“Pomhyanggi” (Vernal fragrance) of March 8!
It is not a natural fragrance that spring gives. It is a fragrance of the great love of leader Kim Jong Il who is desirous of glorifying the Korean women and all the Korean people with the most beautiful enviable appearance and making them to live in an eternal spring of victory of a thriving nation.
It is a touching story of the love of “Pomhyanggi”.
On March 8, 2008, Kim Jong Il, though he was busy with the Songun revolutionary leadership, arranged a grand celebration performance for the Korean women celebrating the international Women’s Day and appreciated the performance with the lady deputies of the Supreme People’s Assembly, officials in charge of women’s union, women novelists, lady journalists, announcers, writers and artistes in Pyongyang City.
Enjoying the performance with Kim Jong Il, the women could hardly repress the swelling emotion.
But they couldn’t know what a great epic would be behind the happy performance.
It was when the performance was over. An official concerned came to the audiences and passed an touching news on to them that Kim Jong Il sent “Pomhyanggi” cosmetics as presents for the whole audiences and performers in celebration of the International Women’s Day.
Suddenly, the hall was surged with a strong emotion.
It was a crowning glory to enjoy the performance with Kim Jong Il. Still honorably, they received presents of love. They were quite touched to tears.
Kim Jong Il asked to send the cosmetics even to the men among the performers and audiences saying how glad their wives would be if they received the cosmetics. No one expected such meticulous affection.
The officials, looking at the women who were throbbing their shoulders out of boundless emotion, were moved to tears, remembering the impressive story of “Pomhyanggi” cosmetics.
It was a midnight some days before the celebration of the International Women’s Day. Kim Jong Il called an official concern in the North Phyongan province to go to the Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory to inquire about how many “Pomhyanggi” cosmetics could the factory produce more. He informed him of the necessary quantity of the cosmetics saying that he would use them on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. The official was choked wit
It was the next day. Kim Jong Il called the official in concern in the Province several times and informed the official that he would send transport facilities when the production was completed. The leader guessed that the cosmetics could be damaged if they were carried by buses or trucks and thus he saw to it that to carry them by train.
Thus legendary reality unprecedented in history was unfolded in which the “special train” loaded with the cosmetics ran by the order of the Supreme Commander.
It was a dawn when all the people felt fast asleep. But Kim Jong Il, who was thinking all through the night whether there was any carelessness, said overflowing with joy that he would see the cosmetics when the train arrived.
Such fact is not recorded in any annals of history. There are no such benevolent love and deep trust in the world.
It was the “Pomhyanggi” containing such a meticulous love of the fatherly leader.
When we look back the history, the “Pomhyanggi” legend is not the recent legend.
People may not know fully the reason why he provided field guidance to the Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory in the period of the forced march when the country was going through the ordeals.
He always bore the remark of President Kim Il Sung in his mind. The President said he was resentful and painful when he thought the anti-Japanese guerilla women devoted themselves to the revolution, feeling it shameful to make up their sooty and shed faces, as they had led hard life in the smoke of cannon and could not make up throughout the year.
For this reason, Kim Jong Il visited the Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory personally and instructed the ways of improving quality and kinds of cosmetics and selected the sites for building modernized factory. And upon his return from his visit to foreign countries, he came to this factory first and asked to put “Pomhyanggi” brand on the cosmetics.
“Pomhyanggi”, containing the meticulous love of Kim Jong Il who devoted his efforts to glorify the Korean women as the most beautiful women in the world, is an epic of love that will go down in Songun era.
