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The year 2018 provided an important turning point in peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula. Last year, leaders of South and North Korea met three times, and the first-ever North Korea-U.S. summit took place. 

With North Korea increasingly proactive on the global diplomatic stage, there is growing interest in what’s going on inside the country. Starting this first week of 2019, we’re bringing you a new segment called “Inside North Korea,” where we’ll learn more about North Korean society and shine a light on one of the most cloistered countries on Earth. Today, we’ll talk about how North Korea celebrates the New Year with Professor Chung Eun-chan from the Institute for Unification Education. 

At midnight on January 1, people in North Korea visit the statues of former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to offer flowers and vow to do well in the coming year. 

Alternatively, they give a deep bow in front of the leaders’ portraits that are found at every North Korean home. This is obviously a stark contrast to the popular South Korean tradition of viewing the first sunrise of the New Year on the east coast.

When I was little, the entire class would visit the leader’s statues. At the stroke of midnight, 40 students, including me, lined up to offer flowers and make our New Year’s vows.

South Koreans welcome the New Year with a bell-ringing ceremony at midnight on January 1, while North Korean citizens start the New Year praising the Kim family. Professor Chung, who defected from North Korea in 2003, says that after paying tribute to the statues, the North Korean people watch Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s speech on TV or listen to it on the radio. Just as people in South and North Korea greet the New Year in different ways, the meaning of “holiday” is also different. 

In North Korea, holidays include socialist and traditional holidays. Former leaders’ birthdays, among others, are the most important holidays. 

Socialist holidays include days of national celebration. For example, the nation marks August 15 to celebrate Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945. North Korea commemorates September 9 as the regime’s foundation day, while October 10 marks the foundation of the ruling Worker’s Party. The North celebrates July 27 as a war victory day and December 27 as the socialist constitution day. 

In South Korea, traditional holidays include Lunar New Year’s Day, the first full moon of the Lunar New Year, and Chuseok or Korean thanksgiving. In North Korea, on the other hand, traditional holidays include national holidays and various political anniversaries. While North Korea acknowledges more familiar holidays like Labor Day and International Children’s Day, the nation’s biggest holidays are the birthdays of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. 

In 1967, North Korea abolished traditional Korean holidays under then-leader Kim Il-sung’s instruction to eradicate the remnants of history. But this policy was relaxed in the 1980s as North Korea introduced a new interpretation of ethnic Korean exceptionalism.

In line with this new ideology, the traditional holiday of Chuseok was revived in 1988, and Lunar New Year’s Day and Dano were redesignated as official holidays in 1989. Professor Chung explains how North Korea celebrates Lunar New Year’s Day. 

In regards to Lunar New Year’s Day celebrations, there is not much difference between South and North Korea. On Lunar New Year’s Day, North Koreans visit elderly family members and honor their ancestors. Families get together and share delicious food and enjoy each other’s company. Hometown visits may be permitted, if the hometowns are not very far away. Many North Koreans also visit their teachers on Lunar New Year’s Day, as there is no Teachers’ Day in the North like there is in South Korea.

There is a slight difference, though, in greeting terms. In South Korea, the act of exchanging nods or bowing one’s head is called “mok-rye(목례),” while North Koreans use the word “seon-jeol(선절),” which literally means “a standing bow.” The angle of seon-jeol might be different, depending on the level of respect. 

On Lunar New Year’s Day, people in both the North and South enjoy traditional Korean activities. For greetings, South Koreans say “All the best for the New Year.” But the North Koreans say “Congratulations on the New Year.” 

Unlike in South Korea, there are few North Koreans who celebrate traditional holidays in their hometown. This is perhaps the most striking difference between the two Koreas on Lunar New Year’s Day. 

On traditional holidays, South Korean citizens can move anywhere they want by car, bus, train or airplane. But North Koreans are allowed to travel only when they have a special travel certificate. It is very difficult to get this certificate for the purpose of visiting relatives on holidays or for individual trips. Moreover, infrastructure is poor in North Korea, and it is often difficult to travel long distances. 

It isn’t easy to move from place to place in North Korea, due to government restrictions on movement, poor infrastructure, and economic hardships. Traffic conditions have somewhat improved in recent years under Kim Jong-un, but still, they are not very good. 

That’s why most North Koreans honor their ancestors at or around their residences, rather than where the ancestors are buried, as is often the case in South Korea. Moreover, many North Koreans don’t really feel the need to travel long distances because, in many cases, their relatives live nearby. 

Now, Professor Chung talks about some noticeable changes in how North Koreans ring in the Lunar New Year. 

It seems North Koreans now put more emphasis on Lunar New Year’s Day than on the first day of January. In the past, most people prepared holiday food at their homes and shared it with their family members. But with improving financial conditions for families located in big cities, restaurants, karaoke rooms, or even billiards are commonly enjoyed during the holiday. 

Previously, men and women would celebrate the traditional holiday separately. But nowadays, men and women tend to mingle together, and many couples use the occasion for a romantic night out.

Historically, the North Korean government distributes food, liquor, cooking oil, candies and cookies on Lunar New Year’s Day. Using these state supplies, families in North Korea would make holiday dishes at home. 

These days, however, a growing number of people prefer to go to restaurants and entertainment venues. It shows that Lunar New Year’s culture in North Korea is changing, in line with the rising financial fortunes of a number of North Koreans.

Even so, the traditional meaning of Lunar New Year’s Day remains the same. For North Koreans who have to endure the long, harsh winter season, the holiday is a happy occasion to spend time with their family, share food and have warm conversation.

Koreans everywhere are looking forward to Lunar New Year’s Day. Here’s hoping that people in both South and North Korea will celebrate this traditional holiday together with high hopes for the coming year.