The birthday of the DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, which supposedly falls on January 8, was held in North Korea without any special mentions or events, as it is not an official holiday, follows from the reports of the DPRK state media.
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According to the official information of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un was born on January 8, 1982, and according to other versions, on January 8, 1984 or 1983. In South Korea, they believe that the North Korean leader is 39 years old.
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In December, South Korean military sources reported that North Korea was showing signs of preparing for another military parade in Pyongyang, which could be timed to coincide with a political date next year. It was assumed that the parade could take place on January 8, the birthday of Kim Jong-un, or February 8, the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army.
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But as follows from the reports of the official media of the DPRK, January 8 passed in North Korea without any noteworthy events. There is no mention of the celebration in the media.
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The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that January 8 is not marked as a holiday in the North Korean calendar for 2023. This is due to the fact that the leader’s birthday is not yet official in the country.
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The Kim dynasty had a tradition of late birthday celebrations. According to the Ministry of Unification of South Korea, the birthday of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung and grandfather Kim Jong-un on April 15 did not immediately become a holiday. On the 50th birthday in 1962, it was made a temporary day off, and the date became the “main holiday of the nation” from 1972 on the 60th anniversary of the leader. In 1997, this day even received a special name – “Day of the Sun”.
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Kim Jong Un’s father Kim Jong Il started celebrating his birthday (February 16) when he turned 40. In 1982, his birthday was made an official holiday. And in 1995, the newspaper “Rodong Sinmun” published a decree of the Central People’s Committee on the appointment of the birthday of Kim Jong Il “the main holiday of the nation.” In 2012, after the death of the leader, the holiday was called the Day of the Guiding Star.
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Although the DPRK initially claimed that Kim Il Sung was born in 1941, since 1982 the date has been changed to 1942 in order, as in the case of Kim Jong Un, to adjust the anniversary dates to the anniversaries of the birth of Kim Il Sung, who was born in 1912.
