The people of North Korea "must not drink alcohol, laugh or engage in leisure activities" during a national 11-day mourning period for the 10-year anniversary of former leader Kim Jong II's death.
Kim Jong Il is the father of the current leader, Kim Jong Un.
The mourning period started on Friday (Dec. 17), the same day of Kim's death in 2011, and a day on which grocery shopping was prohibited.
Instead of grocery shopping on Friday, thousands of North Koreans attended a commemoration service along with Kim Jong Un and hundreds of government officials. One official called Kim Jong Il "the parent of our people."
"North Koreans then fell silent and bowed in respect for Kim Jong Il as a midday siren blared for three minutes," the New York Post reports. "Cars, trains and ships blew their horns, the Hermit Kingdom's flags were lowered to half-staff and people flocked to Pyongyang's Mansu Hill to lay flowers and bow before giant statues of Kim Jong Il and his father, Kim Il Sung, who ruled for 46 years."
"In the past many people who were caught drinking or being intoxicated during the mourning period were arrested and treated as ideological criminals. They were taken away and never seen again," a source told Radio Free Asia's Korean Service.
Mind you, it's not as though these folks "treated as ideological criminals" were necessarily some pack of insurrectionists or revolutionaries.
No no. Their crime was they were having too much fun during Kim's sad time.
"Even if your family member dies during the mourning period, you are not allowed to cry out loud and the body must be taken out after it's over," the source told RFA. "People cannot even celebrate their own birthdays if they fall within the mourning period."
You know... if people are actually sad that someone died, they don't need to be told to mourn.
The irony is that people are banned from naturally mourning loved ones dying, but are forced to unnaturally mourn the death of this terrible dictator.
"He is, indeed, the greatest man and the great sage of the revolution all the people on this land follow with their deep affection and sincerity," the ruling party's Rodong Sinmun paper said of Kim Jong Il.
Yeah, "deep affection and sincerity." Riiiiiiiiiight.
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