What She Infuses the Children with a Lot of Dreams
The Phalgol Primary School in Mangyongdae District in the capital city of Pyongyang is well-known to the whole country as well as to the city for its good Taekwon-Do.
Members of the Taekwon-Do group of the school won three trophy cups and tens of medals at the national Taekwon-Do games held last year and this year.
They took part in the Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance "Long Live the Workers' Party of Korea" for celebrating the 80th founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea in October, giving pleasure to the respected fatherly Marshal
Usually, people say that the ability of a pupil is that of a teacher.
Merited Athlete Ri Hyang Suk is training little Taekwon-Do players of the school. She has a rich career as a player and an instructor. She said:
"I learned and developed Taekwon-Do techniques at the state expense. I thought that I should teach children Taekwon-Do as a citizen with the honour of living in the homeland of Taekwon-Do, and began to teach them. I wanted to let all the pupils know about Taekwon-Do, an orthodox martial art."
Involved in the Taekwon-Do group of the school are pupils ranging from first-year to fifth-year ones--more than 30 in all.
Ri Hyang Suk trains the members of the group by dividing it into three categories. The pupils of the first category are qualified to take part in the matches, those of the second category have a certain degree of Taekwon-Do technique and those of the third category have just begun to learn Taekwon-Do.
"She taught us how to punch today. But it is somewhat difficult."
"She says we can become good Taekwon-Do players when we learn basic movements well."
Ri Hyang Suk directs a lot of efforts to such beginners as Ri Se Won and Pak Yong Jong. She went on:
"What assumes a large proportion in the daily training is the education of basic techniques. I put much effort into the training of basic techniques for the beginners in particular. As the pupils at such ages have a short period of attentiveness and lack of endurance, I apply game-style training method to the pupils so that they can be interested in Taekwon-Do."
Ri Hyang Suk said Taekwon-Do, an orthodox martial art of Korea, is a good sports event everybody can do free from limitation of physical constitution and location.
Thanks to her strenuous efforts, the pupils have valuable dreams to be famous Taekwon-Do players in the future.
"Before learning Taekwon-Do, my son didn't concentrate his attention on lessons and worried teachers. While playing Taekwon-Do, however, his concentration increased to 40 minutes from 5 minutes."
"I heard that the Taekwon-Do group of the Phalgol Primary School in Mangyongdae District was well-known to the whole country. So I called on the teacher and asked her to teach my son. Now my son has become a good Taekwon-Do boy well-known to the country."
"My daughter took part in the National Contest of Taekwon-Do Amateurs--2025 and won two gold medals. At that time, words failed to express my pleasure. My daughter Jong Hyang put up the national flag at the hoisting ceremony of the school on behalf of the Taekwon-Do group members. Back home, she told me that she hoisted the flag in the small playground but she would let the national flag flutter in the sky of the world when she grew up in the future."
Ri Jin A, Song Kyong Ae and Kim So Hyang had wondered if their children could play Taekwon-Do properly when they first asked her to teach them.
But now, they boast of their children who have grown to be good Taekwon-Do players.
Ri Hyang Suk infuses the dreamy pupils not only with the idea of Taekwon-Do but also with the patriotic mind to glorify the orthodox martial art of Korea in the world.