When Kim Jong Il died in December 2011, North Korea declared 11 days of mandatory mourning. It wasn’t enough to pay one’s respects: the entire country had to appear devastated.
Millions of people lined up in squares and in front of bronze statues, where state broadcasts showed crowds screaming and crying uncontrollably. During the final funeral procession, attendees were forbidden from wearing gloves, hats, or scarves, so those watching them could easily verify their tears.
Everything else was put on hold: entertainment, alcohol, leisure, and even grocery shopping. And there’s a detail that makes it even more disturbing: those who lost a family member during those days were not allowed to cry out loud for their own deceased loved one.
According to reports by Daily NK, showing little grief was treated as a serious political crime. Neighbors and the secret police monitored mourning sessions, and those who didn’t attend or seemed insufficiently grief-stricken risked at least six months in labor camps or a humiliating public self-criticism session. The reports add that openly showing disrespect or breaking the bans could lead to execution or the exile of entire families to remote provinces. #NorthKorea
