But in North Korea, the dictatorship is similar to the monarchy from the days bygone. It began in 1948. With Kim Il Sung. He was in power till 1994. Followed by Kim Jong Il, his son He died in 2011, Succeeded by the present dictator his son, Kim Jong Un.
Since all their names start with Kim, I don’t want you to get confused, that’s why to keep it simplified, We’ll address them as Kiddo Kim, Papa Kim and Grandpa Kim. In 2011, Papa Kim, unfortunately, passed away due to a heart attack. The Korean Central News Agency of North Korea reported that when he passed away, the oncoming snowstorm simply paused. The storm just stopped as soon as he died. And then they reported that their sacred mountain Mount Paektu, the sky above this mountain shone in red colour.
You can impactful reporting here. They continue with the ice on a very famous lake cracking so rapidly that its sound reverberated throughout the sky and the ground. As if the Grim Reaper was honoured to escort Papa Kim to the afterlife in a military tank. You might doubt these. But no one can question the true reporting of the Korean Central News Agency. Every child in North Korea knows that anyone questioning would be sent to visit Papa Kim in the heavens.
Anyway, it is his 10th Death Anniversary. And every year, his Death Anniversary is mourned for 10 days. But since this is his 10th Death Anniversary, this year, it will be mourned for 11 days. Radia Free Asia asked a North Korean about the exact rules for it. He said that not only is laughing banned for these 11 days, but drinking alcohol is also banned, doing any kind of leisure activity is also banned as in anything that makes you happy all such activities are banned for this period. If your birthday is on one of these 11 days, you cannot celebrate your birthday either. It is banned too.
These are the actual rules. Apart from this, if during these 11 days, if your family member dies, you aren’t even allowed to cry loudly. Because Papa Kim’s Death Anniversary is more important than the death of your family member. And if you cry loudly, it will be a distraction. You need to let others mourn the Death Anniversary properly. You can bury the dead body only after these 11 days. Another thing, you aren’t even allowed to go grocery shopping on the day when Papa Kim passed away. On 17th December.
