In recent history, the friendship between China and North Korea is the strongest international relationship, and in the 1950s and 1960s, China and North Korea could be described as "lips and teeth dependent" iron brothers, the staunchest allies of the socialist camp.
In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, China and the DPRK thoroughly smashed the conspiracy of imperialist aggression by the United States and other countries through sincere cooperation and joint efforts. For our country, the victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is not only a battle for the founding of the country, but also a stepping stone for New China to declare sovereignty to the world, while for the DPRK, it has a direct bearing on the foundation of the country and on the future of every citizen in the DPRK, which can be described as of great significance.
Korean
In this war between China and North Korea, China and north Korea have established a deep friendship. Although a comprehensive victory was already won in 1953 to resist us aggression and aid Korea, in order to prevent US imperialism from invading Korea again, our volunteer army did not return to the motherland until 1958.
After the war, Premier Zhou visited North Korea several times, and Kim Il Sung was invited to China many times, and the ties between the two countries became increasingly close, setting a record for the highest number of exchanges between the two countries.
Premier Zhou
During a visit to the DPRK, Premier Zhou brought Kim Il-sung a specialty of Tianjin, Shawo radish, which greatly touched many North Koreans. Later, Premier Zhou unfortunately died of illness, and when Kim Il Sung learned of it, he was so sad that his eyes were red with tears.
Why did Premier Zhou give Shawo radish to North Korea as a state gift? Does this shawo radish have any special meaning? What is the touching story between Kim Il Sung and Premier Zhou?
Many people believe that China and the DPRK only began to have close exchanges during the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, but in fact, it is not the case; as early as the period of China's Liberation War, China and the DPRK established a profound friendship.
During the War of Liberation, due to the limited equipment and materials of our Party, Kim Il Sung and other DPRKs repeatedly extended a helping hand and sent a lot of military materials and food aid to our Party from the territory of the DPRK.
As the saying goes: The grace of dripping water will be repaid by a gushing spring.
When our former good brother Korea was invaded by the United States and other imperialist United Nations forces, although China had just been founded and was in a difficult period of waiting for revival, and there was a shortage of materials in all aspects, Chairman Mao still called on young people from all walks of life to quickly form a volunteer army, resolutely crossed the Yalu River, and sent troops to aid Korea.
When the volunteers arrived in Korea, Kim Il Sung often went to Beijing to meet with Chairman Mao to discuss the next battle plan and how to protect the Korean Peninsula with minimal casualties. When Kim Il Sung and Chairman Mao met, Premier Zhou Enlai accompanied him almost every time, occasionally expressing his views.
After Kim Il Sung and Chairman Mao had finished talking about the war, they would always have a private conversation with Premier Zhou. Premier Zhou also often sent people to North Korea to convey his ideas to Kim Il Sung, and the relationship between the two became increasingly close during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
With the deepening of the exchanges, Kim Il Sung's understanding of Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou became more thorough, and he was more and more impressed by the knowledge and personality charm of the two chairmen, so Kim Il Sung always hoped that Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou would be able to visit his hometown.
In 1958, Premier Zhou Enlai was invited to Pyongyang, North Korea, to discuss with Kim Il Sung about the withdrawal of all volunteer troops from Korea, which was a fulfillment of Kim Il Sung's wish. After the talks, all the volunteer soldiers returned home with the good wishes of the Korean people.
Although Chairman Mao was unable to go to North Korea in person, Premier Zhou and others were warmly welcomed by the people of Pyongyang. When Premier Zhou went to North Korea, it was in the depths of winter, and the people of Pyongyang braved the cold of minus ten degrees Celsius to spontaneously arrive at the airport early and wait for the arrival of Premier Zhou and other Chinese delegations.
When Premier Zhou stepped off the plane, he saw that there were not only young people in the middle of the welcoming line, but also many white-haired old people and children, and their eyelashes were even hung with a layer of white snow frost, and the premier could not help but be touched and wet his eyes.
In order to greet Premier Zhou, the DPRK people also specially held a large-scale gala at the National Arts Theater to welcome the Chinese government delegation to visit the DPRK. Premier Zhou Enlai was deeply affected by the meeting and delivered a warm speech on the visit, which was praised by the clapping hands of the DPRK people.
The people of China and North Korea
North Korea not only borders our country geographically, but also has many similarities with our country in terms of culture and customs. On the day of Premier Zhou's visit, it coincided with China's Spring Festival, and the Korean people also have the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival. So Premier Zhou and Kim Il Sung raised glasses at the banquet and drank a few glasses of Chinese Moutai wine.
During the visit, Premier Zhou also braved the severe cold to visit the Xingnan Fertilizer Plant in the DPRK and the Korean masses in Hamheung City.
When Premier Zhou Enlai finished his visit and was preparing to embark on the way home, many North Korean masses, young and old, once again spontaneously gathered in the station square to give Premier Zhou many bouquets of flowers, large and small, and chased the premier's car for a long distance, and the premier also frequently waved to the masses on the car.
This visit is the first time since the founding of New China that he has taken the initiative to visit the DPRK, which not only smoothly brought the volunteer soldiers home, but also further promoted the friendly relations between China and the DPRK, which is of great historical significance. After this time, the contact between Premier Zhou and Kim Il Sung has also become more frequent.
In 1961, Kim Il Sung visited China as the head of state of the DPRK and signed the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance with China, and the signing representative sent by China was Premier Zhou.
Two years later, Kim Il became a heavy industry in the northeast of China and came specially, and Premier Zhou also took time out of his busy schedule to travel from Beijing to the northeast to meet and exchange with Kim Il Sung. This shows the depth of the friendship between the two.
In 1970, according to Chairman Mao's instructions, Premier Zhou Enlai paid a return visit to North Korea, and Kim Il Sung was even excited when he heard the news, temporarily postponed his work and personally went to the airport to meet him. It was also during this visit that Premier Zhou brought a very special gift - a pound of Tianjin's shawo radish.
This shawo radish is actually a relic commemorating the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. It is no longer ordinary food, but a physical testimony that witnessed the arduous two years and nine months.
At first, when the DPRK issued an application for assistance to our country, many countries in the world thought that the news of the DPRK's aid would sink into the sea, after all, we who had just founded the country at that time had many difficulties ourselves, but through many considerations, our country resolutely resisted the pressure of all sides and sent a strong and energetic volunteer army into the DPRK to fight.
After entering the DPRK, not only did china not have excellent military weapons, but even the minimum logistical support was difficult to supply in sufficient quantities. Especially during the War of Attrition, the U.S. army armed to the teeth suppressed the fire of our volunteer army, and Van Vliet set a record for the largest number of shells fired in history, when the support troops transporting supplies in our country suffered heavy losses, and the volunteer soldiers often fought hungry.
Relying on its absolute air superiority, the United Nations army used bombers to block our logistical supply routes, and the food and water transported were often depleted on the road. Later, volunteer soldiers accidentally discovered that radish was a very good thing, it could be well preserved in the cold weather of North Korea, and it was easier to transport than water; it could not only effectively replace dry food, but also had a lot of water in it to quench thirst; even if it was hit by enemy bullets, it could still be eaten to fill hunger.
So the country began to purchase a large number of radish to the Korean front, of which the Tianjin area is rich in Shawo radish as the best choice, it not only has the highest water content, but also has an excellent taste. It can be said that shawo radish played an important role in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
It is precisely because of the special meaning of Shawo radish that Premier Zhou sent Kim Il Sung a pound of good shawo radish during his visit to the DPRK. This time Shawo radish as a national gift once again witnessed the friendship between China and north Korea, Kim Il Sung looked at the watery radish in his hand, remembered the scene of the volunteer army fighting bravely in Korea to kill the enemy, and could not help but leave a touched tear, teardrops fell on the radish, crystal clear like jewels.
Shortly after Premier Zhou's return home, Kim Il Sung made a secret visit to Beijing, a period in which China and North Korea set records for the highest interaction between the two leaders.
Premier Zhou not only personally went to the airport to greet Kim Il-sung, but also accompanied him to the Diaoyutai Hotel to stay, and that evening, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou jointly hosted a banquet to entertain Kim Il-sung.
During this visit to China, China and the DPRK reached a lot of consensus. And Premier Zhou considered that October 10 is the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, and also intimately organized a banquet at the Great Hall of the People.
In the past decade, China and the DPRK have reached consensus on many international issues, been frank with each other, exchanged views, and always stood on the same stand.
In 1971, Kissinger visited China and conveyed to our country the message that "President Nixon is going to visit China," which undoubtedly represents the trend of easing Sino-US relations.
Considering that the Korean people had suffered greatly from the aggression of the United States, Premier Zhou Enlai went to the DPRK to meet with Kim Il-sung to conduct an in-depth analysis of the current world situation and explain the great significance behind China's move, hoping to gain the understanding of Kim Il-sung and the Korean people.
Through joint discussions, the DPRK side quickly sent a reply to our country, expressing its full respect for and understanding of our practices.
Soon after, Nixon visited China, and China and the United States officially broke the ice. Premier Zhou also traveled to Pyongyang again after Nixon's visit to China to exchange information with Kim Il Sung about the Sino-US meeting.
Just when China was gradually emerging in the world, Premier Zhou began to get sick frequently because of years of fatigue, and his physical condition was worse than a day.
In 1974, the premier was admitted to the hospital, and Kim Il-sung specially sent an ambassador to Visit Beijing; in 1975, accompanied by Comrade Deng Xiaoping, Kim Il-sung made a special trip to the hospital to visit Premier Zhou, and he did not expect that Premier Zhou on the hospital bed was the last person Kim Il-sung saw.
In 1976, Premier Zhou's condition deteriorated severely, and Kim Il Sung, who was close to the premier, again sent a special envoy to Beijing, but considering the prime minister's physical condition, the Chinese side declined the envoy's request for a visit. Later, when he learned of the premier's death, Kim Il Sung was extremely sad, unable to take care of his eye disease and crying, and his eyes were red and swollen, resulting in the eye surgery that was supposed to be postponed repeatedly.
In 1979, Kim Il Sung decided to build a bronze statue specifically for Premier Zhou and place it on the square of the Heungnam Fertilizer Factory that the premier had visited. In May of the same year, Premier Zhou's wife, Deng Yingchao, was invited to North Korea and personally attended the inauguration ceremony. Until now, the North Korean people have paid homage to the bronze statue of Premier Zhou on important holidays.
There used to be one in our elementary school Chinese textbook
The text entitled "Ten Mile Long Street To Send the Prime Minister" vividly tells the scene of the people reluctantly bidding farewell to the prime minister. In fact, Premier Zhou, who is deeply loved by the people, has not only made great contributions to Sino-DPRK relations, but also made great contributions to the founding and diplomacy of the entire new China, Premier Zhou has been running for the country and seeking blessings for the people all his life.