Shortly ago, a meeting took place in Unjong District to welcome Kim Kum Yong who returned home after bagging a gold medal in the women’s singles of the 2024 Asian Table Tennis Championships.

“I didn’t imagine even when I went to the airport to receive Kum Yong that my daughter’s victory in the championships would give such a great pleasure to our people across the country,” said Ri Song Hui, mother of Kim Kum Yong, as she recollected her childhood.

Kim Yong Chol, Kum Yong’s father, who was engaged in education at the University of Sciences, was very fond of table tennis, so he told his wife to teach their daughter the sport.

“I still remember young Kum Yong, who came to see me with shining eyes holding his father’s hand in her kindergarten days,” said Kim Won Sil, an instructor of the then Unjong District Juvenile Sports School.

At that time, the instructor asked Kum Yong to try as many as she could hit up the ball as she gave the young girl the table-tennis bat and ball, and she did it pretty well. When she received a daily training plan, she practised faithfully to fulfil it, to the surprise of the instructor.

After Kum Yong started her table-tennis career at the suggestion of her father, her mother devoted known and unknown sincerity to her growth. Sometimes, when Kum Yong got sick, her mother accompanied her to the training ground to take care of her. Under such loving care, Kum Yong redoubled her efforts.

It was in her early teens that Kum Yong won the first gold medal in the Pyongyang municipal table-tennis tournament.

When she returned home with the medal, she asked her father to hang the national flag on the wall of a room. “Dad and mom, I will win medals from now on and fill them up in this wall,” Kum Yong said.

Later, when Kum Yong was picked as a table-tennis player of the Hwaeppul Sports Club, her mother told her to realize her dream without fail and make her parents happy.

A left-handed shake-hand gripper, she has a swift moving ability and great short-distance defence capability. She took part in the 2019 Asian and the world youth table tennis championships and employed diverse tactics and special skills, thereby making a great contribution to leading her team to gain excellent results at team events.

Kum Yong attracted the attention of the table tennis circles by finishing runner-up in the mixed doubles of table tennis at the 33rd Olympic Games held in Paris this year, and then won the first place in the women’s singles of the 2024 Asian Table Tennis Championships held in October and also achieved good results in the team event.

When she returned home after attending a grand welcome party, she smilingly put her gold medal around her mother’s neck.

“Oh, dear, you’ve given me the best gift,” Ri Song Hui said with deep emotion.