For His Beloved Comrades-in-arms
2022/03/30
One day immediately after liberation of the country, President Kim Il Sung looked around Pyongyang City together with the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters from early morning and dropped at the building of the then North Phyongan Provincial Party Committee long after the noon.
Suddenly, one of the entourages boldly suggested to President Kim Il Sung to have, for lunch, soup made of grey mullet from Taedong River, which had been often mentioned by him when they had been fighting in the mountains. The other anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters cast a reproachful glance to him, but President Kim Il Sung felt pain in his heart.
He wanted to place them on gold cushion and serve them as much soup of grey mullet from Taedong River as they wanted, but the complicated situation after liberation of the country had not allowed him to give at least a day’s full rest. That’s why, he felt very pity.
A that moment, one of the provincial Party committee courteously proposed to him to have lunch at a restaurant well-known for grey mullet soup.
President Kim Il Sung readily accepted the proposal as it reflected their desire, saying that 20 years had passed since he had last tasted the soup of grey mullet from Taedong River.
When the official of the provincial Party committee got excited and intended to draw some money from the committee’s fund, President Kim Il Sung stopped him, saying that the fund should be used for the nation building.
Then, one of the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters gave the money carefully wrapped in paper to President Kim Il Sung.
It was the money given to him by Mrs. Ri Po Ik, grandmother of President Kim Il Sung, when he had visited Mangyongdae. He had kept it to use it effectively when President Kim Il Sung would need it badly.
On hearing the story, President Kim Il Sung said that it would be a good idea to pay for lunch with the money given by his grandmother, and satisfactorily continued: My grandmother will be happy to know that I have used that money to have lunch with my comrades.
In the period of anti-Japanese armed struggle, President Kim Il Sung used 20 won given by his mother Kang Pan Sok all for the members of the Children’s Corps in Maanshan, and after liberation of the country, he used for his beloved comrades-in-arms the money associated with the fervent love of his grandmother Ri Po Ik.
