Chapter 29 The Story of General Kim Il Sung's Visit to China

Originating from Changbai Mountain, the Yalu River winds its way to the southwest for nearly 800 kilometers and flows into the Yellow Sea near Dandong City, Liaoning.The Yalu River is the border river between China and North Korea, and it is also the river of friendship shared by China and North Korea. If the Yalu River with a narrow strip of water is the bond of friendship between the Chinese and North Korean peoples, then the Yalu River Broken Bridge located on the Yalu River between Dandong, China and Sinuiju, North Korea, and the Yalu River China-DPRK Friendship Bridge adjacent to it are the links between China and North Korea. A bridge of friendship between peoples.

The Yalu River Broken Bridge standing in the middle of the Yalu River is a steel-reinforced bridge made of flesh and blood by the people of China and North Korea.Although she is constantly broken, she often makes people touch the bridge and feel sorry for the war years when the soldiers and civilians of China and North Korea resisted the indiscriminate bombing of enemy planes to protect the bridge; recalling the Chinese People's Volunteers from this bridge, they bravely crossed the Yalu River to resist the United States and aid Korea. great feat. During the three-year Korean War that took place in the early 1950s, 140,000 officers and soldiers of the Chinese People’s Volunteers died heroically in resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea, and they were buried forever in North Korea, including Mao Anying, the son of Chinese leader Mao Zedong.In the joint bloody battle between the Chinese People's Volunteers and the Korean People's Army, after five major battles, it ended with the victory of China and North Korea on the 38th parallel.The Korean War made the people of China and North Korea forge an unbreakable friendship with blood in the battle against the US aggression.

After the smoke of the war cleared, the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge standing next to the Broken Bridge on the Yalu River brought the people of China and North Korea closer together.Although the bridge is single-lane, China's Shenyang-Danshan Railway connects with North Korea's railway here, so the bridge has become an important traffic and trade route between China and North Korea.70% of trade goods between China and North Korea are transported through the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge in Dandong.After entering the 21st century, the border trade between China and North Korea is in full swing and becoming more and more popular.Every morning, trucks lined up on both sides of the Friendship Bridge. The management personnel of the entry and exit ports of China and North Korea communicated with each other, allowing the vehicles on this side to be released for a while, and then the cars on the other side were allowed to go back and forth. The cycle was extremely busy.Every day in China alone, more than 200 trucks full of cargo cross the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge to North Korea.

Kim Il-sung, the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who jointly created the China-DPRK friendship with China's great men Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, not only lived and fought with the Chinese people on Changbai Mountain and on the banks of the Yalu River, but also crossed the border many times. Passed the China-DPRK Friendship Bridge to China for a friendly visit. From 1971 to 1975, Kim Il Sung visited China four times in 1971, 1972 and 1975, of which he visited China twice in 1972.

Kim Il Sung's visit to China on November 1, 1971 was a secret visit.At that time, my company conducted strict secrecy education for the comrades who participated in the mission of Kim Il Sung's visit to China, and stipulated that no one is allowed to tell outsiders about Kim Il Sung's visit to China.Disciplinary action will be given in case of leakage.At that time, our security forces were very vigilant and had a strong sense of secrecy. Naturally, we kept our mouths shut according to the requirements of our superiors. No one spread the news. Even the comrades in the company who were not on duty learned the news after the fact. On the afternoon of November 1st, Premier Zhou went to the airport to welcome Kim Il Sung. We set up a route post mainly for clothing on Chang'an Avenue east of Tiananmen Square.As it was a secret visit to China, the East and West Chang'an Avenues and Tiananmen Square were the same as usual. There were neither Chinese and North Korean flags flying nor welcoming crowds. Everything remained the same.At around 5:00 p.m., Premier Zhou welcomed Kim Il Sung's convoy passing by in front of Tiananmen Square and driving directly into the Diaoyutai Hotel.During Kim Il Sung's visit, Premier Zhou met with Kim Il Sung in the Diaoyutai Hotel, and did not show up in public places such as the Great Hall. We also did not perform temporary security duties for Kim Il Sung's activities in Beijing.I remember that all news media did not report or publicize Kim Il Sung's visit after the event, and it was really a secret.

On April 18, 1975, Kim Il Sung visited China.This is a public visit to China, and I will not take a plane. I will take a train from Pyongyang to Beijing Railway Station via the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge in Dandong.The Chinese government attaches great importance to Kim Il-sung's visit this time, and specially organized a crowd of 100,000 people to welcome him.I participated in the guards at the welcome ceremony on Tiananmen Square.It was a beautiful spring day and the weather was pleasant.The welcoming crowd was all beaming and elated, waiting for the arrival of the welcoming team.A whistle sounded, and the signal car came, which was the signal for the arrival of the welcome team. Everyone immediately started a warm and unrestrained welcome performance according to their respective division of labor.After a while, the open-top red-flag car that Deng Xiaoping and Kim Il-sung were in drove slowly, followed by a long motorcade of red flags.Deng Xiaoping and Kim Il Cheng smiled and waved to the welcoming crowd.Kim Il-sung, who is majestic, burly, broad-faced, thick-browed and big-eyed, has a charming smile but also reveals a majestic image of dominating the world.Deng Xiaoping also left an impression of a resolute, calm and experienced statesman with a smile on his face.During this visit, Ye Jianying also accompanied Kim Il Sung to visit the China-North Korea People's Friendship Commune.Several comrades in arms and I were sent to the intersection of Xuanwumen East Street and Xuanwumen South Street to perform route guard missions. This was my first and only time to perform guard missions outside the guard area of ​​my company.At that time, the subway was being built here, and several soldiers of the railway soldiers were busy beside the roaring excavator, getting muddy in the excavated subway tunnel.We checked the construction site to make sure there was nothing unusual and did not disturb their work.After choosing a favorable location, observe closely to prevent enemy agents from using complex terrain to make surprise attacks.With everyone's high vigilance, Kim Il Sung's visiting convoy passed here smoothly.

Kim Il Sung's repeated visits have greatly enhanced the friendly relations between China and the DPRK and made the traditional friendship between the two peoples even more unbreakable. In addition to state affairs, in terms of personal relationships, Kim Il Sung was also a close friend and bosom friend of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. In 1973, Kim Il Sung sent an apple to Chairman Mao; in 1976, when Premier Zhou passed away, Kim Il Sung specially sent someone to send a special wreath in mourning. In that era of boring cultural life, Kim Il Sung's visit also promoted cultural exchanges between the people of my country and North Korea, nourished the entertainment hunger of our people, and added spiritual food for our people.For example, in 1973, the Pyongyang Mansudae Art Troupe of North Korea staged a large-scale revolutionary opera "The Flower Girl" in Beijing. Premier Zhou watched it in person, which caused a great sensation.It is said that it was written by Kim Il Sung himself.After the North Korean film "The Flower Girl" was performed in China, it was hard to find a ticket for the crowd.People were deeply moved and moved by the tragic experience of the heroine in the movie and the touching storyline, which made everyone in the movie theater cry and sob.North Korean movies translated in that era include "The Invisible Front", "When Picking Apples", "The Fate of Kim Hee and Eun Hee", "A Nurse's Story" and many other films. These films not only enriched the The cultural life of the Chinese people has also enhanced the profound friendship between the Chinese and Korean peoples.

In the friendly exchanges between China and North Korea, Kim Il Sung's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to China, Xuan Junji, also played an important role.I remember that when I was in the army for more than 7 years, he was always the ambassador to China, and he was constantly received by Premier Zhou.At that time, for some activities that required the participation of diplomatic envoys, especially visits to other places, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of my country often appointed Xuan Junji as the head of the visiting delegation of ambassadors from various countries to China. Made outstanding contributions to the friendship between China and North Korea.