Story associated with Birth of Famous Work of Music

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"The words of the song Pyongyang Is Best, which was recently created, are really excellent. A lot of songs which sing the praises of the motherland and the Korean-nation-first idea, have been produced so far, but few songs are as true-to-life and philosophically profound as this song."

The song Pyongyang Is Best which sings the Korean-nation-first principle is the song loved by all the Korean people.

Everyone knows that Chairman Kim Jong Il ensured that the multi-part feature film, "The Nation and Destiny", be produced with this song as a theme, but few people know how this famous song of the times was born.

Without his brilliant ideological and theoretical wisdom and also his noble patriotism, the song would not have been born.

The song was written by a writer in the army at that time.

At first, this song was given the opinion that the words of the song were good, but it seemed to be far from the soldiers' ideological sentiments. Thus, the words of the song were kept in the writer's notebook for three years.

The Chairman gave instructions to set these words to music at the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble and this song was put on the stage of the performance held on April 15, Juche 80 (1991) in the presence of the Chairman.

The Chairman was very satisfied with the performance and highly praised this song as a song highly reflecting the Korean-nation-first spirit and said that a very good song was produced on the occasion of April 15.

The Chairman clearly indicated at once the ideological and artistic significance of the work, which neither the writer nor the composer knew fully about.

He said with great satisfaction that the song was suited to the mentality of all the Korean people including those who live in the homeland, those on the official trip to foreign countries, and also those who have lived long abroad and was also suited to not only the past but also the present times, and that it was a song that would be liked by both adults and children. He also said that the song showed in depth the philosophically profound idea that "the world is wide but my country is best".

He also said that the song should be spread on a large scale so that all people, young and old, could sing it as it was the song full of national character, and gave instructions to make the whole country full of this song.

As a result, the song has been sung widely by all the Korean people with great influence as soon as it was born, and it could become the theme of masterpieces such as "The Nation and Destiny."

Thanks to his brilliant ideological and theoretical wisdom and noble patriotism of the great General, who penetrated deep into the great ideological and spiritual influence of the song at once and made it a spark inspiring the people with ardent love for the country and the nation, the song Pyongyang Is Best could be the famous of the times, which has been loved by all the Korean people.

On one occasion, President Kim Il Sung, who was on his visit to a foreign country, sang this song in a low voice while he was looking out of the window on the running train.

He said to the accompanying officials that the song Pyongyang Is Best was really good.

The song will always be sung high among the Korean people over time, telling forever the personality of the great General as a great man.