Birthday of the Great Man

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"His great traits and great image, characterized by his brilliant ideas and theories, his unexcelled leadership, his noble virtues, his outstanding personality, his informal manner and his frugal life, have moved the world's people and presented to them the image of the most outstanding man in history."

Although President Kim Il Sung was held in high esteem by the entire people as the sun of the nation, he never allowed himself the slightest privilege and lived as a commoner throughout his whole life.

This story took place in Konziri, Sijok-myon, Kangdong County, where the Supreme Command of the KPA was situated during the hard-fought Fatherland Liberation War.

In those days, President Kim Il Sung was working all day and far into the night. What troubled the escort members the most was the lack of dietary means for the President, so they frequented the nearby village.

On April 13th, 1951, two days before the birthday of President Kim Il Sung, an escort member of the Supreme Command returned to the headquarters with a black chicken and ten eggs in a straw wrapper which he had bought from a farmhouse in the village. He was overcome with joy at the thought of putting them on the table on the morning of the anniversary. That night, he was summoned by President.

President asked him why he had been to the village that day. After learning from him about his purchase and that he was going to use it for the birthday, President told him that they were still waging a difficult war and said how he could have a birthday celebration in a time like that.

And then, all of a sudden, he began to talk about spring.

Saying that spring is a really good season, President said that in spring the mountains flourish, farmers plough and sow fields and it's hatching time for chickens. He continued that the hen he had bought could also breed chickens and that it would be a good idea to return it to the owner, rather than to eat it, so that it can raise its chicks.

Realizing why President had been talking about spring, he earnestly implored him not to object to his birthday celebration.

President said that he would accept their sincerity when the war was over and refused to approve it. In the end, the chicken and the eggs got returned to their owners, and the usual kimchi and fried vegetables were put on the dining table on the morning of his birthday.

So, in April, that year, when our people and the revolutionary people of the world were sending countless letters and congratulatory messages to President Kim Il Sung on the occasion of his 39 th birthday, he was facing a table of the usual plain dishes and spent the next year's 40th birthday, too, just like any other day, clouded with powder smoke.

Even in April of 1953 when the war was nearing its end, President, after learning that the officials were making preparations for his birthday, said even at that moment that, soldiers were fighting against the enemy, shedding their blood to win the final victory. He said that in such a grim period, he, as the Supreme Commander, would not be pleased to take part in his birthday celebration and refused to take even the slightest sincerity of his soldiers.

Though President Kim Il Sung lived in the same plain way as any other man with no distinction between his birthday and any other day, he showed unsparing love and affection for his comrades despite ordeals accompanying showering bullets.

One day in summer, 1951, a few days prior to the birthday of Mr. Ho Hon, the President of the Kim Il Sung University, he called his daughter. He told her that Mr. Ho Hon didn't get to celebrate even his 60th birthday and that year he would be 66, so they should make sure that he gets to enjoy his birthday celebration without fail. President also set a venue for his birthday party and arranged for the officials of the Secretariat of the Cabinet to prepare for the birthday party well and personally sent him precious foodstuffs and goods which were hard to acquire in wartime.

Shortly afterward, President organized a dinner to congratulate Mr. Ho Hon on his birthday again at the Supreme Command and personally poured a toast to him.

There is no end to the stories about the noble virtues of President Kim Il Sung who showed all loving care for his revolutionary comrades, not forgetting their birthdays, while he didn't even approve a humble birthday dinner for himself.

Indeed, the revolutionary career of President Kim Il Sung was something the world has never known or heard of. It was the life of a great commoner, the bearer of the noblest and humble traits who devoted his all to his people.