Read the two Korean-language stories that were combined for this report.

The “Shining Star” wasn’t quite as lustrous this year in North Korea, as celebrations for the birthday of supreme leader Kim Jong Un’s late father and predecessor came and went without much fanfare, residents told Radio Free Asia.

In years past, the “Day of the Shining Star ”– Feb. 16, the birthday of Kim Jong Il — was called the “nation’s greatest holiday,” celebrated with crowded public events like gymnastics exhibitions, military parades and fireworks displays.

Plus families received extra food rations and supplies as “gifts” to commemorate the late Dear Leader’s life.

But this year there were no gifts, and the streets were empty, residents said. Experts, meanwhile, said the lack of celebratory atmosphere was an indication that Kim Jong Un is trying to downplay the significance of his father to boost his own reputation.

The empty streets were a shocking sight, a resident from the northern province of Ryanggang told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

“This year on February 16th, Kim Jong Il’s birthday, the streets were so quiet that I could hardly see the shadow of a person,” she said.

Regarding the absence of “gifts” from the government, she said that normally there’s a special supply order coming from the Central Committee of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party, but no such order was made this year.

‘Depressing social climate’

People were still expected to visit and offer condolences to statues of Kim Jong Il and his father and predecessor, national founder Kim Il Sung, a government official from the same province told RFA.

“After residents visited the statues, they went home, and the streets became empty,” he said. “The reason Kim Jong Il’s birthday, the nation’s biggest holiday, became so empty was not only due to the absence of holiday supplies, but also due to the depressing social climate.”

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He said the people were anxious due to increased censorship and government crackdowns.

“About 20 residents here in Ryanggang province were arrested by the Ministry of State Security for possessing illegal cell phones,” he said, adding that hundreds more were fined 300,000 won (US$13) — an enormous sum for North Koreans — for using electricity illegally.

Due to power shortages, almost everywhere in North Korea is subject to rolling blackouts, but people can sometimes tap into power lines meant for factories or other state-owned facilities that receive power around the clock.

“The people are worried that they may be arrested under some kind of pretext,” the official said.

Celestial holidays for deceased leaders

The Day of the Shining Star, along with Kim Il Sung’s birth anniversary on April 15, known as the Day of the Sun, are, according to the government, the two most important holidays in North Korea.

They take precedence even over the Lunar New Year holiday, known in Korean as Sollal, and the autumn harvest holiday, known as Chusok.

The latter two holidays had been the most important throughout the Korean peninsula for centuries, but the celestial holidays for the former leaders have been pushed to reinforce the cult of personality surrounding the three-generation Kim Dynasty that has ruled the country for nearly eight decades.

The lack of celebration for the Day of the Shining Star is jarring, considering that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities still made the people attend public events to celebrate.

It’s quite a departure from the early days of Kim Jong Un’s reign.

He took over when Kim Jong Il died in 2011, and authorities at that time sought to solidify his legitimacy by emphasizing ties to the previous leaders, said Oh Kyung-seop, a research fellow at the Seoul-based Institute for Unification Studies.

“But after (his) power base was established, they have been moving in the direction of putting (him) at the forefront,” Oh told RFA Korean.

He also said that the de-emphasis on the previous generations of the Kim Dynasty these days can be interpreted as an expression of confidence that the current leader’s power base is solid.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, meanwhile, noted on New Year’s Day that Kim skipped the customary visit to the mausoleum where his father and grandfather are buried. He had been visiting the mausoleum five times per year, including on the celestial holidays, but this pattern began to change in 2022.

Travel applications denied

The government also denied holiday travel applications, even for important family events, a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

The restricted travel areas include areas near the border with China and Russia, the border with South Korea, the capital Pyongyang, and areas near munitions factories.

It was not immediately clear why these areas were restricted, but the resident said that the border areas might have been off limits for travel to prevent people from escaping so close to such an important holiday.

“The residents living near the border areas are allowed to travel to other areas of the country, so I don’t understand why they are trusted, but people who live in other areas aren’t trusted to travel near the border areas,” he said. “It seems like they want to prevent serious incident, like crossing the river (to escape to China) during the month of Kim Jong Il’s birthday.

Residents told RFA that they knew of specific cases where travel to important family events was denied.

“In early February, my younger brother tried to go to the funeral for his wife’s uncle who lived in the border area, but he was unable to go,” the North Hamgyong resident said. “Even though all processes and documents were completed, he did not receive the travel certificate.”

He said the procedure is far more difficult now. In the past it was only necessary to present the certificate of death, but now authorities are more thorough.

According to the North Hamgyong resident, in this case, the officer in charge of the application called the police station in the area of the deceased’s residence to confirm his death, and only upon receiving approval did he sign the application.

Although the application was signed and approved by this officer, the travel application was ultimately denied by the Ministry of Social Security in Pyongyang. RFA was unable to determine exactly why.

A resident of nearby South Hamgyong told RFA that he was unable to visit his aunt on her 70th birthday. She lives in Taehongdan, Ryanggang Province, which borders China

“I went through all the procedures, I prepared and submitted all of the documents, but I gave up on travelling after hearing that entry to the border area would not be approved on the occasion of Kim Jong Il’s birthday,” he said.

The South Hamgyong resident said that his family rarely sees his aunt, his mother’s only sibling, and it’s usually when she is able to come to South Hamgyong, not the other way around.

But now she is in poor health due to her advanced age, he said.

“We thought that this might be the last time we could see her,” he said. “I tried to go this time to celebrate her birthday, but I could not. We said hello over the phone.”

Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Ahn Chang Gyu and Moon Sung Whui for RFA Korean.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.