It was one late August day in Juche 96 (2007).
After looking round several industrial establishments in Jagang Province from early morning, Chairman Kim Jong Il called an official at lunchtime.
Thinking that the Chairman would give him instructions on the units he had visited in the morning, the official went to him.
Welcoming him with a bright smile on his face, Kim Jong Il said: Today I have looked round several units and I am very pleased. I do not feel tired even though I have made a forced march like when I inspected the frontline units of the Korean People’s Army. It was really an enjoyable forced march.
The official was deeply touched by his words.
Kim Jong Il had made a forced march, indeed, from daybreak.
So, he must be very tired, but he described it as an enjoyable forced march.
Though it is an expression in that two words make a striking contrast, it reflected Kim Jong Il’s ennobling view on the people, who regarded any pain he had taken for the benefit of the people as his great pleasure.
