President Kim Il Sung wrote in his reminiscences With the Century about Kim Hyong Jik (July 10, 1894—June 5, 1926), an outstanding leader of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement in Korea, who kindled the flame of national independence braving a thorny path of history with an ennobling idea of Jiwon (Aim High).

In the early period of the last century, the anti-Japanese national liberation movement of Korea was disoriented like a boat coming adrift, and the anti-Japanese independence organizations with different sorts of names were divided and separated from the masses of the people.

This urgently required clarifying a correct direction of struggle for the masses and developing the national liberation movement onto a new stage.

Kim Hyong Jik, who had embarked on the road of revolution in his early years and looked for a road of struggle to be followed by the Korean people, came to a conclusion after having bitter experience and painstaking study.

It was the idea of Jiwon: It is possible to annihilate even a strong enemy when all the people turn out to build up their strength enough to destroy them, and it cannot be achieved within one day or two, so they must aim high.

The idea of Jiwon was a torch that instilled a hope of and confidence in revival into the Korean people, and guidelines that upheld the banner of independence for the first time in the history of the anti-Japanese movement in Korea.

While guiding the anti-Japanese national liberation movement with the idea of Jiwon, Kim Hyong Jik formed the Korean National Association, an influential underground revolutionary organization, in Haktanggol, Pyongyang, on March 23, Juche 6 (1917).

With the formation of the KNA, the Korean people had a powerful political weapon with which to lead the national liberation movement in a unified way by rallying all the anti-Japanese patriotic forces as one, and the anti-Japanese national liberation movement entered a new stage in which it confidently advances by dint of the organized strength of the nation itself.

Much upset by the expansion and strengthening of the KNA and the intensified anti-Japanese movement, the Japanese imperialists launched a sweeping roundup of KNA members.

So Kim Hyong Jik was imprisoned.

Despite the harsh torture by Japanese hangmen, he comprehensively analyzed and reviewed his past revolutionary activities and the lessons drawn from the proceeding anti-Japanese national liberation movement, and conceived a new strategy for proletarian revolution.

After being released, he took armed resistance as a decisive way of struggle for the victory of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement. This showed his firm idea of national independence and patriotic will.

The banner of national independence upheld by Kim Hyong Jik is still greatly inspiring the Korean people in their struggle.

So Kyong Hyok