Electric Arc Furnace Blown Up

One day in late September Juche 36 (1947) the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung visited the then Songjin Steel Works on the east coast of the country.

After looking round several places of the works, Kim Il Sung said he wanted to see the electric arc furnace workshop.

At a loss what to do, the officials accompanying him told him that he could not go there because the workshop was a harmful and dangerous place.

But Kim Il Sung headed for the workshop, saying: I do not see any reason why I cannot go there when our workers are working there; I must see it as it is an important workshop which constitutes the first process of steel production.

Before the country’s liberation, the workshop had been a living hell where many workers were killed in accidents almost every day.

After liberation the works had ensured that dangerous parts were removed and safety regulations were strictly abided by, remarkably reducing the factors that might lead to accidents.

Standing in front of the furnace, he said: We cannot leave the workers working in such an environment, however important steel means to us; this workshop must be removed even though it may lead to a decrease in steel production.

Before leaving the works, he emphasized again that the workshop be eliminated.

But the smelters, filled with a determination to support his line of nation building, continued to operate the furnace.

Upon receiving a report on this, Kim Il Sung said that the workshop was a cursed place permeated with the rancor of the Korean workers and so it must be blown up to its foundation.

Later the works blew the furnace up.