culture

An old man Kim Yong Man and his wife Kim Kyong Hui, living in neighbourhood unit No. 7 of Raengchon-dong No. 2, Tongdaewon District, Pyongyang, have devoted themselves to landscaping their village and street.

“Cosy parks at our neighbourhood unit and lots of fruit trees growing in thick verdure around them are permeated with the devoted efforts of the couple,” said Ri Pok Sil, head of the neighbourhood unit.

After retiring from an organ under a ministry seven years ago, Kim Yong Man had a mind to plant fruit trees around his apartment house.

This was what he had always wanted to do.

After discussing with the head of the neighbourhood unit, he buckled down to the work.

His wife helped him with the work as he drew and pasted on a wall of his room a large picture of parks to be built and made a phased plan.

“I started it not for any reward or profit. It is the duty of citizens to make their villages more beautiful by their own hands. Moreover, landscaping cities and villages has recently arisen as an important matter,” said Kim Yong Man.

It was not an easy job to remove soil from a large area, build flower beds and resting places, fertilize land and plant ground-cover plants and trees. 

But thanks to their fiery sincerity and devotion, apple, peach, zelkova and thuja trees began to take root around the neighbourhood unit.

As children played in various big and small parks built with great efforts and trees grew in thick verdure to unfold beautiful sights in their village, many people admired the couple for their patriotism.

For the past seven years, the couple planted over 100 000 trees and ground-cover plants and sent tens of thousands of saplings to many units, including Pyongyang Municipal Football School, Ryomyong Primary School in Taesong District of the city, East Pyongyang Stadium and newly built Songhwa Street.

Before retirement, the couple participated in the work to support major units together with their three children scores of times and took warm care of the health and life of war veterans, special-class honoured disabled soldiers and persons with disabilities.

So, officials of the district and dong and residents of the neighbourhood unit call the couple patriotic couple.

Kim Yong Man, over 70, inspires his grandsons and granddaughters, who are primary schoolchildren, to have a mind to think of society, collective and the country before themselves.