Meticulous Concern for Children

One day in May, Juche 61 (1972), the great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il visited a nursery in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province.

He looked round various places of the nursery acquainting himself with its actual conditions. When he entered a room he saw a toy plane hanging from the ceiling. 

With a laugh, he said it looked too rough and toys for children must not be rough.

The nurses’ faces turned red. It was not a factory’s product but of their own making.

They also laughed at themselves.

Kim Jong Il said earnestly: If children are accustomed to see rough toys, they may make things in a rough manner when they grow up; so the plane should be made again. 

The nurses were deeply remorseful and moved by his care for the future of the country.

After a while Kim Jong Il asked the nurses if they had difficulties in maintaining the nursery. The nurses answered they did not have any. Kim Jong Il said they must have and urged them to tell him.

Then he told the officials accompanying him to supply the nursery with paints it needed and provide the children with milk and eggs regularly. He continued that if milk was not supplied satisfactorily, they should obtain it by their own efforts.