Public holidays in North Korea

This is a list of public holidays in North Korea. See also the Korean calendar for a list of traditional holidays. As of 2017, the North Korean calendar has 71 official public holidays, including Sundays.[1] In the past, North Koreans relied on rations provided by the state on public holidays for feasts. Recently, with marketization people are able to save up money and buy the goods they need.[2]

The Day of the Sun, the birthday of its founder and first leader Kim Il Sung, on 15 April is the most important holiday in the country.[3] The second most important is the Day of the Shining Star on 16 February, the birthday of Kim Jong Il.[4] As of 2019, Kim Jong Un's birthday is still not a public holiday.[5] Other holidays of great importance are the Party Foundation Day (10 October) and the Day of the Foundation of the Republic (9 September).[6] North Koreans often schedule their wedding days on important national holidays.[7]

North Korea regularly carries out missile and nuclear tests on such important anniversaries.[8]

  1. ^ Kang Mi Jin (13 January 2017). "Official 2017 Calendar Seen as out of Touch". Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  2. ^ "North Koreans make the most of Liberation Day". dailynk.com. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  3. ^ Calum MacLeod (26 April 2013). "Korean defectors recall 'Day of the Sun'". USA TODAY. Contributing: Jueyoung Song, Duck Hwa Hong. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  4. ^ Barbra Kim (21 February 2012). "What Really Glimmers Behind the 'Day of the Shining Star'". cogitASIA. CSIS Asia Program. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Kim Jong-un's birthday remains unmarked in 2019 calendars". The Korean Herald. Yonhap. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  6. ^ Yonhap News Agency, Seoul (27 December 2002). North Korea Handbook. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 451–452. ISBN 978-0-7656-3523-5.
  7. ^ Toimela, Markku; Aalto, Kaj (2017). Salakahvilla Pohjois-Koreassa: Markku Toimelan jännittävä tie Pohjois-Korean luottomieheksi (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Docendo. p. 40. ISBN 978-952-291-369-2.
  8. ^ Shinkman, Paul D. (4 October 2017). "CIA Official Predicts North Korean Provocation on Columbus Day". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 5 October 2017.