Day of the sun
| Korean spelling | |
|---|---|
| Korean alphabet : | 태양절 |
| Hanja : | 太陽 節 |
| Revised Romanization : | Taeyangjeol |
| McCune-Reischauer : | T'aeyangjŏl |
The Day of the Sun is a North Korean national holiday commemorating the birthday of the born 1912 "Great Leader" and "eternal president" sung Il-Kim . It takes place annually on April 15th and usually culminates with a military parade in Kim Il-sung Square . The birthday of his successor Kim Jong-il is also celebrated as a national holiday, the day of the shining star .
Origin of name
Former ruler of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Il-sung was born with the name Kim Song-chu. In the 1930s, as is common among partisan fighters, he took a battle name and was henceforth called Kim Il-sung ("The Sun"). For his commitment to the independence of Korea from the Japanese Empire , he is revered in North Korea as the "sun of the nation" and the "sun of the Chuch'e ideology ".
history
As part of the celebrations for Kim Il-sung's 60th birthday in 1972, the Mansudae monument was inaugurated and the redesigned Korean Revolution Museum reopened.
The Sun Day in 2012 attracted special international attention. In North Korea, the 100th birthday of Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994, was celebrated on this day. On the occasion of the celebrations, the new ruler Kim Jong-un made his first public speech. In addition, the celebrations were overshadowed by the failure of a test launch of a Taepodong-2 ICBM two days earlier , which was condemned internationally. The single statue of Kim Il-sung, which has been on the Mansudae monument since 1972 , was replaced by a double statue of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on his 100th birthday and inaugurated on April 14, 2012 as part of a solemn ceremony in the presence of around 150,000 people . All school children and students in the country were given new free school uniforms on the occasion of their 100th birthday.
As the Korean conflict intensified in 2013 , there was international speculation as to whether North Korea could use Sun Day to mark Kim Il-sung's 101st birthday as an opportunity for another missile test. However, this did not materialize.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Military parade for the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung - Kim Jong Un is celebrating on grandfather's birthday ( memento from April 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) tagesschau.de from April 15, 2012
- ↑ Missile test failed - regime unimpressed ( memento of April 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) tagesschau.de of April 13, 2012
- ↑ Rodong Sinmun, March 14, 2012
- ↑ Largest Kim Jong-il Statue Unveiled in Pyongyang RIA Novosti (English)
- ↑ Unveiling of the new statues
- ↑ North Koreans celebrate “Sun Day” contrary to NZZ Online from April 14, 2012
- ↑ Birthday without a rocket: Dictator Kim Jong Un shows up again , Focus from April 15, 2013