How a Soviet officer once saved Kim Il Sung’s life
It happened on March 1, 1946, in Pyongyang. Kim Il Sung, head of the provisional North Korean government, was addressing a rally on the square outside the railway station when someone in the crowd threw a grenade toward the podium. Second Lieutenant Yakov Novichenko from the security platoon, was the first to reach it. With no time to think and people all around, he threw himself to the ground and covered the grenade with his body.
The explosion tore off Novichenko’s right hand and injured his left eye. He was literally covered in wounds, yet, by some miracle, the junior lieutenant survived – a thick book tucked under his clothes had absorbed the brunt of the shrapnel.
Yakov Novichenko and Kim Il-sung in 1984.
Kim Il Sung regularly sent him flowers and fruit to the hospital and, later, presented him with a silver cigarette case bearing an inscription of gratitude. After recovering, the officer returned home; in 1951, he received the ‘Order of the Red Banner’ for his heroic deed, subsequently living a modest, low-profile life.
The North Korean delegation in the village of Travnoye in the Novosibirsk Region in 2014.
However, in 1984, everything changed dramatically: Kim Il Sung visited the USSR and decided to meet with his savior. At the leader's invitation, Novichenko visited the DPRK, where he was awarded the honorary title of ‘Hero of Labor and the Order of the National Flag’, 1st Class. In 1985, a joint Soviet-North Korean movie titled ‘A Second for a Heroic Deed’ was released and, a couple of years later, a monument was unveiled in North Korea depicting the Soviet officer lunging for the grenade, while leaning on the pages of a book.
A ceremony to launch traffic on the new road bridge over the Tumen River, named after Soviet officer Yakov Novichenko, 2026.
From that time on, Kim Il Sung and Novichenko maintained contact almost until the very end of their lives — both passed away in 1994. But, even after that, the brave junior lieutenant was not forgotten in North Korea. In 2014, the hero’s 100th birthday was widely celebrated there and a North Korean delegation led by the ambassador visited his native village of Travnoye, Novosibirsk Region. On September 7, 2026, the grand opening of the first road bridge connecting the two countries – named in honor of Yakov Novichenko – took place.