N. Korea observes longer Lunar New Year holiday this year, combined with late leader’s birthday

North Koreans visit the statues of late North Korean founder Kim Il-sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on the occasion of the New Year’s holiday in this photo published by the Korean Central News Agency, Feb. 11, 2024. Yonhap

North Korea is expected to observe a longer Lunar New Year holiday this year, as it immediately follows the national holiday marking the birthday of late former leader Kim Jong-il.

North Korea observes a one-day Lunar New Year holiday, which falls on Tuesday this year, shorter than South Korea’s three-day holiday.

This year’s Lunar New Year falls a day after the late leader’s birthday, Monday following Sunday, giving North Koreans a three-day holiday.

Generally, North Koreans observe the new year according to the Western calendar, while South Koreans celebrate Lunar New Year more extravagantly.

The socialist North Korea initially renounced the traditional Korean holiday as a feudal vestige before reinstating it in 1989, along with the other traditional holiday of Chuseok, under the Kim Jong-il regime.

North Korea now uses the traditional holiday as an occasion not only to honor families’ ancestors but also to celebrate the achievements of its two late leaders, including state founder Kim Il-sung, and to bolster allegiance to the current leader, Kim Jong-un.

On Lunar New Year, North Koreans typically visit the Kumsusan Mausoleum in Pyongyang, where the bodies of the two late leaders are enshrined, or their statues across the country to lay flowers.

Restaurants remain open and busy with diners during the holiday season, as travel to other regions or hometowns is restricted and allowed only with permission.