Kimjongilia is a beautiful, rare and precious flower which was bred by Kamomododeru, a Japanese horticulturist for nearly 20 years with his energetic study, thinking and efforts.
In February, 1988, on the occasion of his birthday, it was named after Leader Kim Jong Il who is highly praised as the greatest man in the world.
It has large and red flowers, heart-shaped green leaves and thick and strong stems. It reflects the image of the great man.
The birth of Kimjongilia after Kimilsungia, the flower of the sun, was an auspicious event of the world botanic circle and an event of human history produced by the boundless reverence and trust of the revolutionary people towards the great men who are recognized by the world people.
Later the International Horticultural Society officially registered Kimjongilia as a new flower of the Begonia family, and thus it has been recognized as the world famous flower.
It was awarded the best prize, the “grand” prize, the special prize, the gold cup, the first prize and the gold medal in 99 Kunming World Horticulture Fair, China, the 12th International Flower Exhibition, 2006 Shenyang World Horticulture Fair, China and other several horticulture fairs and flower exhibitions, thus demonstrating its fame.
Kimjongilia is now widely disseminated in many countries in 5 continents of the world though it is young.
While Kimjongilia was being disseminated widely, the Northern Europe Kimjongilia Society was formed in Sweden in 1995, giving a rise to an international organization whose purpose is to disseminate and propagate Kimjongilia.
Kimjongilia green houses were opened in China, Indonesia, Japan and other countries and the Mongolian Kimjongilia Society, the Japanese Society for People who Love Kimjongilia, the American Kimilsungia and Kimjongilia Society and other various forms of dissemination and sponsor organizations were formed in succession to widely disseminate Kimjongilia.
From the year 1997 the Kimjongilia Festival grandly and significantly opens every year in Pyongyang, the DPRK on the occasion of the February holiday, and its scale and form are developed further year after year.
The numbers of organizations, flowers and visitors have increased every year and the year 2007 exhibited over 25 000 flowers, which is over 30 times big in comparison with the 1st festival.
Up to now over 130 000 Kimjongilia were exhibited in 11 festivals which were visited by over 6 million soldiers, various sectors of working people, youths and students, overseas compatriots and foreign guests.
The festival of the sun’s flower held on a grand scale century after century is an expression of the Korean people and the world progressives’ ardent eulogy towards Leader Kim Jong Il, the great man and a reflection of their aspiration and desire to hold Leader Kim Jong Il in hig
The great image of Leader Kim Jong Il and honour and dignity of the Korean nation will be kept like the sun’s light in the mind of the world people, along with Kimjongilia, the immortal flower.
