Story of the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery

Rows of busts of anti-Japanese revolutionary martyrs stand in the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Jujak Peak of picturesque Mt Taesong, overlooking beautiful Pyongyang, the capital city of prospering Juche Korea.

Photo. Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Mt. Taesong

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"The Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery is an expression of great trust of Comrade Kim Il Sung in his revolutionary soldiers and his present to them, as well as a symbol of his high appreciation for their fighting exploits."

Under the wise leadership of President Kim Il Sung, the Korean people won victory in their arduous armed struggle against Japanese imperialism and liberated their country in August Juche 34 (1945).

As they were about to return home after achieving the historic cause of national liberation by waging a bloody war against the Japanese imperialists in an alien land for so long time, the soldiers of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army were engulfed in surging emotions.

President Kim Il Sung, however, was upset thinking about those who had died early during the anti-Japanese revolutionary armed struggle without seeing their liberated homeland.

In his talk to military and political cadres of the KPRA on September 16, Juche 34 (1945), titled "Let Us Become True Fighters for Nation Building Who Serve the Country and People", he earnestly said: We buried them in a foreign land without setting any gravestones for them; as I have to leave them behind, I find myself reluctant to return home; we should never forget our comrades who had died early after dedicating their all to the sacred cause of the independence of the country and freedom and emancipation of the people but build a people's society on the liberated country without fail as wished by them.

The soldiers were deeply touched by his ennobling sense of revolutionary obligation and comradeship with which he never forgot his comrades with whom he had fought during the days of the fierce anti-Japanese war.

But they could not fully realize how far-reaching plan he had in mind at that time.

On the evening of the first snowfall of the year when the country was liberated, he said to officials that the first snowfall in the liberated country reminded him of his fallen comrades.

Though the situation was so complicated and difficult afterwards, he was much concerned with the problem of adding eternal lustre to the feats of the anti-Japanese revolutionary martyrs. He took the measures of finding their remains and burying them in cozy places in the homeland they had so missed. He also ensured that their statues were built in their birthplaces and cities, villages, factories and schools were named after them and that their careers and achievements were given wide publicity through publications and radios on the anniversaries of their birth or death.

Still feeling something insufficient, he planned to erect a cemetery for them all so as to hand down their revolutionary achievements to posterity.

One day in April Juche 61 (1972) when the whole country was filled with excitement and joy over the forthcoming 60th anniversary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung, he explored the peaks of Mt Taesong for a long time before selecting a site for the cemetery on Jujak Peak. Then on April 17, at a meeting of the then Political Committee of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, he advanced the construction of the cemetery as a project involving the entire Party and clarified the ways in detail for buckling down to construction soon.

Busy as he was dealing with overall affairs of the Party and state, he visited the construction site several times including in August Juche 62 (1973) and September Juche 63 (1974) and gave instructions on its construction.

Those days he wrote down the names of about 100 martyrs to be buried, dates of their birth, when they joined in the revolution, and when and where they were killed and gave the list to the officials concerned. Also he took measures to portray them whose pictures were not available and gave detailed instructions on the order of their tombs and their attire.

Thanks to his ennobling and ardent revolutionary affection for his men and boundless trust in them, the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery was completed in October Juche 64 (1975) as an ever-lasting edifice which stands unaffected by any weathering.

Chairman Kim Jong Il unfolded a plan for expanding the cemetery on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea.

There was a moving story of how he decided to newly reconstruct and expand it.

One midnight when the snow was coming down in large flakes, he received a phone call from President Kim Il Sung.

Saying that the falling snowflakes reminded him of the days when he had fought in the mountains during the anti-Japanese armed struggle, the President recollected how he had used to wait outside the secret camps on snowing days for his soldiers who were dispatched for activities in the enemy-held areas.

Then he said that as he was thinking of those days, he could not go to sleep and that Chairman Kim Jong Il was the only one he could make a call at this time of night when everyone else had already gone to bed.

That night they conversed for more than one hour recalling the days of the bloody anti-Japanese war.

After the talk Chairman Kim Jong Il stayed up all night at his office, thinking of President Kim Il Sung hardly going to sleep.

Next day the Chairman called officials and told them what had happened last night. Then he continued that many fighters had been killed during the days of the arduous anti-Japanese armed struggle and President Kim Il Sung still remembered them, before declaring that the martyrs cemetery should be renovated.

Having decided to expand the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Mt Taesong in an all-round way, Chairman Kim Jong Il instructed officials that they should draw an ambitious plan for its renovation project and push it in a courageous way as intended by President Kim Il Sung.

In October 1982 he examined the master plan of the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery to be renovated and clarified the orientation of and ways for the project. At his proposal the Secretariat of the WPK Central Committee sent a directive on carrying out the project as an undertaking of the whole Party and country, and the WPK-member shock brigade and other construction forces were organized. He himself visited the construction site on several occasions, including in June and November 1984, to guide the project on the spot.

When he visited the site one summer day in Juche 73 (1984), he looked over the sample busts of martyrs and said that in the light of conscience, it would be undesirable to use artificial marble for the busts and he thought nothing would be better than bronze for making the busts.

Then he added: Though bronze is not enough available in the country, the busts of the martyrs should be made with it; only then would they look dignified and nice, and more importantly, they could reflect our heartfelt sincerity and their respectability and solemnity would be enhanced.

On his suggestion a fluttering red flag was set up as the background of the bust section, a medal of Hero of the DPRK instead of a five-point star was embossed on the wreath-laying stand symbolizing the heroic feats of the anti-Japanese revolutionary martyrs and a monument was erected, which is inscribed with a sentence written by President Kim Il Sung himself, which reads "The lofty revolutionary spirit of the anti-Japanese revolutionary martyrs will remain alive forever in the hearts of our Party and people." And a group sculpture representing mourners was erected and lifelike busts were laid out in a wide area stretching upward.

Under Chairman Kim Jong Il's energetic and meticulous guidance, the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Mt Taesong was completed in the run-up to the 40th anniversary of the founding of the WPK as an edifice of the WPK's era as intended by President Kim Il Sung and as an excellent crystallization of the ardent affection and revolutionary obligation of the peerlessly great men for the revolutionary comrades.

The renovation and expansion of the cemetery splendidly realized the lofty intention of President Kim Il Sung to add eternal brilliance to the fighting spirit and achievements of the revolutionary martyrs.

Indeed, the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Mt Taesong is a monument of lasting value the like of which can never be found in any other countries in the world, as it tells all the generations to come the history of noble comradeship of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il who pioneered and carried out the revolution by dint of comradeship.