North Korea flower festival marks Kim Jong Il’s birth anniversary

A flower festival is being held in central Pyongyang to mark the 74th birth anniversary of former DPRK leader Kim Jong Il. The Kimjongilia Festival, is named after Kim Jong Il, who was born on Feb. 16 in the early 1940s. Kim is the father of current DPRK leader Kim Jong Un. He ruled the country for 17 years before his death in 2011. The late Kim’s birthday is known as the Day of the Shining Star and is one of the country’s most important holidays. The Kimjongilia is a hybrid cultivar of tuberous begonia