North Korea is in party mood on the 65th birthday of its leader Kim Jong-il on Friday. A trader who recently visited Shinuiju reports that North Korea, fresh from negotiating massive aid in six-party nuclear talks, has announced a five-day holiday this weekend, which includes the dear leader’s birthday on the 16th and the Lunar New Year holiday on the 18th. Normally, North Koreans get two days off for Kim’s birthday and another two for the Lunar New Year.

Sources in China, just across the North Korean border, say the communist country decided to dole out an extra month’s worth of food ration to citizens. Per household, that includes 500 g of cooking oil, a kilogram of sugar, five eggs and a bottle of liquor. A North Korean official visiting the Chinese border city of Dandong confirmed this, saying an order was delivered to spare no efforts to supply goods to commemorate the leader’s birthday. North Korea will reportedly attempt round-the-clock electricity supply during the holiday, instead of the usual limited periods.

A rally was held Thursday at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the 65th birthday of leader Kim Jong-il on Friday. The image was taken from a Korean Central Television broadcast./Yonhap

Intelligence reports say a huge mosaic is being laid along Kwangbok (Liberation) Street and Tongil (Unification) Street in downtown Pyongyang. The size has not been confirmed, but one official said 20,000 Pyongyang residents were mobilized to lay it. The official Korean Central News Agency reported last week that the words “Supreme Military General Kim Jong-il” had been engraved on a boulder atop Mt. Myohyang.

One source said North Korea is trying to recall former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung’s 65th birthday, April 15, 1977, which was the most stable period in North Korea’s history. On the day, Kim senior passed out blankets and tables to each North Korea family and began the tradition of giving uniforms and candy to students. One North Korea defector recalled that year as the happiest time in the country’s collective memory. The Chosun Sinbo, the mouthpiece of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan or Chongryon, this week reported North Korean children were happy to receive candy and uniforms.

One former senior North Korean official says Kim Jong-il is being referred to as the “general who emerged victorious in the final battle with the U.S.” since the country’s nuclear test in October and ensuing negotiations. “North Korea appears to be playing up the fact that it now has nuclear weapons and can use it to its benefit,” says Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor of North Korean Studies at Korea University.

(englishnews@chosun.com )