Posted on 01/04/2012 5:06:05 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
No Hats, No Scarves, No Gloves!
By Lee Seok Young [2012-01-03 10:23 ]
Daily NK has received information confirming the level of stage management that went into the memorial service for Kim Jong Il on December 28th in Pyongyang.
A source from the city told Daily NK on January 2nd, “The day before the event sending off comrade Kim Jong Il, heads of people’s units told us that ‘comrade Kim Jong Eun will also be escorting the General’s hearse bare-handed’ and conveyed a list of important instructions.”
According to the source, the authorities were intending to make sure that mourners were visible at every step along the hearse’s journey and that those attending not be wearing hats, gloves or scarves even if it was snowing. Residents were warned, the source said, that “behind every line there will be people watching.”
All appeared to go to plan; while South Korea’s meteorological authorities report that temperatures in Pyongyang on the 28th were a frigid -2.4°C, footage of the funeral ceremony from Chosun Central TV did indeed show Kim Jong Eun escorting the hearse bare-handed, and nobody visibly wearing gloves or scarves in the snowy conditions.
The source said that those ordered to keep watch on the behavior of the crowds were students from Kim Il Sung University, Kim Chaek University of Technology and Pyongyang University of Railways.
In other news, the source reported also that a numbers of cadres from the Central Party may have been purged as part of a program of criticism sessions dealing with misdemeanors dating from the mourning period.
“The mourning period has only been finished for a few days and already there are rumors that a few central cadres including the chief history lecturer at Kang Ban Seok Political School have been disposed of via criticism sessions for mistakes made during the mourning period,” the source explained. Kang Ban Seok Political School was established in 1947 for the original purpose of educating the female children of war heroes as Party cadres.
Similar events occurred following the death of Kim Il Sung, when the authorities employed criticism sessions to deal with real and perceived disloyalty so as to create an atmosphere of fear that helped Kim Jong Il establish his total authority.
A source from Yangkang Province commented to Daily NK that the criticism sessions were being referred to there too as an “important acid test of loyalty.” The source added, “To put it simply, what they mean is that anyone who was not participating sincerely during this period or disobeyed the instructions given out will be punished regardless of who they are.”
December 29th to January 8th, the latter being Kim Jong Eun’s birthday, is the designated period for criticism sessions regarding the mourning period.
P!
Dude’s got plenty of insulation from the cold. Guess we know where all the food’s stockpiled in The Hermit Kingdom.
I liked the one readers comment.
“No pants would have been the acid test”
Are there any groups working in NK to help them or is this something that we can’t help with at all?
and no tears of sorrow. Just twisted and contorted faces, bellowing, and stomping of feet. They should have said,”Cry or Die.”
A sad people.
That's not what I would call "frigid".
When I set the garbage/recycle outside last night, it was about -14C, with a moderate windchill.
That was closer to "frigid".
Likewise, it was sans hat, scarf, gloves, jacket, and, I was in short sleeves.
Granted, it was voluntary, and only about 40 feet, max.
A protection racket on a grand scale ensues when the thing the people pay to be protected from are their protectors in this case the North Korean government. It is sad when the people know that their rulers are cynically using them while enriching only themselves. It becomes even more cruel when there is a fanatical ideology married to this abuse, which the goons with the guns subscribe to and expect everyone else to follow. Someday North Korea will have a real government which represents it’s people and acts in their interest, even if sometimes imperfectly like most real governments, if only the long suffering people survive the current batch of thugs. I can’t see where the change will come from in a country this tightly controlled unless there are selfless individuals in the North Korean military who finally say enough, unfortunately they most likely would become the next gangsters.
Yeah I saw that comment ROFL
I want to kniow how I can get a degree from the “Pyongyang University of Railways”.
Sounds like North Korea has adopted Festivus, with the "Airing of Grievances."
Wasilla has been hunkered down for the past week with temperatures that range from 2F above and -20F. That's a little closer to "frigid" than 30 or so Fahrenheit above. But, I applaud your pluck. ;o)
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