North Koreans have been banned from laughing, drinking and other leisure activities as part of an 11-day commemoration for Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il’s 10th death anniversary. “During the mourning period, we must not drink alcohol, laugh or engage in leisure activities,” a resident of the northeastern city of Sinuiju told Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) Korean Service. People have also been barred from grocery shopping on the exact day of Kim Jong Il’s death on December 17.

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“In the past many people who were caught drinking or being intoxicated during the mourning period were arrested and treated as ideological criminals. They were taken away and never seen again,” the source told RFA.

“Even if your family member dies during the mourning period, you are not allowed to cry out loud and the body must be taken out after it’s over. People cannot even celebrate their own birthdays if they fall within the mourning period.”

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Kim Jong Un appeared in his trademark black leather trench coat Friday to pay tributes as a siren blared for three minutes and North Koreans fell silent and bowed in respect for Kim Jong Il. Cars, trains and ships blew their horns, national flags were lowered to half-staff and masses of people climbed Pyongyang’s Mansu Hill to lay flowers and bow before giant statues of Kim Jong Il, his father and North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung.

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Senior North Korean official Choe Ryong Hae called Kim Jong Il “the parent of our people,” and said his reign had boosted the country’s “strategic status.” 

The totalitarian nation’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper published articles in praise of Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Il’s 17-year rule was marked by a deadly famine in the 1990s and international isolation over his nuclear ambitions, which have since been pursued by his son in defiance of sanctions.

(With AP inputs)