New Weapons and Dictator Tears: a Surreal North Korean Celebration
22.Feb.2021 9:00 AM .
4 min read
Despite the twin crises of a pandemic and a recession rocking the world, North Korea has insisted that it remains the Communist wonderland that it has been for decades. It cites zero coronavirus cases and periodically releases pictures of smiling citizens. On October 10, 2020, all eyes were on the hermit kingdom for clues on how it had fared as the rest of the world came to a halt. The results were surprising and mixed.
October 10th, or Party Foundation Day, marks the anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers’ Party, one of the most important dates on the North Korean calendar. In the past, the Party has used key anniversaries to showcase special events: the Monument to Party Founding was unveiled in 1995, on the party’s 50th anniversary, and two large plants were revealed in 2015, on its 70th anniversary. In 2020, the Party turned 75.