Return to *North Korean Studies*

Anecdotes about Kim Il-sung

He then proposed a toast to those who fell in the struggle for the country's reunification. The officials could not keep back their tears, deeply moved by his warm love for his revolutionary soldiers and ardent desire for national reunification.
 

Pyongyang, November 5 (KCNA) -- It was in April Juche 66 (1977) that President Kim Il Sung was giving on-the-spot guidance to coal mines in Kaechon area. Officials ardently hoped that he would go back to Pyongyang to spend his birthday, April 15. On the evening of April 14, they told him it was time to leave for Pyongyang. But he said how could he celebrate his birthday now when he was very busy. He also said he would stay there for work, while taking a rest, and that increased production of coal would be just a good rest for him. So, Kim Il Sung spent his 65th birthday at the production site of a coal mine together with workers.

Pyongyang, October 29 (KCNA) -- It was in autumn of a year in the 1970s that a delegation came to Korea from an African country where a national liberation struggle was going on. Arriving in Pyongyang, the guests earnestly asked officials concerned to arrange their meeting with President Kim Il Sung during their stay in Korea. The officials, however, were afraid that they could not be granted an audience with him because he was in a local area for field guidance. Learnt about the fact, the president told an official by telephone to bring them to him. He said that out of sense of obligation, he should meet the guests, who came a long way. The night already advanced. When the official found no word to say, the president told the official that there was nothing to worry about him and he would wait for them. So, the wish of the guests came true.

Pyongyang, October 23 (KCNA) -- It happened in mid-march Juche 48 (1959) when President Kim Il Sung visited a factory of honoured disabled soldiers in North Hamgyong Province. While acquainting himself with the living conditions of disabled soldiers and their families, he met a widow of a fallen soldier and took measures to send her children to an academy for studying. Before leaving the factory, he invited all the disabled soldiers and their families and other employees of the factory to have a picture taken with him. He told the disabled soldiers to take seats next to their spouses and chose their seats. But the woman hesitated to take a seat. Seeing her in an awkward position, he told her to take a seat next to him to pose for a photo. She was so impressed by his meticulous loving care that she could not keep back her tears.
 

Pyongyang, October 16 (KCNA) -- It happened on October 9, Juche 34 (1945) when President Kim Il Sung was going to the then Kangson Steel Works. The Mangyongdae, his native place, was not far from the way to Kangson. Though nearly a month passed after his triumphal return, the president had no chance to visit his hometown. So officials thought that he would visit his old home on his way to Kangson. When the car reached the fork near Mangyongdae, he told the driver to stop the car. He got out of the car and took a view of his native place for a while. He then told his adjutant to go to Mangyongdae instead of him. The adjutant recommended him to pay a short visit to Mangyongdae. But the president left for Kangson to give a field guidance to the steel works, saying he would drop in at his old home another time. After exchanging first greetings with the Korean people through his triumphal speech afterwards, he visited his old home he had missed so much for two decades.

Pyongyang, October 8 (KCNA) -- President Kim Il Sung visited a farm machine plant just before its commissioning in Juche 44 (1955). Making a round of the production processes of the plant, the president said to an official accompanying him to put off its commissioning. He said that officials were not bold, the plant was too small to mechanize the rural economy and it would be better to expand the plant twice before its commissioning. The official was surprised because he thought that the plant was large in its scale in the light of the actual conditions of the country. Three years later the president visited the expanded plant in October 1958 and put forward the task to produce 5,000 tractors a year. At last officials realized his intention.

It happened in Juche 49 (1960) when the construction of Okryu bridge was completed. The constructors asked the president to write the calligraphic sign board of the bridge. According to the repeated petitions of the constructors the president wrote "Okryugyo" with a writing brush in India ink at a breath. Looking it for a while, the president said to officials to bring it to professionals for correction. The officials concerned invited an old man who had a profound knowledge of calligraphy and requested him to correct it without saying who wrote it.
After studying it, he rose up from the seat and politely said: "I have never seen such a wonderful calligraphy. It was written by a great man. It is not proper for me to correct it." When the officials requested another calligrapher, he also said same words.

Pyongyang, April 5 (KCNA) -- One day of April, Juche 78 (1989), two white magpies perched on a branch of a pine tree in the garden of the Kumsusan Assembly Hall at which President Kim Il Sung was working. It was rare to be seen in Korea in more than 500 years. When an official came out with a movie camera the two birds flew away. The President told him that they would surely fly back again. In the afternoon two days after the magpies flew in the garden as he predicted. They were photographed so that all the people of the country might see them. 

On the evening of a spring day the president visited a farm village on the outskirts of Pyongyang. He saw women drawing water from a well after their work. Considerate of their trouble, he told officials of the farm that a water-supply system should be established in the village. Later, he visited the village again and learned that water works had not yet been built because a spring was not found. He said: Let us find out it together. He looked round topography around the village before going to an ascent of a valley not far from the village together with officials of the farm. He looked around and pointed to a spot, telling them to dig there. When they dug the spot, marvelously a fountain of water gushed out. The villagers have since been freed from trouble over water. 

One day of may, Juche 70 (1981) the president got aboard a ship once to fix a site of the west sea barrage, which was a difficult matter in the project. The site he appointed was the point where water flowing from the sea and the River Taedong converged. Experts were moved to see a line of distinction between clear water of the sea and muddy water of the River Taedong. There were favorable geological conditions at the bottom of the sea and phi islet standing in the center of the sea. So it was easy to dam off a lot of water flowing from the river with the islet as a strongpoint. At this most suitable site the west sea barrage was built in a matter of five years, demonstrating the might of the DPRK. 

Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- There was nothing but an iron bed in a bedroom and a round table in a drawing room in President Kim Il Sung's lodging quarters right after the liberation of the country in august 1945. So, one day his aide bought a new bed, a desk and a carpet from a furniture shop to refurbish his rooms. Seeing the newly furbished rooms back to the quarters late at night, the president spoke to him in a serious tone that no one should exceed the people's living standard as they have not yet got rid of poverty although the country was liberated. His lodging quarters thus remained as simply furnished as before.

It was early in Juche 40 (1951) when the grim fatherland liberation war was at its height. The president had a meal with his uncle who came to see him after a long separation. Bowls of cooked millet and soup and a small bowl of Kimchi were all they had. After coming back home the uncle ground with all his care rice he had been keeping for an emergency use and sent it to the supreme headquarters with a letter carrying his earnest request to serve Kim Il Sung with boiled rice. But the president sent it to an army clinic near the supreme headquarters. It was a maxim of his life that he can not take rice when the people are fighting against the Yankees, tightening their belts. 

In spring in Juche 80 (1991) officials were going to repave roads in the compound of the Kumsusan Assembly Hall where the president was working. There were many cracks on the roads as it was a long time since they were paved. However, the president did not approve of the plan. After a deep thought, the officials decided to pave them during his field guidance to local areas. Upon learning this, the president reprimanded them, saying that he would be very pleased to walk even rugged roads only if the people would be able to lead an affluent life. He told them to stop the plan and pave one more mountain road leading to school instead. He walked the cracked roads till the last days of his life. 

Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- President Kim Il Sung was presiding over a cabinet session in January Juche 46 (1957). He asked an official which part of the state budget included educational aid fund and stipends for sons and daughters of Korean residents in Japan. The official told him that financial situation was so difficult that it would be involved in an extraordinary plan of foreign currency. At that time a large amount of money was needed to catapult the economy which was devastated during the war. The president earnestly told the official that money should be continuously sent to Koreans toiling in an alien land for education of their children even though one or two factories were not built. A new item "educational aid fund and stipends for sons and daughters of Korean residents in Japan" has since been put in the state budget. 

One day in October Juche 52 (1963) a woman came to a unit of the people's army where her daughter was serving. Upon hearing this news, the president called the girl soldier and told her that her mother came to see her in military uniform and they might look round the city next day and that he would take a lunch with them. Under his loving care she went on a trip to her hometown according to an itinerary made by him. 

There is another anecdote about his noble personality. Early in February Juche 45 (1956) he went to a mine. He first dropped in at a nursery of the mine and learned about the actual condition. It was not long after the end of the war, so that hygienic and cultural conditions of the nursery were not so good. He admonished the officials not to boast of the mine's big prospect only but to value children who would shoulder the future of the mine. He instructed the officials to change the newly built office rooms of the party committee into the nursery. Therefore, the bright and vast office rooms were turned into a nursery.

Pyongyang, March 19 (KCNA) -- Over 102,000 won was paid to President Kim Il Sung by the Wonhwa Cooperative Farm, Phyongwon county, South Phyongan Province in November, Juche 82 (1993) as his share of distribution in cash for ten years. He exerted all his efforts for the prosperity and agricultural development on the farm for about 40 years as its honorary member. The farm decided to save his every-year-share of distribution in cash equivalent to the average share of a farmer from Juche 72 (1983). Informed of this, he said that he became rich and would like to give the farm a treat. After personally calculating the prices of farm machines, he bought several tractors and trucks for the farm. In this way the money he received from the farm was sent back to it. 

One day of May, Juche 63 (1974) some operators of transplanting machines were seen working hard to finish their job in the remaining patch of a paddy field in south Hwanghae Province though darkness was setting in. On seeing them on the way of on-the-spot guidance, he told his chauffeur to stop the car and throw headlight on the machines, saying that they were still at work despite darkness. When they ran close to the kind man to express their thanks to him, they were greatly excited to find that it was the president who was standing by the car. That day the president did not leave there until he saw them finish the work. 

Right after the liberation of the country (August 15, 1945), he visited a peasant house in Anchan-ri, Sijung county, to learn about his living conditions. The peasant was too poor to afford to buy a farm implement to speak of. His heart went out to him. Saying that he would like to take with him six mountain birds hunted by his children, he paid a lot of money for them. The money was enough for the peasant to buy an ox to realize his strong wish to till the land with his own ox. 

Pyongyang, March 12 (KCNA) -- After the liberation of the country President Kim Il Sung lived in an old one-storied house with several windows and thin walls. So it was hard to keep the house warm despite a lot of effort to heat its floor. When officials tried to stoke an extra fire, the president dissuaded them from doing so. He used to work at dawn with an overcoat on his shoulders just as he did while fighting on mountains. One day in mid-November Juche 36 (1947), the third winter after the liberation of the country, officials installed a small electric heater in his house. Upon seeing that, he told the officials to take it back, if they were truly concerned for him, saying that an electric heater installed in the house at a time when the electricity was in short supply in the country might keep the house warm but could not please him. So the officials were compelled to take it back. 

It happened one day in November Juche 39 (1950) when the temporary strategic retreat of the Korean People's Army was made. While inspecting its unit, he learned that soldiers of the unit slaughtered an ox. As far as the ox was concerned, it was one of the several oxen whose owner was unknown with which the soldiers took while retreating. One of his legs was broken. But he regarded it as an "emergency case". He made sure that a servicepersons' meeting was held to struggle against absolute ideas, saying that not a single ox would remain alive if we slaughtered oxen under this or that pretext, while the enemy was slaughtering them and eating beef as they pleased. Upon coming back to the supreme headquarters, he issued a telegraph order of the supreme commander that night to the combined units to strictly ban the ox slaughter. 

There is another anecdote about the president. It happened on January 20, Juche 41 (1952). He received an official of the ministry of public health who asked him for not a small amount of money in a report sent to him as regards measures to be taken against the barbaric germ warfare committed by the u.s. imperialists. The official felt very sorry for causing anxiety to the president who was shouldering upon himself the heavy burden of the war. But the president took a step to provide necessary funds, saying that there is nothing to spare for the good of the people. Upon learning about the medical fees paid by people in those days, he earnestly told officials to enforce free health care, saying that there was nothing more valuable than the people's life though the conditions of the country were hard. Decision no. 203 of the cabinet "on enforcing the universal free medical care" was thus released on November 13, Juche 41 (1952). 

Pyongyang, March 5 (KCNA) -- President Kim Il Sung visited the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School on December 14, Juche 47 (1958). Also there were 50 children from the Nampho Revolutionary School who dropped in at it after visiting Mangyongdae. The president posed for photographs with pupils of the two schools and appreciated an art performance and had meals with them. Before leaving the school he was so kind as to ask them if they had any request. A girl from the Nampho Revolutionary School asked him, taking his hand, to visit her school, too, adding that it was the ardent wish of all the teaching staff and pupils of the school. The president accepted her request with pleasure and visited the school a week later to keep the promise he had given to pupils. 

One day in November Juche 60 (1971) the president went to the Sariwon chicken farm. Pointing at chicks at a chick house he asked a breeding girl how old they were and what was their growth rate. The girl, tardy to answer, told him in a low tone that the growth rate was 97 per cent. A farm official told the president that she raised the rate to nearly 100 per cent though it was 60 per cent in the first year of the 3 years of her work. Very pleased to hear that, the president repeatedly praised her. He even spared time to have a photograph taken with her and other officials against the background of the chick house. 

There is another anecdote about him. On May 10, Juche 47 (1958) he took the tribune of a mass rally held on Hyesan square during his on-site guidance to Ryanggang Province. Two first-year girls of the primary school presented him with bouquets. After making his speech he invited the two girls to get on his car. He had a pleasant conversation with them asking their names, ages and birthdays and had photographs taken with them. Later he, recalling the name of a girl and reminding an official that tomorrow will be her birthday, told him to send two photos to her that day so that she might receive them on her birthday. The girl was greatly excited to receive the precious photos on her birthday. 

Pyongyang, February 26 (KCNA) It happened one day of may in Juche 53 (1964) when President Kim Il Sung's car reached a railway cross in Jagang Province on his field guidance. A passenger train was seen standing nearby. It was known later that the railway watch signalled to the train for a stop as he saw the president's to appear on the highway. Upon learning this, he said in a strong tone that all cars should be subject to the railway rules and no one was allowed to stop a train as he pleased. He did not let his car drive across the railway cross till the train passed it. 

In the early morning of a May Day of Juche 81 (1992) the president left Pyongyang for Kaesong on field guidance. When he reached a point not far from Kaesong, the president told the chauffeur to stop the car and proposed to have a brief rest and breakfast. Officials who accompanied him were at a loss what to do because he and his entourage were supposed to have a breakfast in the city. Guessing their embarrassment, the president told them not to worry as he had made sure that breakfast boxes were prepared. Then he asked his aide to give a box to each, adding it is good for them to spare time and not to cause any trouble to Kaesong citizens. He continued his journey after taking boiled rice and some seasoned greens.

There is another anecdote about his noble personality. It happened on march 13, Juche 47 (1958) when he dropped in at a department store during his field guidance. He paused before a socks counter and asked to buy a pair of cotton socks. A salesgirl hesitated to give him poor quality socks, a product of a local industrial factory. Guessing her awkward position, the president said that was why he wanted to try them on. The president bought the socks, adding why he should not wear the socks while people were using them. 

Pyongyang, February 21 (KCNA) -- There is a moving story about Phyongnam irrigation project. President Kim Il Sung dropped in at a rural village in South Phyongan Province to spend a night during his long journey of on-site guidance soon after the liberation of the country (August 1945). In the night he sat knee to knee with farmers to learn about their farming and living conditions. In the midst of the talk, a farmer burst into cough and many others followed him one after another. They were troubled with coughs and their flushed, tear-stained and distorted faces made others painful to see the president took close to heart the fact that they were suffering from an endemic disease as they drank standing water. He hardened his determination at once to start a project to admit water from other region. Thus beginning was the Phyongnam irrigation project to water the vast plains and farmers in the coastal area in the central part of the country. 

It was in autumn Juche 49 (1960) that the president saw a new apple tree planted in the garden around his house and asked officials where they brought it from. Upon hearing that they brought it from Kwail county, he instructed them to bring it back and plant it again in the orchard. He admonished the officials for uprooting the apple tree grown up by farmers with perspiration, saying that the orchard farm is a precious treasure to be handed down to the rising generations. The apple tree was replaced. 

There is another anecdote about him. It was on March 13, Juche 76 (1987). The president cancelled his plan to go to the Kum Song General Tractor Works and called a consultative meeting of leading officials in the field of machine industry. At the meeting he told the officials that he cancelled his plan to go to the works this morning because he heard that workers were working at the works with no heating. He reprimanded the officials for their irresponsible manner of work, saying how he could put on a fur cap and a woollen overcoat to go to meet the workers working at the work place where temperature was below zero. He saw to it that a measure was taken to provide heating to their working place. It was only once in his lifetime that he cancelled his plan for pleasant on-site guidance. 

Pyongyang, February 28 (KCNA) -- It happened on October 2, Juche 66 (1977). Leader Kim Jong Il visited a new funfair built in the Taesongsan pleasure ground. He had modern amusement facilities operated and personally got on each of them, giving instructions for a long while as regards the management and operation of the funfair. Officials dissuaded him from getting on the fast revolving and perilous amusement facilities, but he said how they could tell children to ride on the facilities before they had a try at riding. He confirmed the safety of a jet coaster, a mad mouse and all others till late evening before leaving the funfair.

It happened on one Sunday of May in Juche 76 (1987) that Kim Jong Il visited the construction site of apartment houses in Puksae Street (now An Sang Thaek Street) in Pyongyang which was nearing completion. After looking round the street along which modern buildings rose after the disappearance of small and humble one-story houses, he spoke highly of what was done by builders. That day officials told him their intention to distribute some of the apartment houses to state officials as the houses were built by the state in good places with much effort. He said that those houses were what he had promised to people in Puksae-dong and so no one should be allowed to move into them as one pleased. He added that the evacuees from the dong had a lot of inconvenience in living with other families for years and that the construction of the houses should be completed quickly so that they might live in them. Some days after, all the evacuated families moved into new flats, each with three or four rooms, on the same day.  

There is another anecdote. One day of July in Juche 65 (1976) he visited a hot spring in Ryanggang Province. He felt the temperature of the water and taught how to build a modern sanatorium and a resort there. At that moment a train heavily loaded with timber passed through the centre of the village, giving a shrill whistle. He said that the train might disturb treatment at the sanatorium to be built and so the railway track should be removed even though they had to drive a tunnel through a mountain. Thus a vast project to remove the railway track was carried out for the sanatorium to be built. 

Pyongyang, February 14 (KCNA) -- The world progressives today are highly praising and revering leader Kim Jong Il as the sun of the 21st century. Only part of the anecdotes about him is introduced here on the occasion of the February holiday, his birthday. It was June Juche 66 (1977). Kim Jong Il, feeling tired from his several days of trip for on-site guidance, took an about 10-minute sleep in his car. An official asked him to have more rest as he sat up. He told the official that he takes a short sleep on the back seat when he gets drowsy doing a mountain of work. He said that the short and uncomfortable sleep is a sweet one which sleeps off one's fatigue in the main, adding that he likes the short and uncomfortable sleep best. 

More often than not he had rice balls as his meals on the way of his field-guidance. At a meal time he made sure that a rice ball stuffed with dried radish, pickled cucumber and pacific sand launce was distributed to everyone who accompanied him. Asking officials how it tasted, he used to say that the rice ball was best for a long journey as it is easy and takes little time to prepare the food and cause no trouble to officials and villagers in local areas. He has always taken rice balls with pleasure, saying that they are ideal meals for revolutionaries during their trips. 

There is another anecdote about his simplicity. It was one night in mid-December last year. An official was surprised to see an unusual scene. Kim Jong Il was seated on an office chair at the entrance of his lodging to have his hair cut because he was working day and night, while providing ceaseless field guidance. The official asked him why he was having a haircut on an inconvenient seat late at night. He told the official that he could not spare time for the haircut as he was expected to go to meet workers early in next morning, adding that he was fond of field life. 

Pyongyang, February 6 (KCNA) -- One day in August Juche 64 (1975) President Kim Il Sung received the managing editor of the news agency of a country on a visit to the DPRK and arranged a luncheon for him. At the luncheon he asked about the issues on industry, agriculture, mining industry and other sectors of the national economy. The president cited concrete examples to answer his questions. He was struck with admiration at the immense erudition of the president. With a light smile on his face the president warmly said that the popular masses taught all the knowledge to him, he can learn much from among them, and they are his teacher. 

One day in March Juche 47 (1958) the president called the then chairman of the construction commission to ask him when Taedong bridge no. 2 was to be built under the Pyongyang city construction plan. He told the president that it would be built from Juche 50 (1961) owing to shortage of funds. The president knew it before asking it. He earnestly said that though we were undergoing difficulties, we should speed up the construction of Taedong bridge no. 2 for the convenience of citizens in traffics and step up the preparations to start its construction. And he personally chose the bridge site, formed the building forces and named the bridge. It is Okryu bridge whose construction was completed in Juche 49 (1960). 

It happened in January Juche 59 (1970) when a new street was being built in Pyongyang. One day the president telephoned an official of the project headquarters and asked him if he set out on the construction. He told the president that full preparations had been made for a ground-breaking but he had not started the construction in real earnest owing to the delay of the moving of households from the one-storied dwelling houses. The president said that moving of the households in so cold winter as now would cause great inconvenience to the people and the ground-breaking for a new street should be postponed to spring. He never allowed the slightest inconvenience for the people. 

Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- It happened on October 8, Juche 51 (1962) when the elections of deputies to the third Supreme People's Assembly took place in the DPRK. That day President Kim Il Sung was supposed to go to an election district to vote together with workers. Before leaving, he asked his aide if he took the president's certificate of citizenship with him. On hearing that it was not with him, the president said that he, too, should abide by the law of the country as a citizen of the DPRK. And he told his aide to bring the certificate though it might cause a delay. When the aide came back, the president put the certificate into his inside pocket after carefully examining it. Upon reaching the voting place, he showed his certificate to officials there and received a voting card to vote.

Kim Il Sung looked around the inside of a small railway station in a mountain area at sunset of Feb. 6, Juche 52 (1963) when he was giving on-the-spot guidance. At that time, a table showing railway fares vertically written in Chinese characters was hanging on a wall there. He met the station-master and told him that the fares on the table should be written in Arabic figures horizontally to make it easy for the passengers to read the table. He left there after promising the master to come there again and see a new table. Early in the morning of the next day he visited the station again and saw the new table. Praising officials of the station for what they did, he instructed that all the railway stations should have such horizontally written tables. Later easily readable tables of railway fares appeared in all railway stations of the country. 

It happened when the president gave field guidance to Kaesong area on September 14, Juche 61 (1972). He asked officials there what was the special food of the area. None of them could give a correct answer to the questions repeatedly put by him in the course of the on-the-spot guidance. While visiting factories in the city he met old men who had lived there for years and found out that loach soup was a special food of the city. And he made sure that a new restaurant was built there to serve only loach soup to the customers. 

Contemporaries On Syngman Rhee: Was He Really a Red?

Balazs Press (Ulaanbaatar), 7 November 2001. In order to get a full picture about the personality of late South Korean president Syngman Rhee, our special correspondent resorted to traditional Mongolian magic so as to invoke the ghosts of Rhee's contemporaries. The interviewed ghosts summarized their opinion on Rhee as follows:

Yo Un-hyong : "He had me killed. On top of that, he could not even speak proper Korean."

Kim Ku : "He had me killed. Worse still, he had an Austrian wife."

Kim Il-sung : "He was a running dog of the American imperialists. Moreover, he had an Austrian wife."

Hodge : "That old bastard called me a Commie. In addition, he had a vicious Austrian wife."

Truman : "He did not listen to me. Fortunately, his nice Austrian wife kept us informed about his intrigues."

McCarthy : "Had I not died prematurely from alcohol poisoning, I would have revealed him as a Red agent. Everybody knows Marx was an Austrian-- and Rhee had an Austrian wife."

Chiang Kai Shek : "That guy did not accept that I was the No.1 anti-Communist in Asia. Needless to say, his wife was also much less beautiful than mine."

Mao Ze-dong : "Unfortunately, he had left China before Comrade Kang Sheng could have taken care of him. On the other hand, his wife was the sole woman on earth I never wanted to have an affair with."

Stalin : "Actually, I was grateful to him. He made even Kim Il-sung look good."

Anecdotes about Kim Il Sung

Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- One day in January, Juche 40 (1951) when the Fatherland Liberation War was at its height, General Kim Il Sung visited the kitchen of the guards unit all of a sudden. Lifting the pot lid, he asked them what they had as their meal. The guards answered as one that they had boiled rice with meat soup. Well aware of the country's conditions at that time, he reproached them for telling a lie. So a young guard told him that they had boiled rice mixed with other cereals and salty soup. From then on he made it part of his routine to visit the kitchen in the morning and the evening to acquaint himself with the diet of the guards. 

One year President Kim Il Sung came out to the spot to see a new type of mortar. he asked a soldier as if its barrel was not heavy. The soldier told him it is lighter than the old one. Saying that he would like to carry the barrel on his shoulder, the president asked the soldier to let him put it on his shoulder. The president walked along a dusty road, jerking the barrel on his shoulder or turning it. He did so to see if it was not inconvenient for the soldier to carry the barrel on his shoulder during the march. After walking some time with the barrel on his shoulder, the president instructed ordnance officials to make the barrel lighter. 

Japanese Super-Mole Revealed After 70 Years

Balazs Press (Budapest), 12 October 2001. Newly declassified documents from Hungarian military archives throw light to a spectacular feat of Japan's dreaded military police, the Kempei Tai. Often depicted as brainless and brutal thugs in movie films, the Kempei were, as the following story demonstrates, highly effective in infiltration and manipulation. 

Around 1930, Colonel XXX (name blackened out in the documents) launched an operation code-named SURYONG to recruit teenagers so as to infiltrate the Korean Communist movement through its youth organizations. Their best recruit was Agent YYY (original name blackened out in the documents), a 15-year-old boy from Pyongan-pukto. He quickly rose to the leadership to the local Communist youth organization, and kept informed the Kempei Tai about its subversive activities. Satisfied with his qualities, Colonel XXX ordered agent YYY to go to Manchuria in order to collect intelligence about the connections between the Chinese and Korean Communist guerrilla movements. Establishing himself as leader of a guerrilla group, YYY carried out his next operation with his usual dexterity. He sowed discord between the Chinese and Korean guerrillas, denouncing many Koreans as agents of the Minsaengdang. Thanks to the information received from him, the Kwangtung Army managed to crush the Communist guerrilla movement by 1940. That time, YYY was given the task of infiltrating Soviet military intelligence. 

As the Japanese armed forces were deeply divided over the issue whether the Soviet Union or the United States was the greater threat to Japanese national interests, Kempei Tai officers in favour of an attack on Mongolia and the Soviet Far East wanted to boost their cause with evidence about the aggressive intentions of the Soviet Union toward Japanese positions in Northeast Asia. Thus, Agent YYY was sent to the Soviet Union as a Communist guerrilla fleeing Japanese repression. There, he quickly gained the confidence of Stalin's NKVD, and became the No. 1 man among the Korean guerrillas.When WWII came to an end, the Kempei Tai realized that it would take years, if not decades, for Japan to regain its former influence in Northeast Asia. In order to gain time, the Kempei decided to thwart the efforts of Japan's main enemies (the United States, the Soviet Union and China) by establishing a viable and aggressively nationalist Korean state as a buffer zone. Instructed accordingly, YYY, once he rose to the leadership of the Communist party of North Korea, began to purge his pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese co-leaders one by one, a process that began as soon as 1950-51. 

The Korean War, usually blamed on Stalin, was actually planned by those diehard ex-Kempei who wanted to kill two birds with one stone: to facilitate Japanese economic recovery and to end US presence on the Korean peninsula which is often described as "a dagger pointed at Japan's heart". Though they did achieve their first aim, the second one was frustrated by Washington's unexpectedly strong reaction. Still, YYY could use the military defeat as a pretext to purge the Namnodang faction in the KWP. In the coming decade, he purged all the Communist leaders serving Chinese and/or Soviet interests, and prepared a reconciliation with Japan through the Japanese Communist Party and the Chochongryon. In this field, however, his efforts were sabotaged by the actions of another group of ex-Kempei officers. This second group, much less hostile toward Japanese big business than the founders of Sakurakai and Kodo-ha had been, favoured a strategy oriented toward a Japanese-South Korean alliance. Their own super-mole, (name blackened out in the original documents), had been trained at the Japanese military academy. Though he was nearly revealed by the Korean National Police in 1948, his cover was good enough to enable him to become South Korea's chief of state later. On the long run, however, YYY proved more successful. He recruited his own son as an agent (code-named ZZZ), and managed to install him as successor.   

Anecdotes about President Kim Il Sung

Pyongyang, January 21 (KCNA) -- President Kim Il Sung went to a residential district of workers in Chongjin city at dead of night with his aide early in June Juche 59 (1970) during his on-the-spot guidance to North Hamgyong Province. After getting off the car he walked up and down different places there to see which way the wind blew. He came back to his lodging house after a long while. When examining the master plan for the construction of Chongjin city next day he told officials of the city to reconfirm the way wind blew. Looking towards an industrial area of the city, he said that the residential district of the city was enveloped in smoke coming from factory chimneys when wind blew. He instructed the officials to make a radical switchover in the city construction plan. 

One day Kim Il Sung saw a rare hen in his garden. It looked like an ornamental hen with the lower part of its leg covered with long different coloured feathers. Seeing it with keen interest, he asked an official how many eggs the hen lays a year. On hearing from him that it lays about 80 eggs a year, the president said that he had no interest in that hen. He said he would come everyday to see any hen which lays many eggs even though it looked ugly. He earnestly told that there should be a hen capable of laying hundreds of eggs a year in order to supply more eggs to the people. 

While visiting a factory one hot summer day he stopped before a worker at welding. Hearing someone standing before him, the welder stopped working and rose to his feet, quite at a loss. When the president offered a handshake to him without reserve, appreciating what he has done, he stepped back hesitating to respond to it. But the president warmly shook the welder's hand, saying that there was no need for him to care as his hands were also stained with oil. 

Pyongyang, January 15 (KCNA) -- it happened one day during the korean war (1950-1953) when it was at its height. A foreign journalist visited the supreme command and asked for an interview with general Kim Il Sung. The journalist wished to know about the prospect of the war as the U.S. imperialists were carrying out a large-scale "new offensive" at that time. The journalist saw something quite different from what he had imagined when he entered the room of the general, guided by an official shortly afterward. 

The general was looking at something before an operation table and a soldier telling about something beside him. The journalist was surprised to hear from the official that the general was talking to the soldier expected to study in a foreign country for post-war rehabilitation. The journalist asked the official to permit him to leave the room without any word. The former said in an excited tone to the latter that he had already finished his news coverage. 

One day in Juche 47 (1958), President Kim Il Sung visited his uncle's house to meet his grandmother. At that time he asked about a new house near the house. An official told him that a new house was built for his uncle's family members as they had lived in an old one storeyed house. The president said in a serious tone that any property of the people and country should not be wasted for any private purpose and even his family should not be an exception. He instructed that the house should be used for other purpose. Officials had no alternative but to carry out his instruction. 

It happened in one winter day of Juche 39 (1950) when the general was on his return trip to the supreme command from his inspection of the front. The general told his chauffer to stop the car all of a sudden before a sentry post and got down from the car. The general approached the soldier on sentry duty and asked him if he could stand such a cold weather before closely examining his uniform. The conditions at that time were so hard and complicated that winter caps could not be supplied to the soldiers on time. The general told his adjutant to bring his own fur cap and gloves from the car and give them to the soldier. After a while, the sentry leader was quite surprised to see the soldier on duty wearing the supreme commander's cap when he came to him with others to relieve sentry. 

Pyongyang, November 28 (KCNA) -- President Kim Il Sung gave field guidance to Iap-ri, Jungsan county, South Phyongan Province, in October Juche 43 (1954).He was informed that scores of the family members and relatives of the chairman of the management board there were killed by the enemy during the Korean War. The aide told the president repeatedly that it was high time to leave. The president told the aide to put off his itinerary and take a rest in the chairman's house today. Saying that he felt reluctant to leave, he proposed to spend the night with the chairman to alleviate his painful heart. He conversed with the chairman in an ordinary peasant house for hours and consoled him before leaving there for the next day's field guidance 

One day in the autumn of Juche 51 (1962) the president found a shop no longer visible at a place in Pyongyang. In those days an institution was using it as a temporary office. Informed in detail of this, he told officials that an office could be shifted anywhere but the shop should remain there because its service was an urgent issue related to the people's living. The shop was thus reopened there. 

He visited again Okpho-ri, Changsong county, North Phyongan Province, in the summer of a year and attentively saw a new pavilion built there. At that time a senior official told him that the people in the county built the pavilion so that he might have even a short rest on his ceaseless trip for field guidance. Asking the official why they did such a thing and what would happen if such a pavilion was built wherever he went, the president advised him to think of what should be done to enable the people to be well off, instead of doing such useless things. Then he instructed the official to remove the pavilion at once.

Pyongyang, October 23 (KCNA) -- It happened in November, Juche 65 (1976) when President Kim Il Sung gave a field guidance to a fishery station. officials of the station told him that it was short of means for carrying fishes. At that time, the station had 20 fork-lift trucks. Watching a truck at work, the president said that its bucket seemed to be small in comparison with its horsepower. He said the problem of carriage would be solved if the bucket was enlarged. Afterwards the truck's bucket capacity increased to 2 tons from 800 kg. As a result, 20 trucks were capable of carrying the load to be done by 50 trucks.

It happened right after Ri Po Ik, grandmother of the president, passed away. Officials agreed to give to the press an obituary of Ri Po Ik and accord a public funeral to her for she dedicated all her descendents to the revolution and remained true to her firm constancy and devoted herself to it all her life. Informed of this, the president said that even his grandmother should not be made an exception in abiding by the state rules. He advised the officials repeatedly making requests to draw a clear distinction between the public and private affairs. So a simple funeral service was held by her family and relatives. 

One day in November, Juche 35 (1946), general Kim Il Sung dropped in at a farmer's house during his field guidance to South Phyongan Province and had a lunch there. Before leaving the house, he asked his aide whether he paid for the noodle. The aide said that he left for the journey in such a great hurry that he forgot to take money with him and he would certainly pay for it later. On hearing this, the general told him to drive the car and bring money while he would be waiting for him. When the aide was about to pay for the lunch after covering tens of km, the farmer refused to receive the money, saying how he could receive money from the general. At that time the general said that he should also pay for the lunch as he was one of those serving the people. He got on the car only after seeing the farmer to receive the money. 

Pyongyang, September 28 (KCNA) -- It happened on a summer day of Juche 44 (1955) when President Kim Il Sung called at his native home in Mangyongdae to inquire after his grandfather's health. That day, he was told by his relative that an institution sent the grandfather some wine several times as a medicine. He said there is no need to receive even wine as the state enforced a system of free medical care. The president said that he would send the grandfather medicinal wine in the future. in the subsequent period the president regularly sent it to his grandfather.

There is another anecdote about his doctor. The president always listened to his doctor's advices and met his requests. One day his doctor told him not to enter any place where there was gas during his field guidance, as he was aged. On hearing this, he said that he should not avoid the places full of dust or gas but inspect those places to indicate ways of clearing them. At that time even his doctor was at a loss for words.

It happened in July Juche 36 (1947) when Kim Il Sung visited Pyongyang Primary School no.2 at that time. Upon entering the school, he slowly walked toward its corridor. A schoolgirl on duty asked him to register his name on the visitor's book, unaware who he was. After writing about the person who he would like to meet and the purpose of his visit, etc. on the book, he put below that: "Chairman Kim Il Sung of the People's Committee of North Korea." It was not until that moment that the girl knew he was President Kim Il Sung. He praised her for her high sense of responsibility. 

Pyongyang, August 27 (KCNA) -- It happened in June Juche 64 (1975) when President Kim Il Sung visited an East European country. Learning that the president was well versed in agriculture, the leader of a political party in the country praised him as a veteran farmer. He asked the president when he got mastery of farming method. The president thanked him for describing him as such. He said that a statesman can pursue correct politics only when he becomes a good smelter at an iron works, a fisherman at sea and a veteran farmer on a farm.

There is another anecdote about a lot of cement saved. In May Juche 59 (1970) there arose an issue of paving with concrete tens of kilometers-long waterway as the construction of a power station entered its final stage. Informed of this, the president said the tunnel is not fit for working inside it and, therefore, smoothing its surface even without paving as required by the established technology would suffice if the quality of rock permits and it meets the technological need. Afterwards, officials found that the introduction of the new construction method saved 140,000 tons of cement. 

It happened during the president's field guidance to Kyongsong county, North Hamgyong Province, in May, Juche 46 (1957). On a farm he was told that pigs were bred with grass found in abundance there. The president asked its name. A farmer told him that the plant was called "eveing-primrose" as it bloomed only at night. On hearing this, the president wrote down the name of the plant on his handbook, saying that the people are his teacher and so he always mixes with them. 

Pyongyang, August 11 (KCNA) -- It happened when President Kim Il Sung was on a trip to give on-site guidance to mountainous Sakju county. Feasting his eyes with deep attention on a maize field from his car running on the steep roadside, he asked the chauffeur to stop the car. He walked into the field and examined maize ears to know if they were ripened and how heavy they were. Holding a handful of earth, he told officials to prospect the area, saying that there might be an apatite deposit for sure, as maize was doing well in the sloping field. Later prospecting officials surveyed the place where the car stopped, confirming the area as an apatite deposit. This was how a big apatite mine came into being in the DPRK where apatite was considered as not available before. 

There is another anecdote about him. One summer day in Juche 49 (1960), he happened to meet an angler by the side of the Sunhwa River flowing at the foot of Mangyong Hill. Praising his angling skill, he asked about his occupation. Feeling ashamed, the man told the president that he was working as a barber at a school. saying that his job was very good, the president told him how gratifying he would feel to stroke down pupils' hair as a barber as he himself has no time to pat all the pupils on the head. He repeatedly asked him to take good care of pupils, the treasure and future of the country. 

Another anecdote about him says: One day in Juche 35 (1946), an old man working for a democratic political party visited his office and made a rare request to him. The man told Kim Il Sung that he married a woman shortly ago only to be "maltreated" as he was old. So he asked the president to help him get some tonics such as wild Insam (Ginseng) and young antlers of the deer. Laughing hearty laugh, the President promised to help him so that his wife might not despise him. A year later the 70 years old man became father of a son. Later the president spared time to attend a feast given in celebration of his son's 100 days after birth. 

Pyongyang, August 2 (KCNA) -- There is an anecdote about an old Korean clergyman's prayers before his meal. On July 3, President Kim Il Sung hosted a luncheon for the old clergyman from abroad. The president guided him to the table and told him to pray before the lunch. He was at a loss what to do. In fact, his intention was not to have prayers at that time despite the obligation as a believer. The president repeatedly urged the hesitating clergyman to pray as it was his life-long obligation. Deeply moved by the president's broad magnanimity and charisma, he prayed for the president's longevity.

It happened one day when the Fatherland Liberation War (June 1950-July 1953) was at its height. At lunch time, General Kim Il Sung examined the menu. He told the cook to rewrite the menu. The cook prepared a new menu as advised by the general's adjutants but it was rejected again. In the evening, the general asked the cook why he planned the daily quantity of meat for the supreme commander two times as much as that for soldiers on the menu. And he told the cook to write the same menu as that for the soldiers in the future. It was not until he heard this that the cook realized why the menu was rejected. The third menu was thus accepted. 

One day in May Juche 35 (1946) general Kim Il Sung had an opportunity to have an emotion-charged talk with his schoolmate after the lapse of scores of years. Unexpectedly Kim Il Sung was displeased with his manner of speaking. He reproved his schoolmate for repeatedly addressing him as general and earnestly asked to call him by his name, saying that he felt awkward as his schoolmate was talking to him in that way. The schoolmate was so deeply moved by his unchanged friendship and noble personality as the hero of the nation that he again addressed him as general unawares. 

Pyongyang, July 19, 2001 (KCNA) -- It happened in a hot day of August Juche 40 (1951). President Kim Il Sung examined the trial products of military uniform for winter use and chose a pair of padded shoes. He had used the shoes for more than one week since the next morning to estimate their quality. One day he visited an engineering work site to hear soldiers' comment on the shoes. He told them not to simply say that the shoes were good but point to their defects to help produce better ones. He was pleased to hear their opinions and assured them that the shoes liked by them would be produced. 

Early in July Juche 39 (1950) the president assigned officials in the field of education a task to recover the true records of the Ri dynasty - Yijo Sillok (government diary of the feudal state of the Ri dynasty that existed for 519 years). he instructed them to recover the precious national treasure at any cost. A course to recover the books was drawn on the operational map of the supreme headquarters and orders were issued to institutions concerned and units of the Korean people's army to carry out the operation. This was how the true records of the Ri dynasty were recovered amid the turbulences of the war. 

There is another anecdote telling about the greatness of the president. One day in the Autumn of Juche 53 (1964) the president received an overseas Korean businessman. The businessman told the president that he was wrong when he intended to build a factory in South Korea, adding that he would like to build it in the North. But the president noted with smile that there was no need to do so and it would not be bad but good for the Korean people if even one more factory was built in South Korea. And he said that the construction of the factory in South Korea would be helpful to the future development of the country. Deeply moved by his noble compatriotism and broad-mindedness, the businessman lauded the president as a God of Korea who takes care of all the people. 

Pyongyang, June 22, 2001 (KCNA) -- There is an anecdote about 400 million won earmarked for geological prospecting. Premier Kim Il Sung met with an official in charge of copper prospecting in Autumn of Juche 42 (1953). Copper prospecting started in the northern part of the DPRK from the period of the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953). But the result of prospecting was not so good. When the official asked for an additional allocation of 100 million won, the premier said that the state would additionally spend 400 million won for the job. And he added that if copper deposit was not found even after spending all the money, prospecting workers had better erect a monument inscribed with letters "younger generations, don't touch here as there is no copper deposit here " so that coming generations might not suffer any loss though prospecting in those times might bring losses. the nation's leading copper mine made its appearance in this area later. 

There is also an anecdote about the request made to a stubborn fellow. An important meeting was held in summer of Juche 46 (1957), presided over by premier Kim Il Sung. When the meeting was about to close, an official of the mine requested the premier to provide the mine with trucks for supply service. As regards this, the premier told him to transport supplies by use of refrigerator Waggons according to a decision of the cabinet. The official, however, begged the premier to supply several trucks, explaining the conditions of the mine. On hearing this, the premier with a smile on his face said: You insist that I violate the law. But even the premier cannot be above the law of the state. 

The last anecdote in this story is about 400,000 bricks. Kim Il Sung visited the reconstruction site of the Pyongyang Textile Mill shortly after the end of the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953). At that time officials told him that 400,000 bricks were needed to finish the reconstruction as early as possible. Lost in thought for a while, the premier asked the commander of the unit of the Korean People's Army mobilized for the reconstruction. The premier asked him how many soldiers were participating in the reconstruction, how many bricks could be if a soldier recovers 5 old bricks and how many if each does 10. Not only the officer answering the questions but officials were struck with admiration at the questions. By putting just three questions the premier found a solution to the issue of 400,000 bricks. 

Pyongyang, June 11, 2001 (KCNA) -- There is an anecdote about President Kim Il Sung's mealtime. One day in Autumn Juche 71 (1982), the President left his lodgings early in the morning to give on-site guidance to a certain unit and came back at 2:50 p.m. When a waiter was guiding him to a dining room, the president said that he had no time as there were many people waiting for a meeting to start at 15:00. Asking only for one cup of water, he said, "the meeting time should be observed, though my lunch is skipped." And he soothed the impatient feeling of the waiter, saying he would take his meal after the meeting. 

Another anecdote tells about a half-underground house which he used as his residence. It was one day right after the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953). An official told the president coming home at dawn that they would build at once a residence for him who was living in a half-underground house. But, the President advised him not to do so, saying he should share sweets and bitters with the people as he did in the wartime. when the people live in houses on the ground, we can live in such house, he added. after all, he spent Juche 43 (1954) New Year's day in that cold and damp half-underground house. 

There is one more anecdote about a habit of babies. In August of a year the president visited a nursery of a factory while giving on-site guidance. Babies began to cry perhaps as it was the time to give the breast to them. Nurses were at a loss while carrying them in arms. At that moment, the President told the nurses not to do so frequently, saying that babies would cry when they feel pleasant and unpleasant or sleepy. it is a habit of babies to cry, he added. 

Pyongyang, June 7, 2001 (KCNA) -- As a proverb says that even a drop of water reflects the universe, the personality of a great man is reflected in anecdotes. the 80-odd-year life of President Kim Il Sung is associated with so many anecdotes telling about his distinguished personality as a great man. There is an anecdote about how an apartment house was built higher than a building of a power organ. 

When he visited Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, in March Juche 59 (1970) he went round the city together with officials. Making a stop in the center of the city, he pointed to an unoccupied ground before saying that is a good space for building a high-rise apartment house. At that moment an official told the president that though the ground is a good housing lot, the apartment house, when completed, might rise higher than the building of the power organ opposite to it. 

On hearing this, the president said it was not bad that the building of the power organ stood lower than the apartment house for working people, the master of the country, and that if the apartment house rises higher than the building of the power organ, it is better. The construction of the high-rise apartment house began in that ground soon, as instructed by him. 

There is another anecdote about how a meeting had two breaks. While visiting North Phyongan Province in August Juche 58 (1969) the president called a consultative meeting of officials of a county on the people's living. Shortly after the meeting began, he suddenly requested them to have a break. Then he told a woman official present at the meeting to take care of her baby. He was concerned for the time to give the breast to her baby. There were two breaks in the not so long meeting. 

There is also an anecdote about the taste of bean curd. While giving on-the-spot guidance to North Hwanghae province one year, he told an official to buy bean curd at a grocer's shop. Attentively examining bean curd bought by the official, the president was not pleased with it, saying that the quality was not good and that it was very bad to make it in a slipshod manner simply because people do not complain of its quality. Tasting boiled bean curd at a supper time, he underscored the need to improve the quality of foodstuffs for the people.