Birthday Turns Into Memorial for NKorean Leader Two months after the death of Kim Jong Il, North Koreans commemorated what would have been his 70th birthday Thursday with the flowers that bear his name, along with songs and art praising him as a powerful but benevolent father figure. As the sun rose above frigid Pyongyang, North Koreans began arriving at Kim Il Sung Square, the main plaza in the capital city, to leave red "kimjongilia" begonias and other flowers at a portrait of the longtime leader hanging on the Grand People's Study House. The veneration of Kim has accelerated in recent weeks, but festivities were expected to be muted in light of his Dec. 17 death of a heart attack, which plunged the nation into mourning and propelled his young son into the seat of power just three years after he was anointed his father's successor. The leadership has emphasized Kim's legacy while praising his son, Kim Jong Un, as the only choice to lead this socialist nation of 24 million. Composers have crafted new odes to Kim Jong Il, while sculptors have chiseled slogans honoring him into the sides of mountains. His birthday was renamed "Day of the Shining Star," and this week he was accorded a new title: Generalissimo. Last month, top leaders of the Workers' Party announced that his body would lie in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang's outskirts, where his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, already lies in state. Workers fanned out across the city this week to spruce up Pyongyang, though there were no indications that a major party was being planned. Workers crouched over frozen flower beds, chipping at the ice to plant flowers made of fabric. By Wednesday, the red flag of the Workers' Party and the red, white and blue flag of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - North Korea's formal name - fluttered from posts. Posters and banners honoring the Day of the Shining Star brightened up buildings and sidewalks. Women donned shimmering traditional Korean dresses in a rainbow of colors for special concerts and exhibitions staged in Kim Jong Il's honor. People hurried down streets carrying plastic bouquets of four favorite flowers: red kimjongilia begonias, fuchsia kimilsungia orchids, and the pink and lavender azaleas favored by Kim Jong Il's mother. On Tuesday, the nation's top political and military leaders assembled to watch the unveiling of the first bronze statue of Kim Jong Il. The sculpture, built at Kim Jong Un's request, depicts Kim Jong Il in his younger years astride a rearing horse with his father, also on horseback, at his side. Portraits of Kim Jong Il show him smiling beatifically, and a stamp issued following his death captures him sharing a laugh with Kim Jong Un. Those images are replicated across Pyongyang in huge portraits hanging at the People's Palace of Culture, a flower exhibition featuring his kimjongilia begonias and at a book fair at the Grand People's Study House. It's an image that contrasts with Kim Jong Il in his later years, as he reportedly recovered from a stroke and battled chronic illness. He often appeared in public wearing a heavy parka and dark sunglasses. Kim's era included some of the country's toughest periods, including a famine in the 1990s and protracted tensions over the nation's drive to build nuclear weapons.