A Story about the Last Birthday of a Great Life

The lifetime of President Kim Il Sung who built a socialist power centered on the popular masses on this land, regarding suffering for the people as a pleasure, regarding believing in the people as in heaven as his lifelong motto, was literally a life of love for the people and a life of devotion.

The President spent all his life among the people and devoted all his efforts forgetting his birthday and holidays, saying that he had to bloom flowers on the stones and pluck stars from the sky if wished by the people.

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"‘The people are my God.' Comrade Kim Il Sung regarded this maxim as his lifelong creed, and devoted his life to the struggle for the people's freedom and happiness. For the outstanding achievements he made for the cause of the independence of the masses, he still lives in the hearts of our people as their father and leader."

President had so many things to look after and so many places to visit with all the affairs of the country in his arms that he devoted himself to the people, even forgetting his birthday several times.

Among those many days is the significant Day of the Sun in 1994, the last year of his great life.

On April 15, Juche 83(1994), the 82nd birthday of the President, the whole people were having a pleasant rest in celebration of the significant holiday, and the President alone spent a very busy time.

At that time, the President was anxious to provide our people with one more possible thing on the occasion of the holiday, and worked energetically, meeting many foreign guests, including heads of state and government, party leaders and presidential envoys, who came to congratulate his birthday.

So he felt very tired of enormous work even on his birthday.

An official told him, who hadn't had a rest on his birthday, and was about to take another work for the following day, earnestly that he should rest even a single day that day.

Then he took his eyes off the document he had been reading and said that he'd like to take a rest, now, he is over 80, whenever he's tired of work, he'd like to take his grandchildren to holidays with him, like others, however, it weighs heavily upon his mind that the living standard of the people is not improving.

The official told him that he should not be too anxious for the life of the people now, thanks to his benevolence, our people live happily without any worries, and Chairman Kim Jong Il is also worried about his health, and asked him earnestly to have a rest that day.

Then he said that he couldn't feet at ease because of the people's living, he appreciated the mind of the Chairman who was concerned about his health and worked day and night for the improvement of the people's living standard, so he also had to work.

Then he said that he left home at an early age and suffered from poor eating and sleeping conditions in his teens and twenties, and that as a result things seemed a little bit too hard for him as he grew older, but he was continuing his field guidance to provide the people with better food and better living conditions.

And the President earnestly said that it is his motto to believe in the people as in heaven, and that he would regard the people as in heaven and devote his whole life to the people as he did in the past.

As mentioned above, he devoted his last birthday of his great life for the fatherland and people and he also marked the footprints of love and devotion for the people the next day, which imprints in our minds that believing in the people as in heaven was indeed his lifelong motto.