On the 77th founding anniversary of Korean Children’s Union: DPRK

-First Palace for Kings

June 6 this year marks the 77th founding anniversary of the Korean Children’s Union.

On this meaningful day, all members of the Union are having a deep yearning for President Kim Il Sung, who loved children so dearly and devoted his heart and soul to giving them all the happiness of the world during his lifetime.

Pyongyang Schoolchildren’s Palace – the first palace built for the children under the meticulous leadership of President Kim Il Sung – also tells an unforgettable story of love.

Before the liberation, the children of this country never had a chance to come into bloom, but instead were forced to wither away, being kicked and trampled underfoot by Japanese imperialists like pebbles on streets.

Such a miserable history was put an end to when President Kim Il Sung accomplished the great cause of national liberation. He regarded our children as the kings and queens of the country and the world’s most precious beings.

Although every penny counted for the newly founded state, President Kim Il Sung initiated building a palace of the children on the money donated for the construction of the country.

President Kim Il Sung said a palace is meant for kings, but in our liberated country, our lovely young generation are the kings of the country who has the right to live in palaces. He personally chose the site for the building on Jangdae Hill, which gives a bird’s-eye view of Pyongyang.

This is how the palace for the children, the first of its kind in the history, was built on the liberated fatherland.

When the building was reduced to ruins in the flames of war just before its opening, President Kim Il Sung climbed Jangdae Hill despite the bitter cold of midwinter to map out a plan to build a bigger and more splendid palace after winning a victory in the war.

A Cabinet decision thereafter was announced on building a children’s palace in Pyongyang and a children’s hall in Kaesong in January, 1956 - the year of difficulties for our Party and people after the war.

Later, President Kim Il Sung reviewed the general blueprint of the children’s palace drawn by the designers, and gave guidance on several occasions to revise and perfect the design. He said we should build the grandest palace in the world, as it is the palace for our children who are the kings of the country.

As a result, the design of the palace was completed into a grand edifice with a total floor space of 50,000 sq meters – more than 6 times its initial design of 8,200 sq meters.

When the palace was under construction, President Kim Il Sung visited the construction site and bestowed boundless love, saying that they had been talking about building a palace for the children from the time when they were fighting against the Japanese imperialists on the mountain, and that the palace should be built into literally a royal palace, using all the best building materials in the world, be it marble or diamond.

Thanks to such great love and care, Pyongyang School Children's Palace was completed into a magnificent and modern building which serves as an all-purpose extracurricular education center equipped with rooms for different circles, a theatre, gymnasium, library, etc. It was indeed the first palace for the kings and queens of the country.

President Kim Il Sung bestowed all benevolence on our children, saying that he felt energized just looking at the light coming from the windows of the school children's palace. Today his love for children is carried on by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un saw to it that extracurricular education bases including Mangyongdae School Children's Palace, Songdowon International Children’s Camp and Mangyongdae Children's Camp were given a facelift in conformity with the requirements of the new century, saying that beloved members of the Children's Union are priceless treasure and the entirety of hope and future.

Our schoolchildren, the future of the country, are giving full play to their talents in these extracurricular educational centers enjoying the undying love and care for them.

Indeed, as we hold in high esteem the great leaders from generation to generation, happy laughter and singing of children will resound forever through the palaces for many years to come.

-Party Meeting Discusses Classroom Issue

June 6 this year marks the 77th founding anniversary of the Korean Children’s Union (KCU).

Greeting this holiday – a significant day for the members of the KCU, founded and developed under the care of the peerlessly great men – our people warmly look back on the great efforts of President Kim Il Sung who devoted his all to better learning environment for our children and pupils, the bright future of the country.

One of many touching stories, is about the session of the political committee of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), convened to discuss on school construction in early June, 1969.

In 1969, our country saw a sharp increase in the number of school-age children born after the war, falling short of thousands of classrooms as a rough estimate.

Given that we then had to accomplish the important yet challenging historical task of socialist industrialization, it was a heavy burden, both economically and financially, to build thousands of classrooms in a short time. Workers needed for the construction was another issue to be solved.

However, President Kim Il Sung, who was endowed with love for posterity and spared nothing for them, convened the political committee of the Central Committee of the WPK to address the classroom issue before anything else, despite the country’s difficult situation and many other important things awaiting solution.

He explained to the officials the urgent need for school construction and said it could not be solved by simply building a few hundreds and using other buildings as a temporary measure. The optimal solution is for the whole people all over the country to build new school buildings, even if it means spending every cent in the state’s coffers, he stressed.

He then proposed taking a decision to build ten thousand new classrooms. He put forward such detailed ways as provision of expenses and construction materials by the state and labor forces by all the construction enterprises, and even from all ministries and central organs including the Party Central Committee and the secretariat of the Cabinet, in case of need.

He concluded the meeting saying that it was a meeting of the parents’ association. He called on the officials over and over again to give their heart and soul to this work for the coming generation.

In the annals of human history has many stories of famous people who became a “carriage” for their beloved grandchildren and donated large sums of money for the poor children. But never has been told a story about such a benevolent father like President Kim Il Sung who even convened a Party meeting to discuss the building of classrooms for the schoolchildren with parental affection for them.

Hence the progressive peoples of the world today highly praise President Kim Il Sung who embodied noble affection for the future generation and wrote numerous stories of love. They envy our country, calling it a paradise for the children, which shines ever brighter under the leadership of respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.

-Becoming the True Parent of Pupils

Changjon Primary School situated in the Central District of Pyongyang also carries a story about meticulous paternal affection of respected Comrade Kim Jong Un for our pupils and children.

This school carries the traces of love left by President Kim Il Sung.

Despite the difficulties after the Fatherland Liberation War, he personally chose the site for this school, built it into a model one and visited several times afterwards.

Chairman Kim Jong Il also visited here several times. When he initiated and led the construction of Changjon Street during the last period of his lifetime, he saw to it that the school associated with the leadership exploits of President Kim Il Sung was newly built.

On May 30, 2012, respected Comrade Kim Jong Un personally visited this school which had been rebuilt on Changjon street, a fairyland street of people, as an educational institute with the highest standards of education condition and environment, true to the noble will of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il for education of young generation.

At the room dedicated to the history of the school, he heard with deep emotion about the records of revolutionary activities of the great leaders associated with the school.

Looking around classrooms, foreign language study room and computer room, he examined the tables, computer desks and chairs to be used by the pupils and highly appreciated its good quality and neatness.

He expressed his satisfaction over and over as he was so glad that the behest of the great leaders, who loved our schoolchildren and so much and devoted themselves to providing them with all conditions for learning, was realized.

While looking around the school with a broad smile on his face, respected Comrade Kim Jong Un pointed to a side of corridor and said as follows:

It would be good to put long benches with clothes hangers on the one side of the corridor.

The children could leave their wet raincoats and winter coats on the hangers on rainy and snowy days instead of taking them into classrooms. It has now become as a common sense not to take wet raincoats or winter coats into classrooms. Children also can sit on the benches in the corridor and have a break.

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un walked along the corridor and warmly said that he would send relevant officials to the school to collect required information as it is necessary to know the space between classroom doors and the number of benches in order to properly provide the benches with clothes hangers for the school.

In fact, this school building on the new beautiful street was in the most perfect condition. But he still wanted to add something more to it with scrupulous and parental care.

When he came out of the building after looking around the school, he stopped and said again and again that he would send the benches to the school.

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is a father of our schoolchildren who loves them most just like the great leaders, for he, on that day, brought to the school the love of the great leaders. Under his scrupulous care, our schoolchildren are learning to their hearts’ content and growing up into the pillars of the country.