SEOUL (AFP) — Cash-strapped North Korea has cut down on its main festivities to mark founding leader Kim Il-Sung’s birthday to help save money in the impoverished Communist country, news reports said Sunday.
Choson Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper for ethnic Koreans in Japan, reported on its online edition that North Korea had turned its annual “April Spring Friendship Art Festival” into an biennial event instead.
The festival, usually around Kim’s birthday of April 15, has served as Pyongyang’s most important fete to strengthen a personality cult around Kim’s family in North Korea.
Kim’s birthday is still the biggest holiday in North Korea despite his death in 1994. His son Kim Jong-Il has since ruled the country with a similarly iron-fisted approach.
The celebration, which began in 1982 to celebrate Kim’s 70th birthday, usually invites foreign artists — with Pyongyang footing the bill for travel expenses and accommodation.
But Seoul’s Yonhap news agency, citing an unnamed North Korean defector who formerly worked for the foreign and cultural sectors, said worsening economic hardships had led Pyongyang to curtail the usually lavish celebration and most likely mean no international performers this year.
Emphasis mine. For North Korea to cut down on these types of events, it must be in dire straits. Also, does this save money on the gifts the leaders show love for the people? I think so. It does not matter. This country is falling apart, and there is little that can be done about it.
In the meantime, the #2 man is making some deals with some countries in Africa, and maybe they can send them some extra cash.
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