Late on New Year’s Eve in Juche 37 (1948), Premier Kim Il Sung got together with Vice-Premier Kim Chaek and looked back upon the year.
He said: This year we founded the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a banner of freedom and independence of the Korean people, and carried out the task of building the country’s revolutionary armed forces into regular ones. The year 1948 will shine as the founding year in the annals of the nation, he added.
He continued that back home after the country’s liberation, Kim Chaek took the lead in the efforts to found the Party and army and also fought well in the struggle for building the state, and the founding of the DPRK that year was a historic event that marked the birth of the first independent sovereign state in the colonialized East.
As both of us were busy with work, we have not yet had a chance to have a photo taken together, he said calmly.
Time went by and the bells were about to ring out the old year.
Looking at this watch, Kim Il Sung stood up and asked Kim Chaek about taking a photo to send out the unforgettable year, telling they say a photo evokes fond memories in life.
Kim Chaek was so pleased, and Kim Il Sung called a cameraman. Both posed for the camera.
He told the cameraman that he would not have the photo taken in his capacity as the Premier of the Cabinet with his deputy but he would like to do it in a personal capacity and in a comradely manner, so he hoped it would be a good shot.
“Yes, Premier, I got it. I’ll take a good shot for you to see it for a long time,” said the cameraman in a choked voice.
With utmost sincerity he pressed the shutter to capture the historic moment.
This was how the historic photo was taken. As the cameraman said, President Kim Il Sung had seen the photograph keeping it in a safe for over 40 years till the last moments of his life.
This was how the historic photo was taken. As the cameraman said, President Kim Il Sung had seen the photograph keeping it in a safe for over 40 years till the last moments of his life.
Kim Wi Hyok
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