＜Investigation＞ No Birthday Celebrations for Kim Jong-un - "Nobody Knows His Age Even Now," "Perhaps He's Still Too Young" - New Propaganda Film Screened

January 8 is known as Kim Jong-un's birthday. In recent years, the idolization of Kim Jong-un has been rapidly progressing, with efforts such as the formalization of his revolutionary ideology and the introduction of portrait badges of him to establish his authority. His predecessors, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, had their birthdays designated as the greatest national holidays and used them as tools for idolization. How was the birthday of Kim Jong-un, said to be 41 years old (born in 1984), treated in North Korea? Here are reports from three reporting partners living in the northern region. (By KANG Ji-won / ISHIMARU Jiro)

◆ Musan County, North Hamgyong Province

"While everyone knows January 8 is Kim Jong-un's birthday, there were no official anniversary celebrations or commemorative events. On January 8, a large assembly was held. The content was about pledging loyalty and implementing (Kim Jong-un's) speech from the Supreme People's Assembly.

Meetings were held at each institution and enterprise. At Musan Mine, everyone except morning shift workers attended. There was no mention of Kim Jong-un's birthday. The reason is unknown. Nobody knows even now how old Kim Jong-un is. However, the meeting heavily promoted Kim Jong-un's achievements, emphasizing devotion to the state and encouraging everyone to become masters of the country to build a better nation."
*Note: The timing of the Supreme People's Assembly speech referenced is unclear.

◆ Hyesan City, Ryanggang Province

"On January 8, there was a regular Wednesday study session for the Women's Union, with a 30-minute commemorative lecture promoting (Kim Jong-un) Marshal's achievements starting at 2 PM, followed by screening of a newly produced documentary film. Although electricity is scarce these days, they supplied power that day for the film screening.

There was absolutely no mention of Kim Jong-un's birthday or age. Even officials didn't mention it. Perhaps he's still too young for it to be publicly announced. However, everyone knows this is his birthday.

On the morning of January 8, students were mobilized to clean revolutionary historical sites, (Kim family’s) mosaic murals, and revolutionary study rooms. Nothing else special happened. No one questions why there aren't celebrations. It's actually better without special events because it's too cold."

◆ Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province

"This year again, there were no official birthday events for Kim Jong-un on January 8. On January 10, factories and enterprises held commemorative lectures and watched documentaries celebrating Kim Jong-un's appointment as General Secretary of the Workers' Party. January 8 wasn't a holiday, and there were no special rations."

*Note: Kim Jong-un was appointed General Secretary at the Eighth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea held in January 2021.
*Note: ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.