The President departed his birthplace, Mangyongdae in Pyongyang on January 22, Juche 14 (1925) and reached the Phophyong ferry in the northern tip of Korea after more than ten days.

In his reminiscences "With the Century", the President said:

"I had spent only two years back in my motherland, but I had learned and experienced much in those years. My most valuable experience was to have acquired a deep understanding of our people. Our people were simple, and industrious yet brave and strong-willed. They were staunch people who did not yield, whatever the adversity or hardship; they were polite and kindhearted and yet resolute and uncompromising against injustice. From that time I believed that I could liberate the country if I organized their efforts properly."

He walked slowly towards the opposite side of the river singing quietly the Song of the River Amnok.

He looked back at the mountains in the motherland over and again with sorrow and indignation. He made a grim resolve not to return before Korea had become independent.

True to that day's resolve, the President led the 20-year-long anti-Japanese war to a victory to accomplish the historic cause of national liberation.