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In South Korea, the annual Chuseok holiday period started from Wednesday and lasts through Sunday, with the Korean version of Thanksgiving falling on Thursday. People in North Korea, on the other hand, can’t enjpy a long holiday period and only take one day off for the autumn harvest holiday. We can’t help but wonder how North Korea celebrates traditional holidays, including Chuseok. Dr. Bong Young-shik from the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies says that there are four types of holidays in North Korea. 

The first type of holiday includes the joyful days of national celebration marking the development and prosperity of the country. This includes North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung’s birthday on April 15, and his son, and also former leader, Kim Jong-il’s birthday on February 16. There’s also Liberation Day on August 15 commemorating Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the regime foundation day on September 9, the Workers’ Party foundation day on October 10 and the constitution day on December 27. 

Secondly, North Korea celebrates particular economic and social occasions. This includes the March 1 Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule, the local industrial day on June 7 and the June 25 outbreak of the Korean War, which North Korea calls the “Fatherland Liberation War.” 

Next there are days of international celebration related to the labor class. These include Labor Day on May 1, International Women’s Day on March 8, International Children’s Day on June 1 and the Non-Aligned Movement Day on September 1. 

And lastly, there are Korean traditional holidays such as the lunar New Year or Seollal, Hansik, Dano and Chuseok. 

So, North Korea’s holidays have socialist or traditional origins. In South Korea, Seollal and Chuseok are the two most cherished traditional holidays. People welcome the lunar New Year on Seollal and thank their ancestors for the autumn harvest on Chuseok. But the meaning of traditional holidays is different in North Korea. 

North Korea did not celebrate Korean traditional holidays in the 1960s under then-leader Kim Il-sung’s instruction, citing the need to root out the remnants of feudalism and remain faithful to socialism.

But the policy was relaxed in the 1980s, timed with the end of the Cold War. The North Korean government revived Chuseok in 1988 and both Lunar New Year’s Day and Dano in 1989. 

Although the traditional holidays were revived, it is said that North Korean residents do not really enjoy the occasions due to food shortages and economic difficulties. In South Korea, it is common to see a mass migration of people heading to their hometowns during the holidays. But such a mass exodus of people for holidays never happens in the North. 

North Korea’s railway system has not been upgraded since Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial occupation in 1945. More than 90 percent of the nation’s rail lines are single-track, and trains run as slow as bicycles. In South Korea, many people travel from Seoul to Busan in just a few hours via the KTX bullet train to see their family members. But a scene like this is simply unimaginable in the North. 

On top of the poor traffic infrastructure, North Korea’s economic hardship has led to the disappearance of many rituals on traditional holidays, especially since the Arduous March period in the mid-to-late-1990s. The rituals include gifting money to children after they perform ceremonial bows to their elders and sharing delicious food with their loved ones. But local people do participate in some state events, such as visiting the gravesites of patriots, on traditional holidays. 

In North Korea, the birthdays of former leaders are by far the biggest holidays. Kim Il-sung’s birthday on April 15, in particular, is called the Day of the Sun. It has been celebrated every year in the same way when he was alive. 

In 1997, three years after the death of Kim Il-sung, his son and former leader Kim Jong-il adopted the Juche calendar and designated his father’s birthday as the Day of the Sun. The birthday of Kim Jong-il on February 16 is called the Day of the Shining Star or Kwangmyongsong in Korean. North Korea’s satellites were named after this to commemorate the achievements of Kim Jong-il. The birthdays of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il have been the nation’s largest holidays since 1974 and 1982, respectively. The birthdays, along with the following day, are designated as public holidays. 

North Korea celebrates the birthdays of the two former leaders in a big way over the course of two months from February to April. During this festival period of the nation’s biggest holidays, a variety of commemorative events are held across the nation, including art performances, sports events, debates and exhibitions. 

In fact, North Korean people eagerly await the former leaders’ birthdays because they can take two days off work and receive special rations like meat, liquor, tobacco, candies and cookies provided by the state. As time goes by, however, this atmosphere has been changing. 

Around the birthdays of the two former leaders, various cultural events take place nationwide. These include exhibitions of flowers named after Kim Il-sung, an international marathon event, industrial art exhibitions, fireworks and feasts. A BBC documentary program on North Korea showed young people holding a dance party in the square at night and them watching a display of fireworks on April 15. Athletic competitions of football, basketball, volleyball and track and field events are also held in each local region. Sometimes, winners get a bull as a prize—the same prize given to winners of traditional Korean wrestling competitions in ancient days. 

But sports competitions like these have been reduced in scale, due to the deteriorating local economy. The level of quantity and quality of gifts and prizes has also fallen, reflecting the economic reality of the impoverished country. 

While events marking the Day of the Sun have been scaled down year after year, it is said that more emphasis has been placed on International Women’s Day, Labor Day and International Children’s Day in North Korea. 

We hope people in South and North Korea will soon be able to celebrate the Chuseok holiday together and share the bountiful harvest and blessings with each other.