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 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 vi ...

, Kim Jong-il. 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 be ...

, the birthday of his father

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 ...

, it is the most important public holiday in the country. Kim Jong-il was born in 1941 (

Juche ''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and f ...

30) in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, although North Korean propaganda says the date is 16 February 1942 (

31) and places the birth at the

Mount Paektu Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest moun ...

area in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. His birthday became an official holiday in 1982 when he began his work in the

Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea In North Korea, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), or simply the Politburo, formerly the Political Committee (1946–61), is the highest decision-making body in the ruling party between sessions ...

. He celebrated his birthdays privately. In 2012, the year following his death, the holiday was renamed the Day of the Shining Star. The most lavish observances take place 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 ...

and include

mass gymnastics Mass games or mass gymnastics are a form of performing arts or gymnastics in which large numbers of performers take part in a highly regimented performance that emphasizes group dynamics rather than individual prowess. North Korea Mass games a ...

, music performances, fireworks displays, military demonstrations, and mass dancing parties. The North Korean people receive more food rations and electricity than usual on the Day of the Shining Star.

Background

Kim Jong-il in North Korean propaganda (6075332268)

Kim Jong-il was born in February 1941 to

and

Kim Jong-suk Kim Jong-suk (; 24 December 1917Suh Dae-sook. Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. – 22 September 1949) was a Korean anti-Japanese guerrilla, a Communist activist, North Korean leader Kim I ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

in the Russian Federal Republic,

where his father had been in exile because of his guerrilla activities. North Korean propaganda dates Kim Jong-il's birth to 16 February 1942 and locates it at the

area in

, the mythical place of origin of the

Korean people Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refer ...

, where Kim Il-sung supposedly ran a guerrilla camp. The guerrillas were based in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

at the time and Kim himself had been to the Soviet Far East before and after Kim Jong-il's birth. In North Korean propaganda, Kim Jong-il is often associated with the image of the star. He is most often referred to as the "bright star", although the "shining star" () is also used. According to legend, a bright star appeared on the sky the night he was born, and guerrilla fighters carved messages on trees proclaiming: "Three Heroes Shining in Korea with the Spirit of Mount Paekdu: Kim Il Sung, Kim Chŏng-suk, and ''Kwangmyŏngsŏng'' ('The Bright Star')" and "Oh! Korea! The Paekdu Star Was Born!"

History

Kim's birthday had been provisionally celebrated from 1976 on, but it became a national holiday only in 1982, two days after he became a member of the

. When he ascended to the leadership of the country, his birthday was marked as "The Spring of Humanity" on the

North Korean calendar The ''Juche'' calendar, named after the ''Juche'' ideology, is the system of year-numbering used in North Korea. It begins with the birth of Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea. His birth year, 1912 in the Gregorian calendar, is "''Juche'' ...

. Kim shunned public occasions on his birthdays. The anniversary received its present name in 2012, the year following his death, when the Politburo announced that: "February 16, the greatest auspicious holiday of the nation when the great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il was born, will be instituted as the Day of the Shining Star". An equestrian statue with Kim Jong-il and

was revealed to commemorate the day. On 12 February 2013, North Korea conducted its third nuclear test a few days before the Day of the Shining Star in celebration of it.

Celebration

Vitaly Mansky 2014 Pyongyang, North Korea

The holiday begins on 16 February and lasts for two days. Celebrations are observed throughout the country. The capital,

, has observances such as

, music performances, fireworks displays, military demonstrations, and mass dancing parties. Boulevards are lined up with flags and banners. Millions of people visit 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, the founder of North Korea, and for his son Kim Jong-il, bo ...

where both Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il lay in state. Exhibitions of the bloom

Kimjongilia Kimjongilia is a flower named after the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. It is a hybrid cultivar of tuberous begonia, registered as ''Begonia'' × ''tuberhybrida'' 'Kimjongilhwa'. When Kim Jong-il died in December 2011, the flower was u ...

take place. The plant, a hybrid begonia, is named after Kim and has been cultivated to bloom around the Day of the Shining Star. The

North Korean government In the North Korean government, the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body. The North Korean government consists of three branches: administrative, legislative, and judicial. However, they are not independent of each other, but al ...

often allocates more food and energy to the people on Day of the Shining Star than they normally receive. Children are given candy, and it is one of the few occasions on which new members are admitted to the

Korean Children's Union The Korean Children's Union (KCU) is the precursor to the Socialist Patriotic Youth League of North Korea contributing to North Korean youth movement and pioneer movement. It is for children aged six to fifteen and is a political organisation l ...

. Vitaly Mansky's 2015 documentary film '' Under the Sun'' chronicles the run-up to such a ceremony on the Day of the Shining Star. Government and business offices, banks, and retail outlets close for its observance. Weddings are commonly held on this day. The two-month period between the Day of the Shining Star and the

is known as the Loyalty Festival Period and festivities occur throughout. On the calendar, the Day of the Shining Star takes place after the Generalissimo Day (대원수추대일,14 February, commemorating Kim Jong-il's accession to the rank of ''

Taewonsu ''Taewŏnsu'' (; literally grand marshal, usually translated as generalissimo) is the highest possible military rank of North Korea and is intended to be an honorific title for Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. The rank is senior to that of Wonsu. ...

'') and before the International Women's Day (8 March). The Day of the Shining Star is one of three days celebrating Kim Jong-il on the calendar, the other two being the Generalissimo Day and the Day of ''Songun'' (25 August, commemorating the beginning of Kim's ''

Songun ''Songun'' is the " military-first" policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. "Military-first" as a principle guides political and economic life in North Korea, with "mili ...

'', or army-first, leadership).

References

Citations

Works cited

External links

Day of the Shining Star
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology ...

2014 photos
at

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

2016 photos
at NewsOK {{authority control 1982 establishments in North Korea Anniversaries Annual events in North Korea Birthdays of heads of state February observances Kim Jong-il Public holidays in North Korea Winter events in North Korea