Mick Hartley

Exciting times in Pyongyang:

North Korea has been exceptionally generous in handing out provisions ahead of this year’s holiday marking late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s 80th birthday on Feb. 16.

North Korea has long lent particular significance to anniversaries in multiples of 10.

According to a Daily NK source in Pyongyang on Tuesday, North Korea’s Central Committee issued an earlier order calling for additional holiday provisions through Feb. 14 after the initial provision ended on Feb. 10. In particular, North Korea designated the last day of the additional provision a “half-day” to ensure that all households receive their provisions.

In every district of Pyongyang, locals have flocked to industrial goods shops and food stores to receive items and ingredients provided for the holiday.

The source said provisions are ordinarily provided per household, but this time, they are being provided per person, and in much greater amounts than before. With families receiving even more than they did in 2012, when Kim marked his 70th birthday, the source said people are calling this the best year in terms of gifts since 1992, when they received a clock with a picture of Mt. Paekdu, a blanket, and material to make traditional Korean clothing.

A clock with a picture of Mt. Paekdu! Oh boy, how good can it get?

This time around, North Korea provided each person with two pairs of undergarments, four bars of soap, two tubes of toothpaste, two toothbrushes, 10 rolls of toilet paper, and a blanket.

And a partridge in a pear tree?

North Koreans are apparently quite pleased with this year’s cache, receiving many more items than previous years, and on a per-person basis at that.

Above all, people are especially pleased with the undergarments, which are of such high quality that people think they have been imported since “North Korea cannot produce such [good quality] textiles.”