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(LEAD) N. Korea marks late leader's birthday amid economic hardship
By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, April 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea marked the birthday of its late national leader Kim Il-sung Tuesday in a less festive mood than usual amid concerns over deepening economic hardship.
With neither foreign artists singing in praise of Kim, who is dubbed the "Sun of mankind" by the communist state, nor the standard massive gymnastic display performed by about 100,000 people on show, North Koreans started the two-day holiday in a low-key manner.
The North traditionally spends a lot on celebrating one of the nation's biggest holidays on a grand scale, inviting many foreign musicians and art groups to perform in the "April Friendship Art Festival" that marks the birthday of the nation's founder and unveiling large public monuments.
Pyongyang, however, has scaled down the previously annual event to a biennual in what analysts said is a measure to save badly needed foreign currency because of worsening hardships facing the country.
A domestic music festival will fill the gaps between the years when foreign artists are not coming, according to the Choson Shinbo, a pro-Pyongyang daily in Japan which usually reflects Pyongyang's position.
North Korea staged the "Arirang Festival," a massive gymnastic display, twice last year, once to coincide with Kim's birthday in April last year and the second in the fall. But the North will hold the festival just once in August this year, a Beijing-based tourism agency specializing in North Korean tours said Monday on its Website.
Regular celebrations such as cultural performances, a national ceremony, a sports competition and a movie screening were held as usual to mark the late Kim's 96th birthday. But as monitored in Seoul, they also looked different from festivities of the past.
Experts said the move may have a direct link to the country's overall economic hardship, including worsening food conditions, following years of severe flood damage.
Aid groups, including the World Food Program, warned last month that North Korea may face its worst food shortage in years due to the floods and soaring international grain prices. A Seoul-based aid group said food rations were even halted in the capital Pyongyang for six months beginning April and rumors are circulating that the nation may see massive deaths from hunger in May. North Korea has depended on international handouts to feed a large number of its 23 million people since the late 1990s when about 3 million residents reportedly starved to death.
The celebration also came amid hopes for a breakthrough in negotiations over North Korea's nuclear programs.
The White House indicated Monday that President George W. Bush has "agreed" to a tentative deal under which Pyongyang is supposed to "acknowledge" U.S. concerns about its suspected uranium enrichment program and nuclear prolifieration to Syria in a side-agreement. "I believe so, yes," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said when asked if Bush approved of the agreement reached in Singapore.
Christopher Hill, the top U.S. nuclear envoy, and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, met in Singapore last week to push forward a stalled six-nation process to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
In the past, Washington has insisted that North Korea account for its suspected uranium and proliferation activities. Diplomats and analysts say the key sticking points blocking the negotiations may have been cleared as Washington softened its position but there is still a long way to go before North Korea moves onto the next, final stage of dismantling its nuclear programs.
North Korea is supposed to receive energy aid worth 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil and be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism when it completes the second phase of denuclearization -- disabling its nuclear facilities and disclosing all its nuclear programs as agreed in an October international deal.
The obscurity of the terms of the Singapore deal and the verification process may again slow down the process, analysts said.
"North Korea cannot make a major breakthrough in its economic crisis without abandoning nuclear weapons although it may be able to get by for years relying on foreign aid," Lee Sang-hyun, a senior fellow at Sejong Institute in the suburbs of Seoul, said.
Kim Il-sung died of a heart attack in 1994 but is still revered as an "eternal president." His birthday, which falls on April 15, is one of the biggest holidays in North Korea along with the birthday of current leader Kim Jong-il.
In a national ceremony held on the eve of the birthday, Pyongyang called for more efforts to achieve the national goal of rejuvenating its struggling economy by 2012 when the nation marks the 100th birthday of the late leader.
"Building a powerful and prosperous socialist state was the lifelong wish of President Kim," said Kim Yong-nam, who serves as the North's ceremonial head of state, speaking in the Pyongyang ceremony. "We should wide open the gate of a strong and prosperous country by that time," he said.
Rodong Shinmun, newspaper of the North Korean Workers' Party, praised Kim Il-sung as "one of the greatest men of the 20th century" and "Sun of Juche (self-reliance) that lives eternally in the heart of all the people" in a commemorative editorial Tuesday. It also called for solidarity of all North Koreans to rebuild the economy.
Accompanied by ranking party, military and government leaders, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang where the embalmed body of his late father lies to pay homage earlier in the day, according to the North's state-run news media, including the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
On the same day, he promoted 35 army generals and sent presents to a number of scientists and engineers "who contributed to developing the nation's computer software technology," the news agency said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to Kim on his father's birthday. Diplomats and delegations from various countries have visited Kim's birthplace in Pyongyang or laid flower baskets before his statues across the country.
In the run-up to the holiday, North Korea held a display of Kimilsungia, a kind of orchid named after him, ideological seminars and a national sketch contest, according to the KCNA.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)
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