After his departure from Mangyongdae, his birthplace, in January Juche 14 (1925) with the desire to liberate the usurped country at an early date and turn everything into Korea's, the President arrived at Phophyong in Kim Hyong Jik County, Ryanggang Province on February 3.

Phophyong was a small village facing Badaogou of China with the River Amnok between.

He walked a little way down from the Phophyong Ferry to the rapids and set foot on the frozen river. Then, he stepped back and picked up a pebble from the river bank, holding it firmly in his hand. It was his mind to take everything that could be a token and memento of the motherland and to keep it as a treasure.

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

In his reminiscences "With the Century", he wrote:

"As I sang this song, I wondered when I would be able to tread this land again, when I would return to this land where I grew up and where my forefathers' graves lay. Young as I was, I could not repress my sorrow at this thought."

The President embarked on the road of revolution in his teens, singing the "Song of the River Amnok", and achieved the historic cause of national liberation on August 15, 1945.

Later, he said that his life as a revolutionary started with the song.

The song is still now sung by the DPRK people in humble reverence.