Munsu Hill, rising 82 metres above sea level, stands in the east of central Pyongyang. On April 6, 1947 President Kim Il Sung climbed the hill to plant trees.
Around that time the hill was left quite run-down. It had long been called a hill as beautiful as a golden tapestry. During their occupation of Korea the Japanese imperialists wantonly felled trees on the densely-wooded hill to build barracks and air shelters around the area, ruining the landscape of the hill.
That day Kim Il Sung said: Planting trees on the mountains of the liberated country and growing them well is a long-term programme for ensuring the welfare of the people and creating rich forest resources and a beautiful landscape to hand down to posterity. We must plant as many trees as possible and make every effort to make them flourish on all the mountains, for the future of our country and the happiness of the generations to come.
He dug a hole in hard soil with a pickaxe and carried a young larch tree into it with much care. Then he covered the tree roots with squeezed lump of clay and pressed it with fine soil.
When he planted several trees, an official asked him to get some rest. But he continued planting after watering a tree he had just done, saying that we can’t make all the mountains of the country green at that speed.
He went up to the summit of the hill after he finished planting trees. Feasting his eyes on the capital city wrapped in a lively atmosphere for building a new country, he said: Munsu Hill is well situated. If this hill is covered with thick foliage, it will be really fine. We must rehabilitate this hill ravaged by the Japanese imperialists into a beautiful park, into a cultural recreation ground for the citizens of the capital, so that the working people can enjoy rest here.
True to the instructions he made that day, Pyongyang citizens have planted a lot of trees on the hill every year.
Now the hill is dense with larch, pine-nut, fir, cryptomeria, acacia, maple, alder and ailanthus trees as well as beautiful flowering plants such as magnolia, rose of Sharon, azalea, rose and Rhododendron yedoense. Apricot, chestnut, apple, pear and other species of fruit trees also thrive there.
Many visit the hill where the history of afforestation started in the country.
Yang Ryon Hui
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