President Kim Il Sung wrote in his reminiscences "With the Century" that Kim Hyok made a lasting impression on him in his youth.

Experiencing the sorrow and sufferings of stateless people, Kim Hyok tried hard to find a distinguished leader who would wisely guide the Korean revolution.

At that time he was told that Kim Il Sung was leading the Korean revolution along a new path, and went to Jilin in China. There he came to believe that it was only Kim Il Sung who would liberate the country and the Korean nation from Japan's colonial rule, and hardened his will to follow him as the center of unity and leadership.

He composed song "Star of Korea", the first revolutionary hymn for the leader in Korea, to express his and other Korean revolutionaries' reverence for Kim Il Sung and the nation's happiness of having its leader.

Though Kim Il Sung stood against the dissemination of this hymn among people, Kim Hyok and other young Korean communists did not stop its spread.

After all, the song was widespread among the revolutionary organizations in different areas with Jilin as the center.