On Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un turned 33, but unlike the loud birthday parades held for his father and grandfather, the young Kim's big day will likely be a quieter affair in comparison.
For one, his birthday is marked as a normal weekday, and hasn't been declared a national holiday, unlike Kim Il-sung's on April 15 and Kim Jong-il's on Feb. 16.
Jean Lee, former AP Pyongyang bureau chief who now teaches North Korean studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, told Mashable that Kim Jong-un's birthday will likely to be celebrated quietly and unofficially on Friday.
"I should note that the birthdays of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il were made national holidays later in their lives, and it's still quite early in Kim Jong-un's reign, and he's still a young man," she said.
According to reports, Kim, who rose to power in 2012, has marked his birthday in previous years by handing out sweets to children the day before, in the tradition of his predecessors.
Instead, the media fanfare will be turned toward this week's big announcement that the country managed to detonate its first hydrogen bomb. Various governments have expressed skepticism that it was in fact a hydrogen bomb, and guessed that it was perhaps a less powerful traditional nuclear bomb, but North Korea will amp up the hydrogen bomb propaganda to its people.
The hydrogen bomb test, which was declared a success on national TV on Wednesday, "will become the catchphrase in banners, signs and posters that will go up across the country in the months to come," Lee said.
This is an old postcard celebrating the previous nuclear tests, which North Korea continues to maintain are necessary against the U.S.'s arsenal:
A photo posted by Jean Lee (@newsjean) on Feb 27, 2013 at 7:33am PST
The country has often trotted out its military equipment during lavish parades for the elder Kims' birthdays.
