Live Not Merely for Today but for Tomorrow
Chairman Kim Jong Il (1942-2011) was a man with an ennobling view on life. How ennobling his view on life was can be seen through his aphorism “Live not merely for today but for tomorrow.”
In the mid-1990s, the DPRK’s economic situation was very difficult. Its people suffered from a food shortage due to natural disasters which hit the country year after year. The collapse of the socialist market and the economic sanctions by the imperialists against the country compelled many of its factories to stop running, while the hostile forces’ moves to stifle it by force of arms were going beyond the red line.
In this dire situation, however, the Chairman foresaw the future when his country would prosper. He often said: It is more important for the revolutionaries to live and fight not merely for today but for tomorrow. In my work, I recognize with equanimity any difficulty attendant on my duty, since in my mind I see the prospect of our ever-prospering socialist country and the faces of our people who will enjoy a more worthwhile and fulfilling life in its embrace. Live not merely for today but for tomorrow! What he said offers a glimpse of his outlook on life.
As he was possessed of such a view on life, he directed primary efforts to bolstering up the national defence capability for safeguarding the safety of the country and the people.
At that time, numerous people in the different parts of the world were killed or forced to leave their countries due to the imperialists’ invasion and interference. In contrast, the Korean people were free from the holocaust of war and turmoil even though they live in the world’s hottest spot.
In the thorny path he left many anecdotes.
He once climbed up Mt Osong along the road over a steep cliff by pushing his skidding car to visit the army units. And he usually worked overnight, saying that one o’clock in the morning was too early for him to go to bed.
He said that a nap in his car on his way to continuous field guidance was the sweetest sleep and all rest for him.
For him tomorrow was just the look of his country where its people would be the happiest in the world.
Thanks to his painstaking efforts, the DPRK could finally defend its socialism and lay the solid foundation for building a prosperous country.