People in North Korea have reportedly been banned from laughing during another draconian mourning period imposed by their rulers.
Leader Kim Jong Un marked the 10th anniversary of the death of his father and predecessor Kim Jong Il on Friday, but ordinary people have spoken out about the grim reality for them.
The anniversary means the mourning period has been extended from 10 to 11 days this year – but residents say additional repression actually began before the anniversary.
One told Radio Free Asian’s Korean Service: ‘During the mourning period, we must not drink alcohol, laugh or engage in leisure activities.’
The unnamed resident of the northeastern city of Sinuiju, close to the Chinese border, added that grocery shopping is also prohibited on December 17, the day the former leader died in 2011.
They continued: ‘In the past many people who were caught drinking or being intoxicated during the mourning period were arrested and treated as ideological criminals. They were taken away and never seen again.
‘Even if your family member dies during the mourning period, you are not allowed to cry out loud and the body must be taken out after it’s over. People cannot even celebrate their own birthdays if they fall within the mourning period.’
The supreme attended a ceremony with top officials at a palace where his father’s body lies in state while people across the country held commemorations.
Kim Jong Il, the second of the Kim family dynasty, had ruled North Korea for 17 years until his death.
On Friday, state television broadcasts showed people observing several moments of silence and bowing before portraits and statues of him, while air-raid sirens and car horn could be heard blaring and beeping in other footage.
Kim Jong Un was shown with hundreds of officials at a ceremony outside the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in the capital, Pyongyang, where the body of North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, also lies in state under glass.
The three generations of the Kim family have ruled the country since 1948.
North Koreans are taught from birth to revere Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and all adults wear badges depicting one or both men.
Clad in a black leather coat in freezing conditions, Kim Jong Un stood sombrely beneath a large red banner emblazoned with an image of his father, but was not shown speaking.
RFA, a US-government funded not for profit organisation, also cited a second source that said police were told in advance to be on the lookout for people who did not appear ‘appropriately bereaved’.
The resident of the southwestern province of South Hwanghae said the living had to ‘mourn the dead to death’.
They added: ‘From the first day of December, they will have a special duty to crack down on those who harm the mood of collective mourning.
‘It’s a month-long special duty for the police. I heard that law enforcement officials cannot sleep at all.
‘I just hope that the mourning period for Kim Jong Il will be shortened to one week, just like the mourning period for Kim Il Sung.
‘Residents are complaining that the living are forced to mourn these two dead people to death.’
But in North Korea, newspapers – all heavily controlled by the government – published articles praising Kim Jong Il.
‘He is, indeed, the greatest man and the great sage of the revolution all the people on this land follow with their deep affection and sincerity,’ the ruling party’s Rodong Sinmun paper wrote.
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It stressed that people should adhere ‘to the ideas and leadership’ of Kim Jong Un.
Under Kim Jong Il, North Korea suffered widespread famine in the 1990s, and on coming to power, his son vowed citizens would never have to tighten their belts again.
But ten years into his rule, Kim Jong Un has overseen chronic food shortages and has warned people to prepare for the ‘worst-ever situation’.
He is also facing wider economic problems caused by international sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes, natural disasters, and self-imposed anti-pandemic border lockdowns that have heavily restricted trade.
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