People’s Delight in Liberated Korea

One day soon after Korea’s liberation from Japanese military rule (August 15, 1945), a plane flew in the sky of Pyongyang. The people on the streets looked up at the sky, and white leaflets were scattered by the plane.

“General Kim Il Sung, hero of the Korean nation, has entered Pyongyang!”

“General Kim Il Sung returned in triumph!”

“General Kim Il Sung will meet the Pyongyang citizens in the public playground!”

The people, who were reading the leaflets, set up shouts of joy; some of them shed tears of emotion while others threw themselves into one another’s arms and danced.

Similar posters were pasted along the streets and alleys in the city, and a pine arch and makeshift stage were erected in the public playground (today’s Kim Il Sung Stadium) at the foot of Moran Hill.

Pyongyang was filled with delight and excitement.

From early morning of the following day, people thronged to the playground where the Pyongyang city mass rally for welcoming General Kim Il Sung’s triumphal return to the country was to be held. People in other parts of the country also came to the city to join the rally.

Pyongyang Minbo, a newspaper of those days, wrote as follows:

“Pyongyang has a long history of 4 000 years and a large population of 400 000. Has it ever had such a large meeting as this?”

At 13:00, amid the reverence and expectation of the masses, General Kim Il Sung, the legendary hero of the anti-Japanese war, appeared on the platform of the mass rally.

Thunderous cheers broke out.

“Long live General Kim Il Sung!”

The masses elbowed their way to the platform to see Kim Il Sung even closer.

Kim Il Sung, wearing a simple suit and necktie, waved his hand to the cheering crowd with a bright smile on his face. At last he started his historic speech.

“Dear fellow countrymen,

“I should like to express warm thanks to you for giving us such an enthusiastic welcome today.

“We are very glad to meet compatriots of ours in our liberated country. We have fought the Japanese imperialist aggressors for a long time to achieve the historic cause of the country’s liberation and bring about this day of meeting.”

The crowd was sobbing in deep emotion.

In the speech he set forth the tasks for building a democratic, independent and sovereign state in the liberated Korea, and called on as follows:

“The time has come when we Korean people have to unite all our forces to build a new, democratic Korea. People of all strata should display patriotic enthusiasm and turn out to build a new Korea.”

His patriotic call to let those with strength give their strength, let those with knowledge give their knowledge, and let those with money give their money met with hearty response of the people.

Later, President Kim Il Sung recalled as follows:

“As I listened to their cheers, I felt the fatigue that had accumulated for 20 years melting away.

“If anyone asked me about the happiest moment in my life, I would reply that it was that moment. It was happiness emanating from the pride that I had fought for the people as a son of the people, from the feeling that the people loved and trusted me and from the fact that I was in the embrace of the people.”

The cheers of the people burst in the Pyongyang Public Playground were an eruption of the national happiness for having General Kim Il Sung, the Sun of the nation and legendary hero who brought about the delight of liberation, and a cry of the people to achieve eternal prosperity of their country, true to his call.

2023-08-15