It was one day of January Juche 87 (1998) that he arrived in Jagang Province to give field guidance to over 20 units of the province. An official informed him of the weather at the height of winter cold, rough topographical conditions and the state of road frozen by heavy snowfall. Nevertheless, he left for the units, saying he had to lead the people to the final victory in the forced march.

In December 2011 when the country saw the heaviest snowfall in 60 years, he inspected different units in South Hamgyong Province to give highly important instructions to improve the provincial work.

The next legs of his journey were military units, the Hana Musical Information Centre, the Kwangbok Area Supermarket and others.

Even in the evening of December 16, 2011, one day before his demise, he took measures for the supply of fish to Pyongyang citizens before taking a train to continue his inspection tour.