In 1925 President Kim Il Sung made the 1 000-ri (250 miles) Journey for National Liberation with a lofty aim to win back his country lost to the Japanese imperialists.

At that time, he was 14 years old and it was his second 1 000-ri trek.

When he was 12, he made the first journey from Badaogou in China to Mangyongdae, his birthplace in Pyongyang, as told by his father, the outstanding leader of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement of Korea, who said that a man born in Korea ought to know well about it.

While trekking such a long distance and studying in the homeland, he felt a great impact from the looks of the Korean people who were firmly defending their national soul even under the jackboot of the Japanese imperialists and he was convinced that he could win back the country when they were effectively organized and mobilized.

As he studied at Changdok School, he received the unexpected news that his father was arrested by the Japanese police again.

So he set out on the second 1 000-ri journey with mounting anger against the Japanese imperialists.

The President wrote in his reminiscences “With the Century” what he felt as he crossed the Amnok River bordering China on the 13th day as follows:

“I looked back at the mountains in the motherland over and again with sorrow and indignation. I thought: My dear Korea, I am leaving you. I know I cannot live even for a moment away from you, but I am crossing the Amnok to win you back. Across this river is a foreign land, but I will not forget you, even in there. Wait for me, my Korea.

“Then I sang the song (Song of the River Amnok) again. As I sang this song, I wondered when I would be able to tread this land again, when I would return to this land where I grew up and where my forefathers’ graves lay. Young as I was, I could not repress my sorrow at this thought. Picturing in my mind the miserable reality of the motherland, I made a grim resolve not to return before Korea had become independent.”

Afterwards his journey for national liberation led to the long bloody battles of the anti-Japanese war through endless blizzards, and he finally defeated the brigandish Japanese imperialists and achieved the historic cause of national liberation.

More than a hundred years have passed since then, but his noble love for his country and indomitable revolutionary spirit have steadily been carried on by the new generations and lots of schoolchildren across the country go on the study tour of the 1 000-ri Journey for National Liberation.

As they trek along the route of his journey, they grasp the President’s immortal revolutionary exploits, appreciate the preciousness of their country and harden their resolve to become young revolutionaries who add lustre to the country.