The state-controlled newspapers here carry daily accounts of the leader’s activities, which mostly involve receiving gifts and congratulations for the 60th anniversary. There is no public indication of anything amiss. If anything, Pyongyang appears more festive than usual, with the film festival underway and nightly performances at Kim Il Sung Stadium by North Korea’s famous gymnasts.

It appears that ordinary people haven’t heard the reports of Kim being ill, and that the few who have are in denial. The official line of the ruling Workers’ Party is that the reports of ill health are a Western conspiracy, “spread by evil people who want to break up unity between the Koreas,” as Foreign Ministry official Hyon Hak Bong told reporters last week.

“Without President Kim Jong Il, we can’t think about our country,” said tour guide Oh in a calmer moment.