Before the liberation of Korea from Japan's colonial rule, the Pothong River was known as an object disastrous to the people as it would flood villages and farm fields in rainy season, claiming a number of lives.

So, the President decided to start the river improvement project first as part of the grand nature-remaking project for freeing people from the restriction of nature after the country’s liberation.

He personally examined a blueprint for the river improvement project and made a field survey to indicate the way for finishing the project ahead of the rainy season that year.

Under his guidance, Pyongyangites finished the project in 55 days by removing more than 420 000 cubic meters of earth and building five kilometer-long embankment.

With the completion of the project, the Pothong River could run into the Taedong River through a new waterway. And nearly ten kilometer-long canal was formed in the spot where the river flows and 300-odd hectares of pleasure grounds were created alongside the canal.

Meanwhile, many edifices and streets like the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium, the People's Palace of Culture, the Ice Rink, and Chollima and Rakwon streets came into being on the banks of the river.

The Korean people erected the Monument to the Pothong River Improvement Project on Ponghwa Hill on May 21, 1971 to hand down the President's immortal feats through generations.