Day of the Shining Star

Day of the Shining Star
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	광명성절
Hancha	光明星節
Revised Romanization	Gwangmyungsungjeol
McCune–Reischauer	Kwangmyŏngsŏng-jŏl
Equestrian statue with Kim Jong-il (right) and Kim Il-sung, revealed on the Day of the Shining Star
Observed by	North Korea
Significance	Birth of Kim Jong-il (1941/1942)
Begins	16 February
Ends	17 February
Date	16 February
Next time	16 February 2018 (2018-02-16)
Frequency	Annual
First time	After being designated in 1982
Related to	Generalissimo Day (14 February), Loyalty Festival (between 16 February and 15 April), Day of the Sun (15 April),Day of Songun (25 August)

The Day of the Shining Star (Chosŏn'gŭl: 광명성절; MR: Kwangmyŏngsŏng-jŏl) is a public holiday in North Korea falling on 16 February, the birth anniversary of the country's second leader, Kim Jong-il. Along with the Day of the Sun, the birthday of his father Kim Il-sung, it is the most important public holiday in the country.

Kim Jong-il was born in 1941 in the Soviet Union, although North Korean propaganda insists on the date 16 February 1942 and places the birth at the Mount Paektu area in Korea. His birthday became an official holiday in 1982 when he began his work in the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea. During his lifetime, he kept out of the public eye during his birthdays. In 2012, the year following his death, the holiday was renamed the Day of the Shining Star.

The most lavish observances take place in the capital Pyongyang and include mass gymnastics, music performances, fireworks displays, military demonstrations, and mass dancing parties. The North Korean people receive more food rations and electricity than usual on the Day of the Shining Star.

Kim Jong-il was born in February 1941 to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-suk in Siberia in the Russian Federal Republic, Soviet Union where his father had been in exile because of his guerilla activities. North Korean propaganda, however, dates Kim Jong-il's birth to 16 February 1942 and locates it at the Mount Paektu area in Korea, the mythical place of origin of the Korean people, where Kim Il-sung supposedly ran a guerilla camp. In reality, the guerillas were based in Manchuria at the time and Kim himself had been to the Soviet Far East before and after Kim Jong-il's birth.