As February and December approach each year, the Korean people find it difficult to control their surging emotions prompted by the lingering memory of traces of whole life Chairman
The respected Comrade
"General
Whenever the Korean people look back upon the revolutionary life of the great General characterized by endless devotion and painstaking efforts for his motherland and nation, they come to think of the meaning of words stirring their hearts and brimming their eyes with tears.
Soldier-like daily routine, field food and sleeping, field train, field car, field winter wear, field jacket, on-site haircut.
Forced march in the blizzard, forced march in the hottest period of summer, midnight forced march, super-intense forced march.
Probably field mode of life is not what anybody in the world would dream of.
But Chairman
In retrospect, the great General's soldier-like way of life began with his childhood.
He was born as a son of anti-Japanese guerrillas under the cover of his mother's guerrilla uniform during the anti-Japanese warfare and took the first step of growth in the snowstorm of Mt. Paektu; in the period of building a new country, during the Fatherland Liberation War and in the trying days of postwar reconstruction he always stayed with President
His extraordinary experience of field life during his childhood and boyhood was the nourishment of his future life, making him bear in mind the noble mission that he should take responsibility for the destiny of the country and people.
This noble mission was the basic factor driving him to carry on his super-intense forced march day and night for the sake of the people in the grime periods of the unprecedented trials, always wearing his field jacket soaked with snow, rain and sweat.
Still etched as ever in the minds of our people are the traces of steps the great General marked in the course of his Songun-based leadership braving the consecutive natural calamities and persistent blockade of allied imperialist forces after the demise of President
Each time we look over the feature of Chol Pass, which is so high that even the clouds would need a bit of rest to fly over, it brings up a clear image of Chairman
One year, looking back with deep emotion on the days of the trying ordeals, he referred to the parka he was wearing. He said that he kept wearing it because he could not forget those trials. He earnestly explained that the parka was a symbol of the Songun-based revolution and "Arduous March" and that he would continue to wear it to the day of final victory.
When the destiny of our country and people was at the crossroads of life and death, the great General protected our people from the rigors of a harsh winter with the his threadbare field padded jacket and brought them warmth of a spring, himself having riceballs for meals and taking a catnap inside the field car, yet his mind burning with a sense of mission to safeguard the motherland.
In the last days of his life, the great General was standing strain indeed.
However, he continued carrying his ill body onto the field train or car to imprint the traces of his ardent patriotism and devotion all over the land, working with all his heart and soul by dint of his patriotic mind and will.
Upon giving on-the-spot guidance to the work of several units in South Hamgyong Province and the training of a unit of the Korean People's Army, he continued to visit Hana Music Information Centre and Kwangbok Area Commercial Centre, the service establishments for the pleasure of the people, showing his utmost concern for the benefit of the people and servicemen. And he made painstaking efforts for people's well-being, even personally taking measures for the supply of fresh fish to Pyongyang citizens.
Having truly dedicated the whole of his life for the welfare of the people like a burning flame, he was on the running train even at the very last moment of his life.
On hearing the sad news that our General, had passed away on a moving train, all the Korean people shed tears of blood profusely, unable to suppress the heart-breaking sorrow as they visualized the image of their leader, who had never enjoyed the pleasure of comfortable sleep on bed but had been working and living like a field commander, undergoing all sorts of hardships to speak of.
1 674 610-ri – this bespeaks the great, immortal long journey Chairman trekked for the sake of his motherland and people throughout his revolutionary life.
In his lifetime the great General carried on the long journey, the distance of which is equal to 17 rounds of the Earth, giving on-site guidance to as many as 14 290 units in the course of his forced march day and night.
As the numerical figures indicate, the whole life of the great General spent like a burning candlelight solely for the sake of the Party and revolution, for the good of his motherland and people from the moment of his birth into anti-Japanese guerrillas in the blizzards of Mt. Paektu to the last days of snowy December was indeed that of a great man characterized by the lifestyle of a field commander, a life which is unthinkable apart from the term "field".
Even today the great General is giving his blessings to our country and our motherland by casting the light of his everlasting beaming image of the Sun, attired as ever in his only field parka, on their bright future lying ahead.
The Korean people and the service personnel, the descendants of
