In the Days of the Anti-Japanese War

Eight decades have elapsed since the Korean people were liberated from the Japanese imperialists' military occupation.

Korea's liberation signalled a dramatic turning point in the destiny of the nation, a new history dawning in which the people shape their destiny by themselves.

In order to achieve this great cause of national liberation, Korean revolutionaries had to live in the open on the wilderness of Manchuria. In fighting the Japanese troops armed to the teeth they had no support from a state rear or a regular army. They cleared an untrodden path, suffering heartrending sorrow and loss of lives, enduring severe hunger and cold, and overcoming indescribable trials and difficulties.

When he advanced the line of armed struggle to liberate the country by mobilizing all the patriotic forces opposed to Japanese imperialism, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung had two pistols bequeathed to him by his father. With these weapons as his asset, he founded the Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army as the first revolutionary armed force of the Juche type.

He led the guerrilla army in the protracted struggle against the imperialist aggressors, fully convinced that the day of national liberation was sure to come. The traces of blood shed by the guerrillas still remain on the crags of Mt Paektu and along the long stretch of the Amnok River.

As he was leading the anti-Japanese war by dint of his clairvoyant wisdom, extraordinary strategy and adroit tactics, Commander Kim Il Sung believed in the Korean people and relied on them, and he performed undying exploits in achieving the historic cause of national liberation.

Etched in the annals of the anti-Japanese revolution are profound truths, precious experience and historic lessons, which are encapsulated in countless anecdotes.

The following is a selection of those anecdotes.