Today is Kim Jong-un's birthday — so why aren't North Koreans celebrating?

The cult of personality surrounding Kim Jong-un is one of the defining features of North Korean life, so you’d be forgiven for thinking the supreme leader’s birthday would be marked by elaborate state celebrations.

Yet, today is believed to be Kim’s 34th birthday — but, from inside the country, you would hardly know it.

Since he came to power in 2011, the dictator’s birthday has been celebrated quietly — in sharp contrast to his predecessors.

His late father Kim Jong-il’s birthday was known as the Day of the Shining Star, while his grandfather Kim Il Sung’s birthday was celebrated as the Day of the Sun.

But Kim is deeply secretive — even his age is not officially known — and this year his birthday was not even not included in the state’s official 2018 calendar.

However, some have speculated that the omission is down to a backlash over economic sanctions imposed following last year’s missile test.

“International sanctions, especially those instituted after the 6th nuclear test in September, have caused a lot of hardship for workers, with many losing their jobs as a result of the gradual slowing of coal exports.

“So public opinion of Kim Jong-un has dropped to a new low,” a source told the Daily NK news site.

“As the government pushes propaganda about its nuclear and missile development while even the more successful merchants are losing jobs and going hungry this year, people would only ridicule Kim Jong-un if they saw his birthday had been made a holiday.”

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In 2014, American basketball star Dennis Rodman sang Happy Birthday to Kim after a match in Pyongyang.

Kim was reportedly born in Pyongyang in 1983, becoming supreme leader of North Korea in 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.

Last year, the country undertook 16 missiles tests as well as a sixth nuclear test, which was the most powerful yet.

The tests sparked a diplomatic crisis after Kim and Donald Trump engaged in a war of words.

Last week, Kim warned the US that he has a nuclear button on his desk at all times, prompting the US president to brag about the size of his arsenal.

“North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times’, Trump tweeted.

“Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

In the speech, Kim warned Trump his country’s nuclear forces were now “completed”.