A Phone Call on May Day 

  The following happened on May Day in 2001.
That day Chairman Kim Jong Il called a senior official of Jagang Province over the phone.
The official thought Chairman Kim Jong Il had an important matter to tell him. But what Kim Jong Il said surprised him.
Kim Jong Il said: I often think about Kanggye; I cannot forget those coldest days in January 1998 when I gave on-site guidance in the Kanggye area; those days were really a hard period; but the people of Jagang Province did not flinch at all in the face of such grim hardships; seeing the working class of the province always working full of vigour and optimism even though they were on an unbearably arduous march, I felt we were getting stronger, not weakened; the people of Jagang Province gave me great strength and courage at that time. …
The official realized that the Chairman made a phone call to him on the first May Day in the new century out of his longing to see the people of Jagang Province.
After a short while, Kim Jong Il continued: I have failed to visit Jagang Province even once this year; so I am going to send the photo I had taken with you thinking that you are probably missing me.
Indeed, Kim Jong Il was a benevolent father of the working class, who always kept them in his mind.
Hearing him, the official was moved to tears.