On the occasion of the Day of the Sun, which is the 110th birth anniversary of the great Generalissimo Kim Il Sung this year, we look back on the great love and care he showed us with deep emotion.  

I still recollect with deep emotion the glorious days when I met the fatherly leader and miss him more and more as time goes by. 

I miss the bright smile of President Kim Il Sung and yearn for his benevolent embrace. 

I met him for the first time on April 14 1974 at the People’s Palace of Culture which had been inaugurated two days before and showed our performance to him whom I had longed to see awake or asleep.

And I had the honour of singing solos in the performance. 

I cannot fully describe the excitement and joy I felt when I fulfilled my dearest wish of singing in the presence of the great leader. 

I just stepped on the stage with a determination to put on an excellent performance with our loyalty to him. 

At that time, I could see the beaming image of the President.

I sang the song We Sing of Our Boundless Happiness by reflecting our gratitude to him. 

And then, I sang Warm Is the Love of the Motherland which sings of the warm love that is as high as a mountain and as deep as the sea of the motherland which, caring for those in the foreign land, sent them educational aid fund and stipends even when it was having the hardest time, in order to express our heartfelt gratitude to the motherland. 

The President gave me a big hand and called for an encore, so I sang the third song. 

I tried the song We Sing about the Homeland written by Chairman Han Tok Su of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, a reflection of the patriotic mind of Koreans in Japan, but I failed to finish it as I had a lump in my throat from the excitement of singing before the President whom I had longed to see all the time. 

My sobbing voice reverberated in the hall through the microphone. 

I clearly remember my trying hard to suppress my excitement and keep back my tears, telling myself that I shouldn’t cry on this stage of honour but give pleasure to the President. 

When I barely managed to calm down and looked forward, the President was taking off his glasses and taking a handkerchief to his eyes. 

He gave me another big clap when the song was over and asked for another song, saying I sang really well.

My last song was Song of Chollima Pioneers, which I sang vigorously in reflection of my determination. 

While singing the song, I shouted out in my mind the firm resolve to boundlessly uphold and follow the President who gave me the honour and happiness of that day and brought me up as an artiste of Juche Korea. 

The determination I made on the eternally unforgettable stage of honour has always been my invariable conviction. 

The great General Kim Jong Il invited the Kumgangsan Opera Troupe to the motherland every April and had a photograph taken with us. He built the troupe as an overseas national art troupe of the President, saying we could not think of our present happiness and joy apart from the President’s embrace.  

Today, the respected Marshal Kim Jong Un who is identical with the great leaders is guiding us. 

Though there are so many countries and famous artistes in the world, only the great leaders and the respected Marshal embrace the artistes in foreign lands and lead them step by step.

As an overseas artiste of Juche Korea which has enjoyed the blessings of having great leaders, brilliant commanders and the Sun through generations, I will sing the songs of praise and reverence for the great men until the last moment of my life.