On this day, people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea recall with deep emotion the undying feats of President Kim Il Sung, who kindled the torch of grand nature-remaking project after the country's liberation from Japan's colonial rule (August 15, 1945).

Before the liberation, the Pothong River, a tributary of the River Taedong, was known as an object disastrous to the people as it would flood villages and fields in rainy seasons, claiming a number of lives.

Taking to his heart the sufferings of inhabitants living alongside the river, Kim Il Sung initiated its improvement project as the first target of the grand nature-remaking projects for building a prosperous, independent and sovereign state.

After appealing to the Pyongyangites to turn out in the project, he went to the project site on May 21, Juche 35 (1946) and personally did the spade work to signal the ground breaking.

Greatly inspired by him, the Pyongyangites finished the project in 55 days by removing 420,000 cubic meters of earth and building five kilometer-long embankment.

With the completion of the project, the Pothong River could find its way directly to the Taedong River with over 300 hectares of land alongside the river turned into pleasure grounds.

Built on the bank of the river are such edifices as the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium, the People's Palace of Culture, the Ice Rink, the Chongryu Restaurant, Changgwang Health Complex, the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, sports parks, and Chollima and Rakwon streets.

The Korean people erected the Monument to the Pothong River Improvement Project on Ponghwa Hill on May 21, 1971 to hand down through generations Kim Il Sung's feats