At around 17:30 on December 19, 2011, hundreds of magpies appeared from nowhere and hovered over a statue of President Kim Il Sung on Changdok School campus in Mangyongdae District, clattering as if they were telling him the sad news.

At around 15:00 that day, tens of magpies flew to a pine wood in the compound of the Myongchon Area Coal Mining Complex and stayed there, clattering for more than two hours.

Magpies were also seen around a tower to the immortality of the President in the Taeyu Workers' District in Tongchang County, North Phyongan Province on the same day.

At around 06:30 next day, more than a hundred magpies suddenly gathered over a mosaic portraying Kim Jong Il in Sinphung-ri in Jasong County, Jagang Province, clattering for more than 30 minutes.

At around 09:00 the same day, more than sixty magpies flew to pine-nut trees around a monument to the revolutionary activities of the peerlessly great persons in Samchon-ri, Phyongsan County, North Hwanghae Province.