January 8 is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s birthday. He entered 2024 with artillery shellings into the sea and talk of more nuclear tests. But on Monday, the country held no announced public celebrations for the dictator.
Kim is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea. The birthdays of Kim’s father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung are two of the country’s biggest holidays. They’re marked with great fanfare.
Kim took power in late 2011. But his birthday has yet to be officially celebrated.
On Monday, North Korea’s state news agency published a long article extolling Kim’s guidance of major construction projects in the past decade. It also reported that Kim visited a chicken farm with his daughter the previous day. But it made no mention of his birthday.
Observers wonder whether Kim thinks he’s still too young or needs bigger successes to hold lavish birthday events. “For Kim, it’s still probably politically burdensome to idolize himself as he’s still young and hasn’t accumulated much achievements,” says Hong Min, an analyst at a South Korean institute.
Kim’s pursuit of bigger and better nuclear weapons resulted in sanctions from dozens of countries. Pandemic border closures hurt the North’s already fragile economy. Kim once vowed that North Koreans would “never have to tighten their belts again”—but those promises remain unfulfilled.
Some analysts believe Kim may worry about bringing unwanted attention to his Japan-born, late mother. Ko Yong Hui was his father’s third or fourth wife. Ko’s links to Japan and the fact that she wasn’t Kim Jong Il’s first wife are considered damaging to Kim’s rule.
“The fact his mother came from Japan is his biggest weak point that undermines his [bloodline] legitimacy,” says Seoul professor Park Won Gon. “When Kim Jong Un’s birthday becomes an official holiday, he won’t still publicize details about his birth,” he suggests.
Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s birthdays are April 15 and February 16. The dates are celebrated with dance parties, fireworks, art performances, tributes to their giant statues, and sometimes huge military parades.
Kim Il Sung’s birthday became an official holiday in 1968 when he turned 56. Kim Jong Il’s birthday became an official holiday when he turned 40 in 1982.
So far, North Korea has never formally commented on Kim Jong Un’s birthday. The only time Kim has been honored in public on his birthday was in 2014. That year, former NBA star Dennis Rodman sang “Happy Birthday” before an exhibition basketball game in Pyongyang.
Heading into his birthday, Kim seems to have doubled down on hostile speeches and actions. He vowed to enlarge his nuclear arsenal and launch additional spy satellites in response to what he calls U.S. confrontation. And in the past few days, North Korean troops fired artillery shells near the disputed sea boundary with South Korea, raising tensions.
The lack of public birthday events isn’t a sign of waning power for Kim Jong Un. Experts believe he faces little political challenge at home. Kim is expected to increase his run of weapons tests ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.
