On the 13th Anniversary of the Demise of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung
In August of 2005, I had the honor of participating in the World Conference for Supporting the Reunification of Korea held in Pyongyang, Korea.
August 15 was a Monday I will never forget. At 9 am that morning, we boarded our buses to visit the Kumsusan Memorial Palace. This is where the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung was laid to rest.
With great excitement and trepidation, I felt warm inside and anxious to pay respect to the greatest of men who is the Eternal Sun of Humanity. I kept thinking about how he gave the world hope and pride in the form of the Juche idea and gave birth to the magnificent Songun politics, is the father of the Korean nation of who defeated two imperialist powers in his life-time, and founded of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Nothing can describe the feelings of reverence, admiration, and love which one experiences in the presence of the great leader. An internal peace overwhelms one as he bows gracefully in the presence of the great leader during his show of respect.
Tears quickly made their way to my eyes. I wondered at the magnificence of the great leader who we have so much to be thankful for.
After the visit, I asked my guide if I can sign the Kim Il Sung book made available to visitors. Before I was allowed to do so, my guide carefully asked me why I wanted to do sign the book. It is with this care that the Korean people treat the memory of the great leader.
I answered to him that I wanted to show my respect, admiration, and love for the great leader. Only then did my guide allow me to write my thoughts into the book. I remember writing in Arabic, my native language, putting down the words of my solemn promise to be a foot soldier in the army of the great leader. That experience left deep feelings of joy, pride, and gratification in me.
The beloved leader Kim Jong Il taught us in his genius work “Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries” that we must pay reverence to the forerunners of the revolution.
For that reason, the beloved leader Kim Jong Il ordered the erection of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace to honor the great leader Kim Il Sung after his earthly demise.
The Kumsusan Memorial Palace was a source of great inspiration to me.
Comrade Kim Jong Il said:
“For many years, our people regarded the respected Comrade Kim Il Sung as a legendry hero, the sun of the nation, a great leader and the nation’s father. They have considered it their greatest honor and noblest moral duty to be single-heartedly loyal and dutiful to him. Our people’s loyalty to the great leader has been displayed even more strongly since he passed away. People throughout the country paid their last respects to the fatherly leader in bitter tears and cherished their memory of him in unabated grief.”
Comrade Kim Jong Il taught us that in order to respect the passing of the great leader, it is necessary to honor, love, and revere him as if he were still alive and to continue the work that he has begun.
This July 8th, we mark the 13th anniversary of the passing of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung by honoring, loving, and revering him as if he was alive. We pledge to continue the work he has begun.
(Ziad Shaker elJishi, Chairman of the North American Committee Against Zionism and Imperialism)