NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 154

(April 21, 2011) *** TOPIC OF THE WEEK (Part 1) North Korea Celebrates Late Founder's Birthday in Extravagance North Korea celebrated the 99th birthday of its founder Kim Il-sung, one of its biggest national holidays, on April 15 with various cultural events, festivals, public gatherings and international forums. This year's festival comes while a hereditary power transfer from Kim Jong-il to his third son, Jong-un, is underway. The April 15 birthday of Kim Il-sung -- dubbed the Day of the Sun -- is one of the most important holidays in the socialist state together with his son's birthday on Feb. 16. The North spares no money in celebrating the holidays every year. Special distributions of food and presents are usually given to the people during the holidays, one of the main tools the regime uses to appease is starving population of 24 million. Kim Jong-il, son of the founder, has ruled the country with an iron fist since his father died in 1994. Kim Il-sung is still referred to as an "eternal president." North Korea was in a festive mood days before the holiday began. Many foreign guests arrived in Pyongyang to celebrate the late North Korean leader by attending seminars and participating in various festivals. According to North Korean news outlets, North Korean residents lined up to pay homage to the late North Korean president at Mankyongdae, Kim's birthplace, or at his statue in the center of Pyongyang. The Kims are the subject of a massive personality cult that pervades almost every aspect of North Korean society. North Koreans wear lapel pins bearing the image of the late founder and usually mark important national holidays by laying flowers at his towering bronze statue overlooking Pyongyang. The 69-year-old Kim Jong-il named his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party and a four-star general last year in preparations for another hereditary power succession. Streets of the North Korean capital and other major provincial cities across the socialist country were decorated with flowers, placards and electric signboards continuously praising Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. It was not clear whether a fireworks show had been staged on the eve of the birthday, like in past years, at a time when Pyongyang has made repeated appeals for aid from the international community. Usually, the anniversary culminated in fireworks that lit up the skies over the capital on the eve of the birthday. In a speech held in Pyongyang on the eve of April 15, Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, said that his country will not sit idle while the United States and South Korea conduct military provocations. Kim said that the North will further promote friendly and cooperative relations with countries friendly to North Korea under the theory of self-reliance, peace and friendship. He said the (North) Korean people would resolutely smash the anti-reunification moves of the separatists forces at home and abroad, and achieve national reconciliation and unity. Kim Jong-il also emphasized the need to develop light industry and agriculture this year to improve the people's standard of living. In the South on April 15, activists including North Korean defectors launched 10 giant helium balloons carrying some 200,000 anti-Pyongyang pamphlets across the border calling for North Koreans to overthrow the Kim family's dictatorial rule. Ahead of the anniversary, Kim Jong-il promoted 45 generals, including O Il-jong, the son of a former defense chief. The annual promotion of top military officers is widely seen as Kim's attempt to win the allegiance of the military, the key backbone of his iron-fisted rule. According to an April 13 KCNA report, the North Korean leader issued "order No. 0056" to promote commanding officers of the (North) Korean People's Army on April 12. The report said that Lt. Gen. O Il-jong and Lt. Gen. Hwang Pyong-so both were promoted to colonel generals. The simultaneous promotion of O and Hwang comes just six months after they were promoted to major generals during a then-ruling party conference when Kim Jong-il's son Jong-un made his public debut and was named a four-star general. Meanwhile, North Korea's Premier Choe Yong-rim vowed to improve the economy and increase grain production during a recent parliamentary session, but few analysts believe the North could fulfill its ambitious goal. The World Food Program and two other U.N. agencies have called for 434,000 tons of outside food aid to feed more than 6 million vulnerable North Koreans. The KCNA reported on April 7 that a 10-day film show opened in Pyongyang and nearby regions in commemoration of the Day of the Sun, with an opening ceremony held at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang. Similar ceremonies were also held in provinces on the same day to start the 10-day film show, the report said. On April 10, the KCNA reported that the 27th April Spring Friendship Art Festival began with an opening ceremony at the Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Indoor Stadium in Pyongyang. The opening of the festival, which runs through April 18, was attended by Yang Hyong-sop, vice president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly; Vice Premier Kang Nung-su; and other senior state and Pyongyang officials. The KCNA reported on April 9 that foreign delegations and guests arrived in the country to attend events marking the birthday anniversary of Kim Il-sung. Among them were the delegation of the Russian Association for the Study of the Juche Idea, led by its Vice chairman Dmitri Model, the delegation of the Pakistani Organization for the Study of the Juche Idea and the youth delegation of the Study for the Juche Idea of Brazil. Jean-Francois Mancel, member of the National Assembly under the People's Movement Union of France, and his party arrived in Pyongyang the same day as guests of honor of the 27th April Spring Friendship Art Festival. Mancel also reportedly paid homage to late leader Kim Il-sung at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, where Kim's embalmed body lies in state. Also arriving in the country were art troupes and foreign artists to participate in the 27th April Spring Friendship Art Festival, including the Moscow Classical Ballet of Russia, the Famous Artistes from Moscow Grand Theater of Russia, the Folk Art Troupe "Izvor De Valcea" of Romania, the Famous Group of the Famous Artists from State Symphony Orchestra of Mongolia and the Soloists of "Orfei" Group from the Sophia Opera Theater of Bulgaria. The entire country has apparently been preparing for the national holiday as early as March, planting some 6,000 new trees near the Kumsusan Memorial Palace and publishing a series of commemorative books on the feats of Kim Il-sung. Meanwhile, Kim Jong-il donated more than 165 million yen (US$1.94 million) in educational funds to pro-North Korea residents in Japan on the occasion of his late father's 99th birthday, the North's state media said on April 10. The educational aid was sent to the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, also known as "Chongryon," to mark the 99th anniversary on April 15 of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung's birth, the KCNA said