To Provide The People With Fresh Fish To Eat

The 1970s was a period of miracle in which a radical turn was brought about in the development of fisheries in our country under the wise leadership of President Kim Il Sung.

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"President Kim Il Sung, who devoted his all to the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the people, made a great effort to develop fisheries and fish culture so as to provide our people with plenty of fish to eat."

In the 1970s President Kim Il Sung energetically led the fisheries to solve the food problem of the people, taking it as one of the two major sectors along with agriculture. He unfolded a grand blueprint for refrigerating fish processing in order to provide the people with fresh fish in all seasons, as well as catching large quantities of fish, and energetically led the struggle to implement it.

On March 15, Juche 60(1971), the President said that the refrigeration of fish processing should be realized decisively in order to provide the people with fresh fish on a regular basis in all seasons.

He said that not only cold-storage factories should be built in the main fishing ports as well as in provincial seats and all cities and counties across the country, but also a large number of cold-storage freight train and refrigerator cars. Personally having chosen the site for the fish refrigerating plant in Sinpho, he solved the problems arising in building it. In those days, even late at nights he used to make long-distance phone calls to the officials who were on the spot to encourage them to push ahead with the work.

Thanks to the energetic guidance and great care of the President, the modern refrigerating industry was newly established in our country in a short span of time.

Here is a story that tells about the devoted efforts of the President who personally went to the quick-freezing room to inquire into the actual circumstances of fish processing, not feeling satisfied with the realization of fish processing refrigeration, which was an epoch-making reform in fishing industry.

It was when the President visited the then Sinpho Refrigerating Plant.

Officials explained the refrigerating process in details outside the plant as they could not bring the President in the cold quick-freezing room. Then he said that he would go in and see with his own eyes, though it sounded very plausible and ideal.

At that moment the officials, being at loss what to do, told the President that it was very cold inside, so it was difficult for him to go into the quick-freezing room. But the President, saying that it didn't matter whether it was cold, took his way to the room. To make matters worse, the corridor leading to the room was so dark that it was very difficult to see a few steps ahead.

The President managed to go up the highly placed staircases covered with ice in a beam from floodlight into the room where plate refrigerators were lined up. Inside the room the temperature was up and down up to-20 degrees Celsius, the walls and floors were frozen thick with ice, there were smells of fish and ammonia while the white haze turned into big drops of water and fell down from the ceiling on his head. However, he didn't care at all about that and went further inside. And then looking at the refrigerated blocks continuously being carried on conveyors, he said with satisfaction that they were well frozen in high quality and now our people could be supplied with fresh fish even in summers.

Looking up to the President who was smiling, officials and employees were moved to tears in spite of themselves.

Indeed, President Kim Il Sung was the benevolent father who loved the people very much and devoted his all to them.