North Koreans barred from laughing, drinking & shopping for 11 days: here's why

As a part of the 11-day mourning on the 10th anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has banned its citizens from laughing, drinking, and shopping from Friday onwards.

An unidentified North Korean source from the northeastern border city of Sinuiju told Radio Free Asia that during the mourning period, they must not drink alcohol, laugh or engage in leisure activities.

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The source also said that if anyone’s family dies during the mourning period, they are not allowed to cry out loud and the body must be taken out after the mourning period is over.

The North Korean told Radio Free Asia that people cannot even celebrate their own birthdays if they fall within the mourning period.

Kim Jong-il ruled North Korea for 17 years until his death on December 17, 2011. According to the Associated Press, a siren blared for three minutes at midday on Friday and North Koreans fell silent and bowed in respect for Kim Jong-il, the late father of Kim Jong Un.

National flags were lowered to half-staff and a large number of people were seen climbing Pyongyang’s Mansu Hill to lay flowers and bow before giant statues of Kim Jong-il and Kim il-Sung, the founder of North Korea.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Kim Jong Un was also at a ceremony outside the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in the capital, Pyongyang, where the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather lie under glass.