20-Odd Years in Humble House

2023.4.15.
http://www.mfa.gov.kp/view/article/16783
On the occasion of the 111th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung, the founding father of socialist Korea and the eternal sun of Juche, the people of the DPRK are recalling with deep emotion the revolutionary lifetime of the President who devoted everything throughout his life to the prosperity of the country and happiness of the people.

President Kim Il Sung, having established it as his rules of life to share weal and woe with the people, bestowed all sorts of benefits and privileges to our children and people. However, he did not approve of anything for himself and led a frugal life until his last moments.

Amongst the countless stories of love for the people, there is also one which tells of the humble residence on the banks of River Pothong where the President resided from the end of the Fatherland Liberation War until the Kumsusan Assembly Hall (today’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun) was built.

The banks of River Pothong on which the residence sat was a meaningful place that brings back a lot of memories for President Kim Il Sung.

During the Japanese imperialists’ rule, our people were deprived of wonderful house sites handed down to them through generations and had to live in the mud wall area on the banks of River Pothong – a literally uninhabitable slum. But those who were living there couldn’t leave the place, even though the annual flood claimed the lives of their family. Witnessing such a desperate plight of our people, President Kim Il Sung longed for a society where the working people could lead a happy life.

So, when the Fatherland Liberation War ended, he chose to live on the banks of River Pothong himself, the place where the general public were rather unwilling to reside. President Kim Il Sung said that he preferred a humble and cosy house to a big and palatial one as he’d share weal and woe with the people, and chose to live in a house whose bombarded roof and walls badly needed repair.

It was when President Kim Il Sung was residing in this modest house that he held the 5th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea and set forth the task of building 100 000 modern houses in cities and 150 000~200 000 houses in rural areas every year so as to solve the housing problem. He also turned his garden into an experimental plot and personally cultivated different kinds of crops to produce a bumper crop across the whole country.

He spared no expenses for the building of modern dwelling houses and cultural and leisure facilities for our people on scenic spots across the country. But, he was very strict in seeing to it that the officials modestly furnish his residence, and led an ordinary life just like everybody else with boiled rice and cereals. Engraved in the hearts and souls of our people is the noble world of the peerlessly great man, a world of dedication for the people.

Today, the former residence of President Kim Il Sung is no longer there.

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said that President Kim Il Sung would be pleased if he heard that we were going to remove his former residence from the banks of the River Pothong and construct instead modern terraced houses for our people. He then built luxury houses for the working people in the place where the residence of President Kim Il Sung had once been and allocated those houses to working innovators and meritorious workers of all sectors who devoted their services to the Party and the state.

The former residence of President Kim Il Sung cherishes a lot of memories associated with the President who had always lived next door to the people and shared joy and sorrow with them. As our people lead happy and comfortable lives in the bosom of the peerlessly great men from generation to generation, they are taking great pride in the story of the residence that tells forever the noble and popular traits of the benevolent father.