Visit of the Dear Leader: Anecdote about Kim Il Sung

"President Kim Il Sung, who was passing through Sunchon, visited a farmhouse one day in Juche 39 (1950) when the hard-fought Fatherland Liberation War was going on. In a conversation with the housewife, he acquainted himself with the living conditions of the family and learnt that her husband, who had been a cell chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, was killed by enemies during the U.S. imperialists’ temporary occupation of the area.

He—feeling sorry to hear that—said nothing for a while. He then told an official accompanying him to bring cakes—prepared for his meal—to her children. Leaving the house after a while, he asked the official, ‘What did we give the children?’ As the official couldn’t answer, the President, realized that the gift he gave them was too small and the time he has spent with them–too short. He told the official that he was always worried about orphans and the state should bring them up with parental affection.

Thanks to his deep care, measures were taken in January 1951 in the thick of the war, to bring up and educate children of fallen fighters, guerrillas and patriotic martyrs and other war orphans at government expense and a regular system for children—ranging from nurseries to technical schools—was established throughout the country." 

From the Korean Central News Agency, March 3, 2003.