Just like most people across the globe, North Koreans celebrated the end of 2016 and have now returned back to work.
New Year based on the world's most widely used Gregorian calendar is a "foreign" holiday for Korea. Until 1896, before the country adopted the common calendar, Koreans celebrated the beginning of the New Year according to the traditional lunisolar calendar — the holiday usually coincided with Gregorian late January or the first half of February. These days, Koreans have decided to celebrate both New Year's Days.
Gregorian New Year has become one of the main non-ideological holidays in DPRK; however, there is still an obligatory tradition to lay flowers at the nearest monument to Kim Il-Sung or any other member of his family.
A girl flies a kite as North Koreans come out to mark the start of 2017 on New Year's Day in Pyongyang, North Korea, on January 1, 2017.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
A North Korean traffic police woman dressed in winter uniform stands on duty at a road intersection in Pyongyang, North Korea, on January10, 2017.
A propaganda troupe performs before the Arch of Triumph on the last day of the 200-day campaign in Pyongyang, North Korea, on December 15, 2016.
North Koreans walk before statues of former presidents Kim Il-Sung (L) and Kim Jong-Il (R) at the Mansu Hill Grand Monument on New Year's Day in Pyongyang on January 1, 2017.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
Pedestrians walk across an overhead bridge while others walk and some ride on an electric trolley at the end of a work day in Pyongyang, North Korea, on January 11, 2017.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
North Koreans ride on an electric trolley at the end of a work day on January 9, 2017, in Pyongyang, where the winter season has started.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
North Korean men and children make their way past a residential building in Chollima district on January 7, 2017, in Nampo, a city and seaport located on the west coast of North Korea.
Participants attend a mass rally in Pyongyang on January 5, 2017 in honor of tasks set forth by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un following his New Year address to the nation.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
Seen through a car windscreen, a North Korean man crosses a major road as the sun sets at the end of a work day on January 10, 2017, in Pyongyang.
Participants march during a procession following a mass rally in Pyongyang on January 5, 2017, in honor of tasks set forth by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un following his New Year address to the nation.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
North Koreans walk along a pathway in downtown Pyongyang on January 11, 2017.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
North Korean women push their bicycles across a train track in Chollima district on January 7, 2017, in Nampo, North Korea.
Schoolgirls skip rope as North Koreans come out to mark the start of 2017 on New Year's Day in Pyongyang on January 1, 2017.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
North Koreans gather at a square on Chollima district on January 7, 2017, in Nampo, North Korea.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
People walk along a road as the sun rises at the start of their work day on January 6, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
North Koreans cycle and walk, while some push carts as they make their way around Chollima district on January 7, 2017, in Nampo, North Korea.
Fireworks light up the sky over Kim Il Sung Square at midnight in Pyongyang, North Korea, to bring in New Year's Day on January 1, 2017.
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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E
A North Korean man rides his electric bicycle along the Taedong River bank at the end of a work day on January 6, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea.
