Books – Asset for Nation Building
On July 22, 1949 the librarian of the Cabinet was coming back from a bookshop in the city only to stop suddenly in surprise to see President
When President
When she came to herself and greeted him, he asked her how old she was and which school she had attended. Then, when he went into the library, he picked down books from the shelves or browsed the titles of the books on the shelves, acquainting himself in detail with the operation of the library.
He stressed: if we are to turn our country into an advanced and affluent nation, all officials should work hard to implement the Party’s policies, and to this end, they should read many books to have rich knowledge.
He continued: Knowledge is power. Therefore, people say that books are silent teachers. Our people once suffered a lot in ignorance and darkness under the colonial slavery educational system imposed by the Japanese imperialists, but now they have become the masters of the country. In order to build a new nation, they should learn and learn, and for that, there should be books.
Then, looking again at the books on the shelves, he stressed that books represented the valuable asset for nation building.
(Valuable asset for nation building?! I have so far merely regarded them so common and of no special significance.)
President
She had had no particular pride in her job until a moment ago, but before she knew, she felt full self-confidence in the fact that she was managing such an important asset for nation building.