Thinking about the People's Health before Making an Economic Calculation

President Kim Il Sung said:

"When we have to build even one factory, we should think about the people's health before making an economic calculation, about whether it might cause air pollution. No matter how many of them are built, the factories that affect the people's health and lives are of no use."

President Kim Il Sung, who always gave top priority to the people's happiness and well-being and devoted his all to the people during his lifetime, made it as a hard and fast rule to take care of the people's health and lives in industrial construction from the period of building a new country after the liberation of Korea.

It was December 26, Juche 34 (1945), only four months after the liberation of the country.

That day, he gave field guidance to Nampho to give detailed instructions on rapid rebuilding of the destroyed factories and enterprises, thus renovating Nampho, an old port city.

It was when officials reported the issue of rebuilding and putting Riyon Metal Company in Nampho to its production.

As for Riyon Metal Company, the Japanese imperialists produced aluminum in need of munitions manufacturing by importing raw materials from abroad there.

Listening to the report from officials, he pointed out that reconstruction of the company would do more harm than good, not only because raw materials had to be imported from abroad but also the harmful gas from the production of aluminum would pollute the city, thereby damaging the health of the residents. He continued that they should carefully examine the reconstruction of the factory from practical view of operating it with raw materials and resources abundant in our country, and from security view of strictly guarding against its bad effect to the health of the working people.

Aluminum, one of the important raw materials indispensable for economic construction and defense capabilities, was in urgent need for developing the machine-building industry and the munitions industry and for increasing the output of daily necessities.

Although aluminum was in urgent need for reconstructing national economy, which had been totally destroyed by the colonial rule of the Japanese imperialists, and for the building of powerful self-defense capabilities, he did not allow the reconstruction of the factory for the health of the working people.

The great fatherly leader who put the interests of the people above all else, gave top priority to the people's health before economic calculation during the whole period of leading the revolution and construction and thoroughly prevented the building of the factory which had any slight effect on the people's life and health.

Indeed, President Kim Il Sung was the benevolent fatherly leader of the Korean people who devoted his tireless efforts to the people's well-being and happiness, regarding it as his lifelong motto to believe in the people as in Heaven.