Ten years have passed since Chairman Kim Jong Il (1942-2011) died.
Unforgettable are the days of the December ten years ago.
Last Month
December 2011 was usual for Kim Jong Il, eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, who had devoted his all to the prosperity and happiness of his people throughout his life.
He visited the Kaeson Youth Park in the capital city of Pyongyang on the first Sunday of the month.
It was unusually cold, but he looked round various places of the park, inquiring its operation.
When an employee of the park asked why he had come on such a cold day, not on a fine day, he said he had done so, so that the people could come on fine days.
The December of his life passed in this way for the people’s happiness and wellbeing.
One day he visited the February 8 Vinalon Complex, Ryongsong Machine Complex, Hamhung Knitwear Factory, Hungnam Leather Shoes Factory and several other units in South Hamgyong Province.
In the course of such days of devotion, his health got deteriorated.
To be frank, he was suffering from a severe illness because of mental and physical fatigue in those days; he could hardly stand on his feet.
However, he visited more than one hundred units that year, leading the building of his country into a powerful socialist one.
Fully aware of the serious state of his health, doctors asked him to postpone his schedule of on-the-spot guidance and have a rest even for a while, but he dug in his heels, saying: I am sorry, but I cannot follow your advice; I would rather ask you to follow my advice.
He was a man of iron will to devote his all to building a prosperous country and bring happiness to his people.
On December 15, two days before his demise, he looked round the Hana Music Information Centre and the Kwangbok Area Supermarket for a long time.
The next day he studied the papers on improving the people’s living standards in his office until late at night, and left for another round of on-the-spot guidance.
He passed away on the train, and that was December 17, 2011.
Scenes That Moved the World
At 12:00 in Pyongyang time on December 19, 2011, the news of the demise of Chairman Kim Jong Il was reported.
The Korean people wailed, and the entire country turned into a sea of grief; some people even fainted on the ground.
Such a tearful scene continued until December 29, the day of the national memorial ceremony.
The scene of the last farewell ceremony held on December 28 moved the world.
It was snowing heavily from the morning.
The weather forecast said such heavy snow before and after December 28 was unprecedented in the last 80 years. It snowed so heavily that people could hardly recognize one another at a short distance.
Something strange took place among the people, who were waiting for the funeral car along the streets.
They put off their overcoats and even scarves and put them on the road; some even went back to their houses and brought blankets and quilts.
Some young people put off their overcoats and covered the streets with them, themselves standing in shirts with ties.
This scene was visible all along the streets of 40 km, through which the funeral motorcade would pass.
A more surprising scene was unfolded when the motorcade was passing through the street in front of the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium.
The wailing crowd rushed to the street and blocked the motorcade with their arms; they looked like the children departing their dead mother.
The south Korean newspaper Jaju Minbo carried an article Funeral Service of Chairman Kim Jong Il: Heaven and Earth Wail, which reads in part:
The sky over Pyongyang on the December 28, full of wailing, sorrow and tears; the wailing people blocked the funeral motorcade, shouting “Dear General, you cannot go just like this.” The motorcade had to stop frequently because of the crowd who rushed to the streets to block the procession. The funeral service made other peoples think; have there ever been people on this land like the compatriots in the north who shaved genuine love with their leader? Has there ever been history such epic-like story of true love shown by the compatriots in the north, love which is beyond description and imagination and which cannot be retold or written without shedding tears? The compatriots, who had been wailing over the unbelievable news about the demise of their beloved Chairman Kim Jong Il, bid last farewell to him.
