If you go to Neighbourhood Unit No. 17, Yangji-dong, Phyongsong, South Phyongan Province, you can see Kim Chang Hyon’s family living in Flat No. 5 on the third floor, which is called “House of Flowers.” The house where different flowering and ornamental plants are growing resembles a small flower garden. There are 20-odd species of flowering plants, including Kimjongilia, oleander, Clivia miniata, and Phyllocactus ackermannii. They are looked after by Kim Jin Song, the only son of the family who is at the junior class of the Yangji Senior Middle School in Phyongsong.
Originally, Jin Song’s parents were fond of tending flowers, so he unusually liked flowers from his childhood. On one rainy day Jin Song returned home with a seedling he had found unattended on the street. Seeing the plant the boy covered with his raincoat, his parents felt proud of him and patted him on the back. Now the boy planted the seedling in a pot and tended it for the first time in his life, but he failed to keep it alive. He was sad for several days, just looking at the empty pot.
One day he said to his parents abruptly that he would learn how to cultivate flowers.
Afterwards, Jin Song obtained several species of flowers from greenhouses and grew them with the help of his parents. His parents let him know how to cultivate each of the flowers, and they told him stories associated with them. When Jin Song and his mother, Chae Yong Hui, were transplanting chrysanthemum, she said: “You know, chrysanthemum was cultivated in our country from of old. It’s a favourite flower of us Korean people for a long time, because it blooms in a severe frost and symbolizes honesty and purity as it has a straight stem and its bloom is of clear colour.” Hearing his mother’s story Jin Song was determined to develop a firm will like the flower. Thanks to his parents’ effort he developed a good disposition while tending flowers.
Three years ago when he was on a tour of Pyongyang he happened to visit the venue of the Kimjongilia festival on the occasion of the Day of the Shining Star. He was struck with wonder while looking round the flower stands decorated with rare and beautiful flowers and other ornaments centring on the immortal flower Kimjongilia. When Jin Song heard an explanation about Kimjongilia before one of those stands, he made a determination to cultivate this flower though there would be many difficulties. His parents actively supported his resolve and provided him with necessary reference books, pots, a trowel and a sprayer. His relatives also sent him Kimjongilia seedlings. Reading reference books Jin Song put his heart and soul into the flower cultivation. He presented full-blown Kimjongilia flowers to provincial Kimjongilia exhibitions several times, getting high appreciation.
He has already acquired a good knowledge and skill of floriculture, but he is still devoting his sincere effort to the cultivation of the immortal flower. All of his family also share the same mind with him. Kim Hyon Gyong, chief of the neighbourhood unit, says, “The flowers in Jin Song’s family reflect the mind that loves life and future. For this reason they look lovelier. This is the house of flowers, and it’s the pride of my neighbourhood unit.”