Family tradition handed down from generation to generation
August 26, 2024Many families follow in their family tradition of patriotism generation after generations in the DPRK. One of them is the family of Jo Song Jun, an old man living in Samma-dong No. 2 of Tongdaewon District, Pyongyang.
His family is called a “family of patriots” by the neighbours with due respect as three generations of his family members have served the army.
According to Jo Song Jun, his father was the first to serve the army in the family.
Like all other Korean people, his family members had also been subjected to all sorts of sorrow and sufferings during the period of Japanese imperialists' military occupation of Korea between 1905 and 1945. After the country was liberated in August 1945 and land was distributed to peasants free of charge, they could do farming to their heart's content on their land and live a fulfilling life.
As he keenly realized the value of the country, his father volunteered for the army before anybody else during the Fatherland Liberation War between June 1950 and July 1953 and showed valour on the battlefields against the aggressors. And he invariably followed the road of military service after the war.
Though he always left home early in the morning and came back home late at night, the image of his father in military uniform was engraved in the memory of his children as the best and truest man in the world, and following in their father’s footsteps, his brothers joined the Korean People's Army after graduating from the middle school, Jo recalled.
Jo’s wife, Ri Pok Hui, was also a demobbed officer.
Even after she got married to Jo Song Jun, she, as the wife of an army officer, worked hard from early morning till late at night to find and do good things for the soldiers.
"One day all of us children complained to our mother that she had to take care of herself and her family. She looked at us for a while and said quietly that when the army is strong, our family would be happy. And she continued to work. I will never forget it," said Jo Hyon Chol, their eldest son.
Growing up with the life led by their grandfather and parents all their lives as nutrients, Jo’s eldest and second son are now serving as officers of the Korean People's Army and his youngest son is doing his job with sincerity after being discharged from military service.
The Jo’s couple are now over 70, but they still help their children fulfil their duties. They also instil patriotism in their grandchildren and lead them to do good things for the country by themselves.
A wall of their house is filled with photos all the Korean people keep as their pride and family heirlooms.
They are the photos Jo’s couple and their sons have taken with President
THE PYONGYANG TIMES