Last year, another beautiful story was woven to touch the people’s heartstrings.

It was a story about Choe Son Hui, employee of the materials supply station for schools for orphans under the Ministry of Public Security, who devoted her true heart to and adopted an orphaned child who was a paraplegic at Tonghae School for Orphans.

Seven years ago when she was tasked with taking care of health of orphans at the school, Son Hui became familiar with An Jong Sim.

After being orphaned, Jong Sim was admitted to the school and unexpectedly diagnosed with spine cancer and paraplegia with her life hanging by a thread.

Thanks to medical workers’ sincere devotion, she recovered her health miraculously and became able to walk, but she had to be under the medical care of doctors and nurses since she was still far from normal conditions in the medical point of view.

For that reason, Son Hui paid special attention to Jong Sim.

Whenever Jong Sim developed a fever, Son Hui sat up all night to take care of her. Whenever she lost her appetite, Son Hui prepared her favourite food and sometimes she was wet with sweat for her functional recovery treatment.

And every night, she would tell Jong Sim interesting stories in bed and sing songs for her before falling asleep with the girl in her arms.

But at that time Son Hui did not realize how Jong Sim received her affection.

“I felt mother’s affection from her whenever she carried me on her back for the treatment of paraplegia and cared so much for me for the recovery of health as she embraced me so affectionately in bed. One night I asked her ‘May I call you mom?’” Jong Sim recalled.

“I couldn’t readily answer her sudden question. A variety of thoughts flooded me. But next moment, I feared she would not have a meal thinking of me. So I let her call me mom,” Son Hui said.

So, the unmarried girl became the mother of Jong Sim and the latter was brought to Son Hui’s home in Pyongyang.

When Son Hui adopted the sick child, who was not her blood relative, all her neighbours were surprised and worried about her future, said Pak Hwa Sil, head of neighbourhood unit No. 13 in Ryonhwa-dong No. 2, Central District, Pyongyang. But all of them were so impressed by her steady devotion to the girl’s treatment and study, Pak added.

In June last year, a young man named Yun Myong Sik called on Son Hui’s after hearing about her deeds. He proposed to her, saying he would become the father of Jong Sim.

Soon after, Choe Son Hui and Yun Myong Sik tied the knot amid the blessings of their neighbours and colleagues and many others who became Jong Sim’s brothers, sisters and uncles, being deeply impressed by their deeds.

That day, Jong Sim sang the song We Are the Happiest in the World together with her father and mother.