The Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953) ended in a victory of the Korean people.
But, its consequences were very devastating and disastrous.
The U.S. bombing in the war left more than 8 700 factories destroyed and 90 000 hectares of farmland spoiled.
Power stations and reservoirs were severely damaged and towns and rural communities were reduced to ashes.
The U.S. imperialists said that the DPRK would not be able to get to its feet even in one hundred years.
Convinced of the victory in the war, President Kim Il Sung pressed ahead with preparations for post-war rehabilitation and construction in a far-sighted manner.
In early Juche 40 (1951), he gave an instruction to work out a blueprint for rehabilitating the capital city of Pyongyang. He had a Cabinet decision on reconstructing Pyongyang adopted in May 1952.
After the war, in August 1953 he delivered a historic report “Everything for the Postwar Rehabilitation and Development of the National Economy” at the 6th Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
He, in the report, proposed a basic line of postwar economic construction, the keynote of which was to give priority to building heavy industry while developing light industry and agriculture simultaneously.
The President channeled all efforts to liquidating the aftermath of the war.
Soon after the war, he called at the Kangnam Ceramic Factory and the Kangson Steel Plant, appealing to the workers to restart their operation at an earlier date.
When visiting the Hungnam Fertilizer Factory in South Hamgyong Province, which was heavily damaged in the war, he encouraged the workers there to restore the factory in a short time, mindful that the farmers in Hamhung Plain were bitterly lamenting over the ruined factory.
He went to Jangjingang Power Station, Joyang-ri, South Hamgyong Province, Sambong-ri, South Phyongan Province, Wonsan College of Agriculture and other industrial establishments, rural communities and educational and cultural institutions to arouse them to rehabilitation.
In response to his appeal, the workers of the Kangson Steel Plant restored the ruined electric furnace by their own efforts and made the plant operational 40 days after the war.
The then Songjin Steel Plant, too, reconstructed the electric furnace to begin production.
Railway workers opened the train service in all branch lines some days after the ceasefire.
Farmers worked hard to rezone the ravaged farmland and repair the irrigation facilities.
Under his energetic leadership, rapid rehabilitation and development were witnessed in the heavy and light industries and agriculture.
Meanwhile, Pyongyang and other local cities began making their appearances again on the ruins.
Thus, the post-war rehabilitation and construction was successfully carried out in Korea under the President’s wise guidance.
