The following happened on December 21, 1992, when President Kim Il Sung was having talks with President Conare of Mali.
The Malian president frankly expressed his concern over whether Korea could hold out in the showdown with the allied imperialist forces, as it was taking them on single-handedly after the collapse of socialism in the Soviet Union and East European countries.
His concern was not ill-founded, for many other people in the world were watching Korea with great apprehension.
President Kim Il Sung said to his counterpart: “There is a Korean saying that even though the sky may fall, there is always a way out. During the whole course of leading the revolution and construction, I have neither been worried about nor shrunk away from any problem, however difficult and serious it may be, but struggled through it.”
He continued: I did not sleep in an air-raid shelter, not even for a night, during the Fatherland Liberation War, when we were fighting the US imperialists; at nights, I used to inspect the front line and other parts of the country, travelling in a car with the headlights on, but I was safe. I fought the Japanese imperialists for 20 years, and I was never wounded even though a bullet once passed through my rucksack. So, some people said that I was a heaven-sent man.
Saying that he was afraid of nothing, Kim Il Sung laughed heartily.
Conare, too, laughed, his shoulders squared.
Looking at him with a smile, Kim Il Sung resumed: It is true that we are now faced with a difficult situation. The United States is resorting to every conceivable scheme to stamp out the Korean-style socialist system. But you do not need to worry about us. We have enough food to eat, clothes to wear and houses to live in, and we have invincible armed force and single-heartedly united people. If the US imperialists dare invade our country, we are determined to fight them. They have already tasted bitter defeat in the 3-year Korean war, so they dare not attack us. My philosophy is that there is always a way out even though the sky may fall. I believe in this age-old saying; this is the reason why I never get pessimistic in the face of trials.
Much impressed, Conare said: “Your unique philosophy gives me great courage. Whenever I meet you, I feel all the more attracted to you, like iron drawn to a great magnet. Now I’m reluctant to leave Pyongyang.”
