The Day of the Sun () is an annual

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

on 15 April, the birth anniversary of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

, founder and

Eternal President The Eternal leaders of North Korea, officially the Eternal leaders of ''Juche'' Korea, refers to the practice of granting posthumous titles to deceased leaders of North Korea. The official title was established by a line in the preamble to the ...

of North Korea. It is the most important national holiday in the country, and is considered to be the North Korean equivalent of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

. Kim's birthday, which had been an official holiday since 1968, was renamed Day of the Sun in 1997, three years after his death. The name takes its significance from his name; '' Il-sung'' is . North Koreans commemorate the holiday by visiting locations that have a connection with the leader's life, such as thousands of statues scattered across the country, or

Mangyongdae Mangyongdae () is a neighborhood in Mangyongdae-guyok, Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korean propaganda claims Mangyongdae is the birthplace of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, although in his memoirs he wrote that he had been born in the nearby ...

, his birthplace in the capital

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

. The most important observances take place in the capital, including visits to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where Kim Il-sung's body lies in rest, and the Mansu Hill Grand Monument, which features a very tall statue of the leader. The state seeks to provide its citizens with more food and electricity than is normally available, although this is not always achieved. Children, in particular, receive candy and other gifts attributed to the love shown by the leaders. Festivities are not confined to the specific date. Commemorations occur from 16 February, which is the birthday of

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Ki ...

, during what is known as the Loyalty Festival. Celebrations in April around the Day of the Sun are called the Sun Festival. The day itself is followed by two days of rest, making it a three-day holiday.

Background

was born on 15 April 1912 in the village of

, which is now a suburb of

's capital

. He has been long identified with the Sun and is frequently called "Sun of the nation". He adopted the name Il-sung (), meaning 'become the Sun' in 1935 as one of his '' noms de guerre''.

History

Kim Il-sung's birthday had been designated as a provisional holiday in 1962. It became official in 1968, the year that saw great expansion of his cult of personality in the aftermath of a domestic political crisis known as the

Kapsan Faction Incident The Kapsan Faction Incident was an unsuccessful attempt to undermine the power of Kim Il-sung, the leader of North Korea, around the year 1967. The "Kapsan faction" was a group of veterans of the anti-Japanese struggle of the 1930s and 1940s ...

. In 1974, the day was promoted the most important holiday of the country. It was designated as "The Day of the Sun" on 8 July 1997, the third anniversary of the

death of Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung died of a sudden heart attack on the early morning of 8 July 1994 at age 82. North Korea's government did not report the death for more than 34 hours after it occurred. An official mourning period was declared from 8–17 July, ...

, in a resolution by the

Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea ( ko, 조선로동당 중앙위원회) is the highest party body between national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. According to WPK rules, th ...

, the Central Military Commission, the National Defence Commission, the and the Administration Council of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. On the same occasion, North Korea adopted the ''Juche'' calendar which begins on the year of Kim Il-sung's birth. The purpose of the Day of the Sun was to celebrate "the greatest festival for the Korean nation," and to initiate a holiday which would be of equal importance to North Koreans as

is in many other places. Every fifth and tenth anniversary is marked with more pronounced celebrations than usual. 2012 marked the centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung. On the Day of the Sun that year, current

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

gave his first public speech. Massive military parades are held on the Day of the Sun and the country's most advanced weapons are displayed. In 2012 North Korea conducted a failed missile test and the new

KN-08 The Hwasong-13 (), also known as Rodong-C () or KN-08 under the U.S. naming convention, is a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile believed to be under development by North Korea. The changes shown in the mock-up displayed in October 2 ...

missile was introduced in a parade. In 2020, Kim Jong-un was absent from Day of the Sun celebrations, sparking speculation about his health.

Celebration

Preparations take more than a month. Through April there are exhibitions, fireworks, song and dance events, athletics competitions, ''Juche'' idea seminars and visits to places connected with Kim Il-sung's life, including his birthplace in

. Some of these events take several days. Foreign art groups and dignitaries are invited to visit North Korea during this time around the day itself known as Sun Festival. The annual Kimilsungia Festival (held since 1998) and the April Spring Friendship Art Festival (since 1982) are also held at around the time of the Day of the Sun. The latter typically features foreign performers from some 20 countries whose televised performances are an anticipated and well-liked rare glimpse of foreign culture for North Koreans. It also includes the

Pyongyang Marathon Pyongyang Marathon, also known as Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, is an annual marathon race contested each April in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It is categorised as an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race. The marathon was held for ...

. As early as midnight on the morning of Day of the Sun, people lay commemorative wreaths and floral baskets at thousands of statues of Kim Il-sung around the country. The demand for flowers is huge. The market – mostly operating informally – is estimated to be worth 600,000–1,200,000 dollars just for the Day of the Sun.

Artificial flower Artificial plants are imitations of natural plants used for commercial or residential decoration. They are sometimes made for scientific purposes (the collection of glass flowers at Harvard University, for example, illustrates the flora of t ...

s are favored for their low cost. In the evening, youth dress in ''

hanbok The (; term used in South Korea), also called () n North Korea and China, is an umbrella term which is used to refer to traditional ethnic Korean clothes, including the traditional clothing of the (Korean Chinese), an officially recognized ...

'' to participate in folk dances. The main observances take place in the capital city of Pyongyang. Some of the rituals are quite elaborate. Flowers are laid in front of Kim Il-sung's statue on Mansu Hill. People pay respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun where his body lies in state. In particular, leader Kim Jong-un has paid his respects at the palace every year. In the past, Pyongyang also often hosted the ''Arirang'' Festival mass-games to coincide with the celebration of the Day of the Sun. There has been an evening fireworks display in Pyongyang since 2009 and its design has been attributed to Kim Jong-un. The state serves special foods such as meat and liquor as well as necessities to the people on the Day of the Sun to signal that all well-being is thanks to the care of the leader. The state tries to maintain a stable supply of electricity for the day to allow people to watch television, while theaters show special movies. The food situation varies. According to

North Korean defector Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are re ...

Kim Hyun-hwa: "The Sun Festival is one of the few occasions during which everyone can eat to their heart's content. Even those who go hungry on a regular basis usually manage to obtain three meals on this day. This is because North Korea marks it as the biggest holiday for the Korean people." However, in 2015 the state reportedly failed to distribute rations and did not deliver middle-school uniforms that schoolchildren were expecting to receive. Children under the age of 12 receive bags of of candy and cookies at ceremonies at school. Upon receiving this gift, they have to bow in front of portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in the classroom and say: "Thank you, the Great Leader Grandfather! And, thank you Father!" Schoolchildren also prepare performances well in advance. On the 11th through 12th their teachers choose the best ones for the Day of the Sun. The Day of the Sun is one of the few occasions on which the Korean Children's Union admits new members. Government and business offices, banks, and retail close for the Day of the Sun. It is also a common holiday for weddings. The Day of the Sun is followed by two days of rest, making it a three-day holiday. The day following the Day of the Sun typically features political meetings in which the Ten Principles of the ideological system are sworn allegiance for.

Loyalty Festival

A similar holiday exists for 16 February, the birthday of former leader

, known as the

Day of the Shining Star The Day of the Shining Star () is a public holiday in North Korea falling on 16 February, the anniversary of the birth of the country's second leader, Kim Jong-il. Along with the Day of the Sun, the birthday of his father Kim Il-sung, it is th ...

. The two-month period between the Day of the Shining Star and the Day of the Sun is known as the Loyalty Festival Period and festivities occur throughout.

References

External links

Day of the Sun
at Naenara
April Spring Friendship Art Festival
at Uriminzokkiri
Pictures from the 2012 centenary celebrations
at ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...