The respected Comrade
"In the days of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle our women waged a bloody struggle with weapons in hand to liberate their country. In the days of the fierce Fatherland Liberation War they fought do-or-die battles on the frontline and in the rear to defend their country against the imperialist aggression, displaying unparalleled bravery and a self-sacrificing spirit."
Thae Son Hui is well-known as the first woman pilot of DPR Korea.
But how she fulfilled her wishes and led a glorious life is not well-known.
She was honored to be the first woman pilot in our country in the warm bosom of President
She originally had an unusual dream to become a pilot.
After liberation, she took an aviation course at the Aeronautics Department of the Pyongyang Institute and trained to be a pilot at the Air Club of the Association of Supporters of National Defense. However, her dream vanished out of the blue.
She was discharged because women were thought to be naturally unfit for plane flight.
This was totally intolerable to her as she had been looking forward to the mission of revenge on the enemies a thousandfold when the Fatherland Liberation War broke out.
But she had nobody or nowhere to complain her agony to.
She learned later that she had been discharged due to the wrong conceptions and narrow-minded working attitudes of some officials obsessed with old feudal ideas of disbelieving and neglecting women's power.
But a few months later in March 1951, she was informed that the President gave attention to let her rejoin the air force.
While learning the situation of the air force unit, the President criticized the officials full of feudal ideas who despised our women and said that it was an exemplary deed that she applied herself to become a pilot as a woman and that she should be accepted in the army again as she desired to be trained as a good woman pilot of DPR Korea.
So she could rejoin the air force.
The President not only helped her realize her dream, but also paid special attention to her flight training.
He learned about her health and living conditions in detail and said that she had to be given a physically adequate training as she was the first female pilot to be trained in the country. He also saw to it that the training intensity should be set appropriate, good training conditions would be provided and made sure that the scaffolds were remodeled to adapt to her rather small height and even took meticulous care of her daily routine and diet.
Under such meticulous guidance and care of him, she grew to be a good pilot and was assigned to the newly-organized night bomber squad to take part in the mission.
In the first sortie, she bombed an island in the Korean West Sea where the enemy's radar and communication equipment were concentrated, and then took part in several night bombing sorties afterwards.
The President was very pleased to have this fact reported and granted her the title of DPRK Hero on her.
On the day when she was awarded the title of DPRK Hero, she was so grateful that she shed tears for his love of having brought her up to be a good pilot and a heroine, who had been thrown away like a scorn under the colonial rule of the Japanese imperialists.
She fought more bravely with a resolution to prove worthy of the great love and trust of the President.
On December 31, 1951, she flew into the enemy's area secretly on a combat mission to bomb Kumpho Airport and Inchon Port at night in a bid to frustrate the enemy's desperate offensive, burning dozens of enemy planes, several fuel tanks, huge military hardware and munitions and destroying many enemy troops.
The President was very pleased with the achievements of the air force unit and personally met her in the morning of the New Year's Day in 1952.
She was so touched with emotion that she was shedding tears. The President kindly held her hand and asked her how old she was, where her parents lived, when she started flying and what it was like to fly the combat missions and whether women would be able to fly.
She answered, "Supreme Commander, women can also fly. If they are determined to defend the country and people at the cost of their lives, they can do anything."
Satisfied by her answer, the President asked her how many times she had taken part in the night bombing missions, how she had bombed in the enemy's position, what came into her eyes when she was flying at night, and how strong the enemy's anti-air fire was.
The President said that nothing is impossible to a determined mind and that the Korean women have a tradition of fighting as well as men since the anti-Japanese armed struggle. He said that it is a good example that everyone should follow.
He suggested having a memorial photo taken and even chose a place for it. He stood her by his side, said that the photo should be good enough as it was for the dear lady pilot, and it cost him 3 times to pose for the photograph.
Saying that he would give her something to commemorate, he gave her a simple small pistol as a gift.
With such loving care and trust, heroine Thae Son Hui was appointed the first leader of the newly-formed women's flying company in May 1952 and fought bravely together with the women pilots to defend the sky of the country.
To conclude, the brilliant life of the first woman pilot is unthinkable apart from the greatness, loving care of the President.
Many women pilots and brave defenders of the DPRK have grown up under his warm care and reliably defend the blue sky of the country generation after generation.
