On February 28, 2009 Kim Jong Il visited the Manpho Spinning Mill. He was smiling broadly, looking round the shop floor and the dormitory that were kept spick and span.
In the period of the Arduous March and forced march they transformed the compound of the mill, including the building, in a modern fashion by relying on their own efforts.
Girls were working hard at the gleaming machines. They were orphans and now they were trained as skilled workers, who were taking a considerable share in carrying out the production plan. And the mill made quilts with the by-products from the wool spinning process and sold them to newly-weds.
The General commented that such a nice factory could not be found elsewhere in the country, adding with a hearty laugh that it seemed smart enough to be passed in the assessment for the title of the Thrice-Honoured Three-Revolution Red Flag.
He was not only happy about the production volume and cultured practice on the shop floor. He found greater pleasure in seeing the manageress of the mill who had worked with devotion for the benefit of the people without much publicity.
In the past, when everything was in short supply, she took maternal care of 23 orphans even though she was responsible for the management of the mill.
Kim Jong Il was told that the girls, who bowed to him with tearing eyes when he was looking round the mill, were those who had been brought up by the manageress.
In the dormitory he saw the kitchen utensils and quilts she had obtained for the girls’ marriage, as well as a photograph of her helping them with their study, which was hanging on the wall of a room.
Then he said: Today, looking round the mill, I am more pleased to learn about the beautiful traits of the manageress. Her deeds are laudable and patriotic. It is not easy for a factory manageress to raise dozens of orphans. Only a determined woman can do so. The manageress of this mill deserves to be called a genuine patriot. She prioritizes the interests of society and the collective, the Party and revolution, over her own, and is determined to devote her whole being to them. Her sense of revolutionary moral obligation is admirable. She is indeed a woman of ennobling personality. She is a flower representative of our era, who has devoted herself unreservedly to the future of the country with noble humane affection.
He went on to say:
“The Songun era is the one of great achievements which produces a large contingent of such laudable people as this manageress.”
He stressed: The might of the service personnel and people united on the collectivist principle of “One for all and all for one!” is invincible and we have nothing to be afraid of as long as we are supported by this great unity.
