiday was briefly passed over under Kim Il Sung's rule, the practice was revived in 1989. The country places greater importance for national holidays, but it allows its citizens to take part in certain customs, such as visiting ancestor's graves.
February 16: Kim Jong Il's birthday, "Day of the shining star"
Kim Jong Il, the son of North Korea's first leader, is believed to have been born on February 16, 1941.
He implemented the "Songun," or military-first, policy for North Korea and implemented changes that prioritized military spending over other other domestic necessities.
April 15: Kim Il Sung's birthday, "Day of the sun"
Kim Il Sung, the first leader of North Korea, is believed to have been born on April 15, 1912.
Fluent in Russian and rising through the Soviet Union military ranks, he was eventually nominated to lead North Korea. Kim Il Sung implemented a "juche" ideology that focused on self-reliance at the exclusion of any foreign influence.
North Korean citizens were believed to have once celebrated Labor Day with sporting events, picnics, and paying homage to their former leaders.
But after a sustained food crisis in the 1990s, defectors painted a different picture of the national holiday for those suffering from a large class gap.
"State factory workers spend the day cultivating their vegetable gardens or just keeping busy at home," one defector said. "But workers at individually-run trading companies attend sports games put on by their employer. They even get high-end gifts like televisions and bicycles."
July 27: Day of Victory in the Fatherland Liberation War
North Korea marks this national holiday as the day the armistice agreement pausing the three-year Korean War was signed.
After devastating bombing raids and a traumatic ground campaign, around 3 million Koreans — 10% of the overall population — were estimated to have been killed, injured, or missing.
"I shrink with horror that I cannot express in words — at this continuous slaughter of men in Korea," commander-in-chief of United Nations Command Gen. Douglas MacArthur said during a congressional hearing. "I have seen, I guess, as much blood and disaster as any living man, and it just curdled my stomach, the last time I was there."
Both North and South Korea celebrates its liberation from Japanese colonization. For 36 years, the Korean peninsula was under Japanese rule from 1910-1945.
Following the end of World War II and Japan's surrender, Japan signed a declaration agreeing to relinquish command of Korea.
Chuseok, or Korea's Thanksgiving Day, is a major holiday in North and South Korea.
Family members gather and take part in customs, including eating traditional rice cakes, playing folk games, and paying homage to their elders.
North Korea is believed to refer to Chuseok as "Hangawi" — its former, traditional name — in an effort to emphasize its shared culture with South Korea.
