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This is a list of public holidays in North Korea. See also the Korean calendar for a list of traditional holidays. As of 2017, the North Korean calendar has 71 official public holidays, including Sundays. In the past, North Koreans relied on rations provided by the state on public holidays for feasts. Recently, with marketization people are able to save up money and buy the goods they need.

The Day of the Sun, the birthday of its founder and first leader Kim Il Sung, on 15 April is the most important holiday in the country. The second most important is the Day of the Shining Star on 16 February, the birthday of Kim Jong Il. As of 2019, Kim Jong Un's birthday is still not a public holiday. Other holidays of great importance are the Party Foundation Day (10 October) and the Day of the Foundation of the Republic (9 September). North Koreans often schedule their wedding days on important national holidays.

North Korea regularly carries out missile and nuclear tests on such important anniversaries.

List of annual holidays

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (January 2017)

Momentous changes in political holidays in North Korean calendars

During some years, certain dates related with the Kim regime are additionally designated as public holidays for propaganda purposes.

In the 2014 version of the North Korean calendar, "Generalissimo Day" (대원수추대일) briefly became a holiday that honors when Kim Jong Il posthumously received the title "Generalissimo of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in 2012.

In the 2015 calendar, a new public holiday was to be celebrated on June 19, marking the date in 1964 when Kim Jong Il graduated from Kim Il Sung University and began working as part of the Party’s organizational leadership. Various events related to the commemorative day take place every year on this date in North Korea, but this was the first time it has been recognized as a national holiday. 

In the 2017 calendar, July 3 became a public holiday called "Day of the Strategic Forces" (전략군절).

See also

• Culture of North Korea
• List of Korean traditional festivals
• North Korean calendar
• Public holidays in South Korea

References

1. ^ Kang Mi Jin (13 January 2017). "Official 2017 Calendar Seen as out of Touch". Retrieved 14 January 2017.
2. "North Koreans make the most of Liberation Day". dailynk.com. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
3. Calum MacLeod (26 April 2013). "Korean defectors recall 'Day of the Sun'". USA TODAY. Contributing: Jueyoung Song, Duck Hwa Hong. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
4. Barbra Kim (21 February 2012). "What Really Glimmers Behind the 'Day of the Shining Star'". cogitASIA. CSIS Asia Program. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
5. "Kim Jong-un's birthday remains unmarked in 2019 calendars". The Korean Herald. Yonhap. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
6. Yonhap News Agency, Seoul (27 December 2002). North Korea Handbook. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 451–452. ISBN 978-0-7656-3523-5.
7. Toimela, Markku; Aalto, Kaj (2017). Salakahvilla Pohjois-Koreassa: Markku Toimelan jännittävä tie Pohjois-Korean luottomieheksi (in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Docendo. p. 40. ISBN 978-952-291-369-2.
8. Shinkman, Paul D. (4 October 2017). "CIA Official Predicts North Korean Provocation on Columbus Day". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
9. ^ Seol Song Ah (7 December 2015). "Kim Jong Un's birthday still not a holiday". Daily NK. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
10. Johnson, Gareth. "What's the difference between North Korea's February 8th Army Day and April 25th Military Foundation Day?". Young Pioneer Tours. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
11. "A Few Facts on North Korea's Army Day | 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea". February 2018.
12. "Day of Shining Star to Be Marked in Norway". Korean Central News Agency. February 12, 2015. Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
13. "Tree-Planting Day in the DPR-Korea embodies Socialist and traditional Asian Cultural Values". Archived from the original on 2013-03-04. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
14. "Tree-planting Day Marked in DPRK". Archived from the original on 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
15. North Korea Tree-planting Day on YouTube
16. ^ Cho Jong Ik (December 25, 2013). "2014 Calendar Reveals Few Surprises". DailyNK. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
17. ^ Lee Sang Yong (16 December 2014). "North Korea's Official 2015 Calendar Revealed". Daily NK. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
18. Anton Sokolin (2023-11-06). "North Korea debuts new holiday to mark launch of largest nuclear missile". NK News. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
19. "North Korea's Official 2015 Calendar Revealed". dailynk.
20. "Official 2017 calendar seen as out of touch". dailynk.

External links

• New Year celebrations in North Korea on YouTube

v t e Public holidays in North Korea
New Year's Day Korean New Year Chosongul Day Day of the Shining Star Day of the Sun Military Foundation Day Daeboreum Buddha's Birthday International Workers' Day Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War Fatherland Liberation Day Day of Songun Day of the Foundation of the Republic Party Foundation Day Mother's Day Constitution Day

• Public holidays in North Korea
• Lists of public holidays by country