One day in April Juche 43 (1954), President Kim Il Sung visited Mt Myohyang.

While enjoying the mountain's scenery, he came to see a withering mulberry near Pohyon Temple in the mountain.

He told accompanying officials that a step should be taken to protect this hundred-years-old tree which cannot be found in other places.

Until then, officials had no idea of saving the tree, regarding it as the natural principle that any tree would die with the passage of years.

The President taught officials that even a tree is a precious asset of the country, saying that our people fought at the cost of their lives to defend the beautiful country during the Fatherland Liberation War.

He continued: A man can be a good person soon if he is well educated, but a tree can play its role only when it has grown up for decades or centuries. It is patriotism to value and love even a single tree and a blade of grass in the country.

His teachings deeply implanted into the mind of officials the precious truth that bravery, self-sacrificing spirit and heroic feats of the people are unthinkable without ardent patriotism. -0-