The native home of the anti-Japanese war heroine Kim Jong Suk, who was the closest comrade-in-arms of President Kim Il Sung and the revolutionary soldier faithful to him, is located in Hoeryong City, North Hamgyong Province.

From olden times, Hoeryong has been called a scenic beauty of North Hamgyong Province as it was beautiful and good to live in.

Kim Jong Suk was born in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province on December 24, Juche 6 (1917) and grew up receiving influence from her patriotic and revolutionary family members.

She witnessed since her girlhood the miserable plight of her villagers who were subjected to a colonial slavery under the military occupation of the Japanese imperialists (1905-1945). She experienced the sorrow of a ruined nation deprived of an elementary right to existence under the exploitation and oppression of outside forces, looking at the sight of her parents working in the fields all day long and doing needle work for pay all night long.

One day she asked her mother why her family lived in poverty. Her mother answered it was because the Japanese imperialists deprived them of their country and exploited them. She frequently took her daughter up to Osan Hill and told her about the crimes of the Japanese aggressors plundering the precious resources from Korea.

Her family members were driven to the bottom of destitution with each passing day. They were forced to leave their dear home village in search of a way to make a living. She had to live in a foreign land with the sorrow of the ruined nation, but she would always long for Osan Hill where the flowers of white apricot were in full bloom.

With a firm resolve to win back her native village and her country deprived of by the Japanese imperialists, she joined the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army under the command of General Kim Il Sung in September 1935 and actively waged the anti-Japanese armed struggle. It was an arduous struggle against the one-million-strong Japanese army without any assistance from a regular army or a state backing, and it was always accompanied by death and trials. But, the guerrillas of the KPRA fought bravely, overcoming all hardships and finally accomplished the historic cause of Korea’s liberation in August 1945.

She longed to see her native home after the country’s liberation, but in vain. She said: Korea was liberated, but our people are still living in poverty and there are a lot of things to do. Then, how can I visit my home. She devoted herself to the work for implementing the line of building a new Korea put forward by Kim Il Sung. She inspected industrial establishments and rural and fishing villages to inspire local people to perform feats in the struggle to build a new country.

In order to hand down the exploits of Kim Jong Suk who devoted her all for the country and the people the Korean people erected her statue at the foot of Osan Hill in Hoeryong City in September Juche 58 (1969).

On the occasion of her birthday, Hoeryong City draws endless streams of visitors.