Empty and Bulging

In October 2015, when the flood-affected city of Rason was under reconstruction, General Secretary Kim Jong Un visited the city and asked if there arose any problem in army-people relations.

A military officer proudly reported that the soldiers were making efforts to improve the relations. Then a senior official of the city sadly complained, "The citizens of my city prepared and brought different aid goods to the soldiers as they knew the soldiers were working day and night to reconstruct the disaster areas. But they could never give the materials because the soldiers set up 'special checkpoints' and refused to accept any materials."

The people knew it was not proper for them not to help the soldiers, so they would leave their aid goods around the soldiers' bivouacs, construction sites and so on without any notice to the soldiers. The soldiers, however, had immediately sent them back to the people, the official mentioned and added, "How could the army of the people ignore the sincerity of the people like that?"

Listening to his tearful words, the General Secretary Kim Jong Un was smiling all the time. Then he said the soldiers should not make any trouble for the people even when they were to leave for their posts, and stressed. “If their rucksacks are bulging when they leave, they are not the army of the people.”