A. V. POGADAEVA Russian State University for the Humanities, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University Keywords: North Korea, "Day of the Sun", Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, kimirsenhwa, kimjongirhwa On April 15, 2013, at the height of the latest crisis on the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang celebrated the "Day of the Sun" - the 101st anniversary of the birth of the "founding father" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Il Sung. As it turned out, this holiday was the beginning of the de-escalation of the conflict on the peninsula*. The impressions of an eyewitness of such a holiday - a teacher of Korean language and literature A.V. Pogadaeva-are interesting. We, members of the MSU delegation, immediately felt the strangeness, even uniqueness, of the upcoming trip in Beijing, where we transferred to the plane of the North Korean airline Goryeo. The plane was packed: Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, and even Europeans were among the passengers. We were given magazines in various languages, including Russian, which told about the happy life of North Koreans, and a feature film about the everyday life of the working people was shown on the TV screen. Upon arrival in Pyongyang, the delegation was met by Comrade Lee, who was assigned to accompany us. She escorted our delegation to the bus, and we went to the hotel "Kore", located in the heart of the capital. I stared out the window, trying not to miss a single detail. Residential buildings, people rushing to work, trams, a few cars. It was immediately obvious that the city was preparing for a big holiday. Banners with slogans were hung, pavements were washed, flowers were planted in flower beds. At the hotel, we were given a very rich program of our visit, and we were also asked to hand over our mobile phones, which were returned to us when we left the country. Contrary to what I had heard, during our journey we were allowed to leave the hotel alone and walk around the streets without hindr ... Читать далее