North Korea holds nationwide anti-US rallies on 74th Korean War anniversary

North Korea held mass anti-U.S. rallies nationwide on Tuesday to mark the 74th anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.

The city of Hyesan, in the north on the Chinese border, herded more than 80,000 residents into a stadium and forced them to chant slogans against America and listen to speeches decrying Washington for four hours, a resident there told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“The anti-American mass rally held today to commemorate the 6.25 War was larger than any mass rally I have ever seen in my life,” she said, referring to the war by the date of its start, as is customary in the Korean language when referring to important events. She said that the rally started at 8 a.m. and went until noon.

Following the event the crowd split into three groups and headed for different parts of the town, shouting anti-American slogans and parading through the streets, she said.

“At 3 p.m., a ‘War Veterans Reunion Meeting’ was held at the Hyesan Movie Theater, attended by members of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League and Socialist Women’s Union of Korea,” she said.

Hyesan has a listed population of 250,000, but many registered there are either connected with the military or have been assigned to the city from elsewhere to work, meaning the actual population of the city is only about 140,000, the resident said.

This means that more than half of the population was in the stadium on Tuesday.

The resident said orders were given for “everyone from elementary school students to war veterans, who could walk” to be mobilized for the rally.

“This 6.25 War-related event was not held only today but has been taking place every day since the 23rd, starting with the Socialist Patriotic Youth League and the Socialist Women’s Union of Korea,” she said. “This will also be the first time that this kind of event lasted three straight days.”

A different take

In North Korea, the war is officially called the “Great Fatherland Liberation War,” even though most historians agree that in the early hours of June 25, 1950, it was the North that crossed the 38th parallel that divided the peninsula to invade the South.

Fighting ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a treaty, meaning the war is technically still ongoing.  North Korea claims that it was victorious against the United States and its allies in the war, even though 2.5 million Koreans died – fighting on both sides – and North Korea ended up controlling slightly less territory than it had before the war.

On a national scale, Tuesday’s rallies, held all over the country are the largest ever held to commemorate the war, an official from Hyesan’s surrounding Ryanggang province told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

“Today’s mass rally was prepared nationwide from June 16 in accordance with (national leader) Kim Jong Un’s direction on June 13,” he said.

June 25 kicks off an entire “anti-American struggle” month that ends on July 27, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice, which North Korea calls “Victory Day.”

He said that Kim Jong Un ordered that this year’s anti-American struggle month be filled with events commemorating the war to whip up an anti-American atmosphere.

“Each party and labor group will continue to hold gatherings on stories related to the 6.25 War, watch movies and visit the anti-espionage struggle exhibition hall and the class education center until July 27, which is the Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War,” he said, adding that students will participate in Korean War-themed writing and art contests.

The event for the 73rd anniversary of the Korean War last year was only one hour long, so people are complaining that they had to do so much this year, the official said.

For years, authorities promised that once North Korea had nuclear capabilities, a “flowery path will unfold, and tailwinds will blow for our people’s future,” he said. 

Now that North Korea has nuclear weapons, though, the narrative has shifted. It’s the fault of Washington that living standards in North Korea are still so low.

“Residents are complaining that they are talking about the U.S. and its imperialist plans these days,” he said.

Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.