The Party Foundation Day () is an annual

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

marking the 10 October 1945 foundation of the "Central Organizing Committee of the Communist Party of North Korea" (북조선공산당중앙조직위원회), known as the "

North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea The North Korean Branch Bureau (NKBB) of the Communist Party of Korea (CPK; ) was established by a CPK conference on 13 October 1945. It changed its name to the Communist Party of North Korea () on 10 April 1946 and became independent of the CPK ...

" in the West and considered a predecessor to the ruling

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

. The Party Founding Day is one of the most important holidays of the country, along with the

Day of the Sun The Day of the Sun () is an annual public holiday in North Korea on 15 April, the birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, founder and Eternal President of North Korea. It is the most important national holiday in the country, and is considered to ...

(birthday 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 led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

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 (April 15), the birthday of his father Kim Il Sun ...

(birthday of

Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...

) and

Day of the Foundation of the Republic Day of the Foundation of the Republic () is the Republic Day and National day of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, held on 9 September. The Day of the Foundation of the Republic is one of the most important holidays of the country, al ...

. 2015 marked the 70th anniversary.

Background

North Korea commemorates 10 October 1945 as the date of the foundation of the "Central Organizing Committee of the Communist Party of North Korea", known as the "

" by Western historians. On 10 October 1945 a meeting called "Conference of Korean Communist Party Members and Enthusiasts in the Five Northwestern Provinces" began in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, in a public hall that now hosts the Party Founding Museum. On 13 October, the meeting saw the establishment of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea. The conference was the first time that Kim Il Sung emerged as a political force. Kim advocated the foundation of the North Korea Bureau so that party activities could be overseen in the north of the country in a situation where the north and south were

occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

by the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

and the

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

respectively. Kim acceded the chairmanship of the North Korea Bureau some two months after the conference. The Bureau soon became independent of the

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

-lead

Communist Party of Korea The Communist Party of Korea () was a communist party in Korea founded during a secret meeting in Seoul in 1925. The Governor-General of Korea had banned communist and socialist parties under the Peace Preservation Law (see: history of Korea), s ...

, paving the way for a political force in the North. The North Korea Bureau is one in a series of predecessors to the present Workers' Party of Korea. The North Korea Bureau evolved into the

Workers' Party of North Korea The Workers' Party of North Korea () was a communist party in North Korea from 1946 to 1949 and was a predecessor of the current Workers' Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on 28–30 August 1946, by the merger of the northern branc ...

in August 1946. The present Workers' Party of Korea was not founded until 24 June 1949 when the Workers' Party of North Korea merged with the

Workers' Party of South Korea The Workers' Party of South Korea () was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It is also sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Namro Party" (). It was founded on 23 November 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of ...

Celebrations

Mass dance on Party Foundation Day in Pyongyang 2

Celebrations include song and dance performances, evening galas, speeches, lectures on revolutionary history and oratorical meetings. Floral tributes are laid in front of statues of Kim Il Sung. Special food rations are distributed. This usually includes foodstuffs that are normally in short supply, such as oil and snacks. Meat is available through the

public distribution system The Public Distribution System (PDS) is a food security system that was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor at subsid ...

. Electricity is provided on the Party Foundation Day, despite shortages. There are live TV broadcasts of ceremonies. The holiday is celebrated throughout the country, though main celebrations take place in the capital, Pyongyang. The city typically hosts processions and a military parade during the day. Attendance in festivities in the capital is counted in the millions. The celebrations have included occasional ceremonial visits of North Korean leaders to the

Kumsusan Palace of the Sun The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun (), formerly the Kumsusan Memorial Palace (), is a building near the northeast corner of the city of Pyongyang that serves as the mausoleum for Kim Il Sung, first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), Supreme Leader ...

. The failure of

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

to appear in 2014 intensified speculations of his lengthy absence. The tradition has not been very strong, as in comparison to Kim Jong Un, his father

observed the same tradition only twice. North Korea schedules completion of large-scale construction projects to coincide with important anniversaries like the Party Foundation Day. The 50th anniversary of the party in 1995, for instance, was met with unveiling of the

Monument to Party Founding The Monument to Party Founding () is a monument in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The monument is rich in symbolism: its hammer, sickle and calligraphy brush symbolize the workers, farmers and intellectuals. It is 50 meters high to sym ...

. The 70th anniversary in 2015 was planned to be celebrated with the completion of a stock breeding base and a power plant: the Sepho Tableland and the

Chongchon River The Ch'ŏngch'ŏn is a river in North Korea having its source in the Rangrim Mountains of Chagang Province and emptying into the Yellow Sea at Sinanju. The river flows past Myohyang-san and through the city of Anju, South P'yŏngan Provi ...

Power Plant. The latter was finished by the next month. Banks, offices, retail and government institutions close for the day. Weddings are often organized on the day.

References

External links

Party Foundation Day
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. History Naenara was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. Usage Naenara carries publications such as '' The Pyongyang Times'', ' magazine, '' Korea ...

Pictures of preparations, 2015
at

theguardian.com ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Pictures of preparations, 2015
at

Telegraph.co.uk ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

2015 military parade in pictures
at

BBC.com BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

* {{Portal bar, North Korea, Holidays History of the Workers' Party of Korea Anniversaries Annual events in North Korea October observances Public holidays in North Korea Autumn in North Korea

Background

Celebrations

See also

References

Further reading

External links