An increasing number of young people have volunteered for difficult and labour-consuming sectors of socialist construction across the country since the Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea in January.

Among those volunteers, who have deeply impressed many local people throughout the year, is Kim Chung Song (pictured) who, as a junior official of the Ryonggang County Youth League Committee, volunteered to work as a farmer at the Okto Cooperative Farm in Ryonggang County, Nampho.

Short and sturdy, he was an ordinary young man with nothing to specially attract others’ attention.

After being discharged from military service, he studied in the youth league-building faculty of Nampho University of Education and then became a youth league official.

“Whenever I saw officials respected and loved by the people on newspapers, radio and TV during my military service, I could hardly control a strong impulse to live like them and really wanted to work hard for the people to enjoy their love and respect,” said Kim Chung Song.

It was his desire.

But he took a U-turn in his career as he came to receive an unexpected request from a youth league member.

One day when he talked with young men about the need for them to take the lead in strengthening the position of the Workers’ Party of Korea in socialist rural areas by upholding the decision of the Eighth Congress of the WPK, the young man casually spoke to Kim, “I wish you would come with us”.

It was an expression of his candid feeling of unwillingness to part from generous and broadminded Chung Song.

“His words were simple, but they made me think a lot. In fact, I’d never thought of volunteering to work at the farm,” recalled Chung Song.

He battled with his conscience for days over whether he should volunteer for farm and finally made a decision to go to farm with his wife.

Following his example, more young people in the county volunteered to work at the farms.

In his speech at the tenth youth league congress held in April, he swore an oath promising to uphold the Party with increased rice production by devoting his youth to farming on behalf of all the fellow volunteers.

Still, Chung Song receives a flood of letters from young people across the country including a hero miner, members of the girl workteam at the Taehung Youth Hero Mine and students at Kim Chaek University of Technology.

They encouraged Chung Song in the letters, saying “Our country will continue to prosper as it is supported by many people like you. Let all of us always be in the vanguard of the times at our posts.”

In August, he attended the Youth Day celebrations and had a photo taken with the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un together with other delegates to the events.