You say, do the Koreans really believe all this? I imagine it is with him as with our Lord, Who is the Truth Incarnate. There are some who really do believe everything that is written, and pass it on to those around them. Others are guarded and questioning in their beliefs. Some disbelieve and yet keep quiet from fear. But the legends persist and must be known if one is to understand the North Korean mind-set.

EVEN BULLETS AVOID HIM

It happened at the battle at Luoziguo during the early days of the armed struggle against the Japanese imperialists. It was a joint operation with the Chinese anti-Japanese forces.

The greatest obstacle in the battle was the fort on a western hill. The battle went on for three days because of the enemy's desperate resistance from the fort.

Some soldiers of the Chinese units, dispirited by the wounds suffered by their commanders, began taking to flight in a disorderly manner.

Shots from the fort pinned everybody down on the ground so that nobody dared to approach the fort. At that moment Kim Il Sung, Commander of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, shouted, "We must seize the fort at any cost!" and charged forward with a Mauser in his hand.

The shower of machine gun bullets from the fort grazed his ears, and a bullet even pierced through his cap. Mortar shells fell all around him.

But he dashed forward without pause. The KPRA men sprang to their feet and followed him. The "impregnable" fort fell into the hands of the KPRA in 30 minutes after a few days' resistance. A red flag was hoisted on top of the fort. After the battle, commanders and soldiers rushed up to see Kim Il Sung, and he was smiling as if nothing had happened.

In the days when the KPRA was commencing the record of victory, there was already a legendary saying that even bullets avoided him.