On August 28, 1995 Kim Jong Il was standing with a smile on the deck of a military vessel pitching gently on the sea.
The soldiers of a company were conducting a swimming drill in the atmosphere of an actual warfare.
Seeing them, the General said, “The soldiers are good swimmers.”
He said to the officers of the KPA: Everyone in our country must learn to swim as it is sea girt on three sides. To our soldiers, swimming is a key training item. All units should prepare their soldiers to be a-match-for-a-hundred combatants who are good at shooting, marching and swimming.
After the drill was over, he met the soldiers on the deck. Saying that he had lunch prepared for them as they acquired high swimming skills in a short period by intensifying training with indomitable will and unyielding perseverance, he led them into the dining cabin.
On the table was quite a feast including various dishes and fruits.
Kim Jong Il asked the soldiers, smilingly, if they could eat them all.
They answered they would.
He resumed:
You should eat them up.
Today I have another engagement, so I am not having lunch with you. However, you should think that you are sharing it with me. It will be good to have lunch in the fresh wind on the boundless sea.
He told the officers accompanying him that they should have lunch with the soldiers there, and left after seeing them eating the food.
On his inspection trip to the front line he had his lunch–a bowl of corn porridge.
To the officials in embarrassment, he said that to think that the soldiers were relishing the food, he felt full even without having the lunch.
