Korean folklore shining under the leadership of the great leaders

Today, the Juche character and national character are successfully embodied in all fields of social life, bringing into full bloom the lofty and noble spiritual traits and sentiments of the Korean nation.

From olden times, Korean people have created and developed excellent folk traditions.

But no matter how old the history and excellent the folk traditions are, their development and succession is unthinkable without the leadership of a great leader who defends and develops them.

The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said as follows:

"We should be well-acquainted with our national living customs and folk heritage and value them.

Making people well-acquainted with the folk heritage inherent in their nation is very significant in inspiring the people's national dignity, self-respect and patriotism."

During the bloody days of the anti-Japanese armed struggle,

President Kim Il Sung often told the members of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army about the time-honored history, culture and customs of the country in order to implant the ardent patriotism in their hearts.

When the New Year's Day, Jongwoldaeborum (a Korean folk festival, lunar January 15th), Chusok (a Korean folk festival, lunar August 15th) and other folk festivals came, he saw to it that the special foods were prepared for them in consideration of their nostalgia and instilled the hatred for the Japanese imperialists and confidence in the victory of the struggle for the country's liberation.

From the early days of the building of a new country, President Kim Il Sung clarified in detail the principles of inheriting and developing the heritage of national culture including the folk tradition and the tasks and ways for their realization. During the hard-fought Fatherland Liberation War, he saw to it that a specialized department was established to unearth and study the national heritage.

He initiated the founding of the Korean Folklore Museum and took care of its preparations despite the difficult situation of the country after the war and visited the museum on June 10, Juche 49(1960) to clarify the direction of its work. He also gave valuable instructions on its work on several occasions.

The great leader made efforts to add lustre to the excellence of the nation, cherishing our own things, even a single national dish on the table of the people.

It was one Sunday in November Juche 49(1960).

That day, too, President Kim Il Sung, worried about the dietary life of the citizens, looked around several factories and shops in Pyongyang, postponing his rest.

He dropped in at a shop and told the officials that the bean curd was one of the national dishes which the Korean people had enjoyed and boasted of for a long time.

That day, he visited a foodstuff factory in the capital city and said that in the old days our ancestors had made bean curd with millstones, and took measures indicated the detailed ways to produce tasty bean curd and supply it to the people.

Later he was told that the bean curd made by a new method is popular among citizens. He saw the bean curd in person and said that it was one of his earnest wishes to supply the people with warm bean curd all the year round and he was very pleased.

General Kim Jong Il set it as one of the fundamental principles for accomplishing the socialist cause to preserve the Juche character and national character true to the intention of the President and ensured that the excellent national traditions of the Korean people were preserved in various fields of social life.

One day in March Juche 69(1980), he met some officials and asked them if they knew it was a traditional holiday.

They couldn't say anything, just looking at each other. The General told them that it was Jongwoldaeborum, the lunar January 15th.

Offering them the Korean taffy, he said that the Korean people created excellent folk traditions in working life, cultural life, clothing, food, housing and moral life, adding that the folk traditions created by our ancestors generation after generation are precious national heritages to be preserved, inherited and developed.

That day, he emphasised that the folk tradition reflecting the thoughts, feelings and manners, unique lifestyles and peculiar taste of the nation should be further glorified, and that the abandonment of folklore could lead to the loss of the nation.

He also took measures to splendidly celebrate the folk holidays, Jongwoldaeborum and Chusok and reminded the people of what food they ate and what amusement games they played on those days.

Thanks to the patriotic intention of General Kim Jong Il, new Korean costume stores have been built in the capital city and all other parts of the country, adding to the people's joy, and Moran Hill in Pyongyang has been resounded with the sound of the Gold Cowbell, the award of the Grand Bull Prize National Ssirum Contest.

The excellent tradition of the Korean nation successfully inherited and developed by President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il is now being brought into full bloom under the guidance of the respected General Secretary Kim Jong Un.

He said, on October 24, Juche 103(2014), that the work for protecting the national heritage is a patriotic work for preserving and glorifying the history and traditions of the nation by inheriting and developing the precious spiritual and material heritage gained by the ancestors. He stressed that we should hold fast to and thoroughly realize the idea and theory illuminated by President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il on protecting the national heritage.

That day the respected General Secretary clarified the principle of the Juche character, the principle of historicism and the principle of the scientific accuracy as the basic principle to be consistently adhered to in protecting and inheriting and developing the national cultural heritage and clarified in detail the issues arising in preserving and managing the historical relics and remains as their original state and actively preserving the excellent national traditions of our people.

Thanks to the wise leadership of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, many valuable historical relics and remains showing the wisdom and talents of the nation have been preserved in their original state to convey and shine the history of the nation. National music, dance and national fine arts are developing and national sports and folk games including Taekwon-Do, wrestling and the Korean traditional game of yut are encouraged in our country.

The Korean people are more keenly feeling that they are blessed with the illustrious leaders generation after generation, seeing the folk tradition established by their ancestors firmly adhered to and is being carried forward and developed despite the severe upheavals of history.

It is precious truth the Korean people have acquired deep in their hearts that no matter how long the tradition of a nation is, it will fade away to nothing unless they have an outstanding leader.

The excellent folk tradition of the Korean nation will shine forever along with the era of the Workers' Party, the great era of epoch-making miracles overflowing with laughter of the people.