Chairman
"Comrade
President
Among them was a farm in Jangsuwon.
At the then Jangsuwon Cooperative Farm in Samsok District, a suburb of Pyongyang, there is a reservoir called Hwaeppul(torch).
This reservoir tells a touching story about the painstaking efforts of the fatherly leader to feed the Korean people with white rice.
One day in January Juche 46(1957), more than a year after the formation of agricultural cooperatives in Samsok village, the President visited the village covered with white snow and sat face to face with the farmers in the office of the management committee.
He acquainted himself with the situation of the cooperative and the living conditions of the farmers and asked the officials of the cooperative if they had any plans to make land into paddy fields.
An official replied that it was the farmers' lifelong desire to clear the land into rice paddies and have rice, but nobody dared to do so as the place was too dry.
The President said that if there were valleys, there would be water and if there were no water, they would be able to draw water from other places, so they should build a reservoir and make the paddy fields.
Then he set the area of paddy fields to be made by the cooperative and stood up, saying that he would go out in person to the field instead of consulting it inside the office building.
When he visited the village, it was in the mid of the bitterest cold in a year, and the snow was all over the country.
He personally climbed the valley through the virgin snow, with the officials of the cooperative following his footprints.
At the mouth of Jajak valley where three valleys converged, he asked them what about building a reservoir there, as water from everywhere would gather there.
Everybody replied that it would be nice.
Later that evening, he said that he would come again in three or four days, so that they could discuss it well with other members of the cooperative and set out late at night.
But on the day he promised to come, heavy sleet fell unexpectedly.
The villagers were discussing the way of making rice fields, thinking that the President might not come because of the rough weather.
Late at night, however, he visited the village to keep the promise with the farmers.
Knowing that they're discussing water problem, he said he had come in good time and suggested discussing it together, and asked an elderly farmer if he had found the water source.
The old man, who had been hesitating for a while, replied that he had walked up and down the valley and thought that Jajak valley pointed by the President was the only water source, but he wondered whether the water from it could soak up a lot of rice fields.
The President said there would be few places in the country suitable to be made to paddy fields if he thought that paddy fields could be made only when the water flew all the year round as on the river.
And he continued to say there would be no chance for the farmers in such dry areas to eat white rice if they sat with their arms folded as they had less water.
He also reminded the principle of growing bean sprouts, saying that if the water from Jajak valley was kept in a reservoir and the water was pumped back into the reservoir by pumping water after wetting the paddy fields, it would be possible for the farm in that area to cultivate rice as well.
Presently, he suggested going to the spot to discuss the plan for building a reservoir.
The farmers stood in a hurry to block his way. They couldn't get him on a rough road at night when the sleet was pouring heavily.
He said; you are much concerned about my health, but when I fought against the Japanese imperialists in the mountains, I repeatedly marched with my men for several days in the heavy snow, and today's weather is much better than those days.
And he said that if they could eat only white rice, he would be well exposed to such rain and snow.
Someone hurried to light the torch to the President who was leaving the yard.
The President took the lead in stepping.
At night, when the whole surroundings were in darkness, the drizzled mountain road was slippery, and it was not long before the shoes were soaked.
Sleets still poured down from the sky, and the cold wind brought stiffness to the night skies.
However, he climbed the steep slope all the way towards the site for a reservoir.
The torch at the night in Samsok burned all night lighting the dark valley and the slope.
At last, a reservoir overflowing with life-giving water came into being where the torch had been lit up.
So the villagers called it Hwaeppul(torch) reservoir.
For the good of the people, the President walked and walked on the road, rainy or snowy, dry or rough.
In order to feed the people with white rice, he climbed up and down the rugged path in remote mountains where even villagers rarely visited, to settle the places for reservoirs and to solve the water problem. Yonphung, Unpha, Thaesong, Samsok, Ojidon and Hwangjuchon reservoirs were all born like this.
Thanks to the loving care and devotion of the President for the people, an era of creation and change was ushered in on this land and the Korean people could lead a more affluent and happy life.
