The Embrace of My Motherland [Subtitles]
Korean title: 조국의 품
Alternative titles: Embrace of the Fatherland, The Bosom of the Homeland
Song written by Kim Jong Il when he was 10 years (1952).
IN THE GRIM DAYS OF THE WAR
With the outbreak of the Fatherland Liberation War on June 25, 1950, Kim Jong Il took leave of his father and went to live with his younger sister.
The burning streets and villages instilled fierce hatred in him against the aggressors, and the images of the people and soldiers who were fighting while singing the Song of General Kim Il Sung gave him the conviction of sure victory in the war.
He was reunited with his father in June 1952.
With Kim Il Sung he saw an air battle of the pilots of the Korean People’s Army and visited an air corps and several places in North Phyongan Province. In those days he heard the story about the ten Party members in Ragwon and saw the people stepping up wartime production on the home front day and night.
In those days, he showed constant concern for Kim Il Sung’s health and safety.
Once, when Kim Il Sung’s car came to a fork in the road, Kim Il Sung told the chauffeur to drive along a lane rather than the highway.
The lane was very rough. His aides who had scheduled his programme to follow the highway, hesitated.
Seeing this, Kim Jong Il said,
“Why are you hesitating? We must go the way chosen by the General. The way he goes is always right. Let the car go along the lane.”
At this, the aides, repenting of their wavering for a few moments, let the car take the path.
After no more than a few minutes, enemy bombers appeared in the sky, and rained bombs on the highway where the car was supposed to pass. It was revealed later that the bombing that day was the result of a plot by spies on the payroll of the US imperialists.
From the end of June that year, he lived with his father at the Supreme Headquarters.
Kim Il Sung was quite busy at the Headquarters day and night. He received the report of the situation at the front several times a day, and issued orders; he took measures to strengthen the Party and stabilize the people’s living conditions; on meeting scientists and technicians, he instructed them to draw up plans for reconstruction after victory in the war; on meeting writers and artists, he defined the direction of creating works and artistic activities for contributing to winning the war. All the problems arising in the activities of the Party, state, and in the front and rear were brought and solved here.
While burning the midnight oil sometimes before the operations map with his father, Kim Jong Il inquired into the situation at the front, and learned bit by bit his father’s outstanding art of military leadership, revolutionary optimism, spirit of facing challenges directly, unbreakable will and unexcelled dauntlessness. In the field of military planning he learned from his father how to frustrate the enemy’s operations, how to attack, besiege and annihilate the enemy, and how to fight the enemy’s aircraft and tanks. Accompanying his father, he visited the batteries of KPA artillery units and the construction sites of tunnels. He also walked with his father along the roads of Pyongyang and the countryside devastated by the enemy air raids.
Experiencing the war, in which the rear was as embattled as the front, he keenly realized that the victory in the war and future prosperity were ensured by his father’s wise leadership.
He reflected the faith and will he learned in those days in the song The Embrace of My Motherland.
In mid-August 1952, Kim Jong Il left the Supreme Headquarters.
From that time on he devoted himself to studying. At the same time, he was deeply concerned about the safety of his father, who would be always at the front. Whenever he heard of a US air raid, he would think about his father.
One day, he wrote a letter to his father to the following effect:
“Dear father,
“How are you? I am sure that you must be going through a great deal of trouble to beat the Yankees in the Fatherland Liberation War. “...
“I want to make a most important request to you father, and that is that you no longer regard yourself as just an individual but as the leader of the entire Korean people.
“...You should stay healthy, guard yourself against the enemy planes always taking care of yourself. This will mean happiness to the entire Korean people. From afar I hope you will take great care of your health.
June 1, 1953 Kim Jong Il”
On receiving this letter overflowing with his son’s best wishes for his good health, Kim Il Sung was overjoyed, and carried the letter with him not only at the Supreme Headquarters but also on his visits to the front.
Later, Kim Jong Il wrote and composed the Song of Best Wishes on the basis of the letter.
One day, 20 years later, he recollected the days of the Fatherland Liberation War with deep emotion, saying, “The Fatherland Liberation War was a historical period unforgettable in my life.”
(The Short Biography of Kim Jong Il, 2001: p. 5-7)