North Korea officially moves "Day of the Sun" up two weeks

Courtesy Twitter feed of Associated Press Pyongyang bureau

In North Korea, "Day of the Sun" (태양절) is the orgy of celebration (disclaimer: not an actual orgy) that marks the birthday of the DPRK's founder, Kim Ilsung, who will forever hold the title of "Eternal President" (since it's eternal). It is traditionally marked on April 15.

To say that Day of the Sun is a big holiday is an misunderstatement. It's like Christmas wrapped in Easter, rolled in Thanksgiving, sprinkled with Halloween, with a dollop of Presidents Day. It's big.

In North Korea, Day of the Sun is bright hanbok-wearing special.

So it's huge news that they would consider moving this holiday at all. That would be like deciding Christmas should begin the day before Chanukah.

From North Korea's Central News Agency (translation provided by Monster Island intern Seo Yumi):

Comrade Kim Jong Un made the decision in order to move the glorious celebration to a more dignified time at the earlier month. The move was also intended to provide chronological spaces between Day of the Big Sun and a cluster of lesser holidays in the middle of April. And keeping international norms.

These are Park Won Suk's Death Day, marking the first woman to drive a car, stolen from bootlicker capitalist running dog landowners who collaborted with Japanese colonial imperialists. Also, Earth Day.

The Young General hopes to make Earth Day (12 April) a special important holiday in Korea, raising the specter of an environmentally conscious country that has harmoney with nature admired throughout the world. Also, Tax Day.

But what's really interesting is what I found out later. One North Korea expert who makes frequent trips to Pyongyang said by phone that the "international norms" part is actually a cryptic reference to Tax Day in the United States.

It's no secret that Pyongyang has been learning all they can from the West, and the North Korean regime, he said under strict confidentiality (hint: initials are T.R.), is planning to open the doors to the country wide open in the very new future, welcoming the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Dell, General Motors, IBM, and any other company that hopes to exploit cheap and obedient labor. Having this celebration on the same day they have to get their returns in the mail could hurt investment prospects, they believe.

They have also been annoyed for quite some time at the annual parade of late night TV jokes about Kim Ilsung's special day falling on the worst day of the oppressed workers of America.

...