culture

There are 20-odd enlistment certificates of the Korean People's Army in the family of Ju Yong Hui living in neighbourhood unit No. 30 of Munsu-dong No. 3 in Taedonggang District, Pyongyang. She showed me an old thick book, and said:

 “The story about the enlistment certificates of my family is related to this memoirs of my father.”

Veteran's memoirs

Her father, Ju Hak Song, was a career serviceman standing at the post of national defence all his life. On the first page of his memoirs, the veteran wrote: "I keenly felt the preciousness of the country throughout my life. I grabbed this pen to implant in the mind of my children and other rising generations the spirit of national defence displayed by our brave soldiers during the Fatherland Liberation War."

He was a son of a poor peasant’s family who had been a landlord's farm hands generation after generation, and he experienced the sorrow of the ruined people more than anyone else. After Korea’s liberation from Japanese military rule, his parents and other villagers received land gratis and wept tears of joy. In order to defend such precious land, he joined the Korean People's Army in February 1950, some months before the outbreak of the war. To pass a physical, he filled his pockets with stones to increase his body weight. During the war, he was wounded in a battle to defend a height and witnessed the heroic death of his comrades-in-arms in tears of blood. Honouring their earnest request all his life, he served as an officer for decades after the war.

“Always remember that there can be your family, happiness and hope only when your country is secure." 

This was what the war veteran always told his children.

Increasing number of enlistment certificates

His family came to have pride as they put up the enlistment certificate of the seven children one by one on the wall. As they saw the increasing number of the certificates, the villagers called his a military family.

When his eldest daughter, Ju Yong Hui, graduated from university, he told her that even women can carry on their family line, that sons and daughters have the same status in the defence of their country and that everyone should regard national defence as the highest expression of patriotism.

As told by his father, Ju Yong Hui served as an army surgeon at a forefront post. Her younger brothers also joined the army one after another and her younger sisters got married to servicemen after their demob. Later, the children of her brothers and sisters grew up and joined the army in 40 years. As a result, the number of enlistment certificates grew from seven to more than 20.

The family members liken the increasing number of the certificates to the bloodstream that runs through generations.

The war veteran’s sons- and daughters-in-law are or were officers and soldiers.

Seeing her grandchildren frolicking around on holidays, birthdays and other occasions when her relatives get together, Ju Yong Hui remembers the past happenings and imagines that the number of enlistment certificates would increase, she said.

On the occasion of army founding day and war victory day, she and her siblings visit army posts with aid materials prepared with sincerity.

"Now I am 67. As I grow older, I feel more deeply that it is my duty to hand the baton of national defence to my descendants by upholding the tradition of our military family," said Ju.