Dear Comrade

Dear Comrade the Leader, Episode 204

Chapter 73. Korean People’s Army Comprehensive Firepower Demonstration

“What is the World Cup? What is the feat of reaching the round of 16 that will remain in the history of the Republic! Those who don’t know what’s really important are the installers… … .”

“Here and there, it’s all about the World Cup, so I couldn’t even get out of the strike. Even among the truck drivers, there are those who talk about the World Cup and get paid for negotiating with the management! They are so short-sighted and introverted, they always look like that.

In the midst of the World Cup fever, when the whole republic was not aware of the leak, a group of people gathered somewhere and complained about the reality.

Most of them were students in their 20s who looked like college students, but their complaints were not about who did good or bad at the World Cup, which was broadcast on flat-screen LCD TVs that were slowly starting to appear in the Republic, but rather the kind of dissatisfaction that anyone would be shocked or tired of immediately upon hearing it.

It was dissatisfaction with the Workers’ Party of Korea and the current system of North Korea.

“All these are the wicked craftsmanship of greedy party cadres who are full of the party, and foreign capitalists who cling to them! It’s a computer game, sports, and everything else that’s trying to divert people’s eyes from reality!”

“Besides, not long ago, South Korean capitalist Jeong Mun-young went to Gol, so he even declared a mourning period for a funeral! To mourn the south Korean bourgeoisie who sucked the blood of the people of the republic and got their ships washed, what the hell is the party thinking? Is this the Workers’ Party of Korea? Chosun capitalist Dang-Ei!”

“Shh! You guys take care of your mouth! These days, besides the Anti-Corruption Investigation Bureau, haven’t you heard that there are groupers like us who are chasing scoundrels like us? If you don’t want to disappear without even a mouse or a bird, shut up your snouts!”

All day long they spit in the air, drank beer and maotai, and vomited about the current state and situation, but in the end, all they could do right now was to disperse alone.

(Even though they were unable to describe themselves in detail yet), the truck protests, which were likely to be the trigger for any change or system change, were already buried in the World Cup fever, and the drivers who fought with them were tempted by the company. Because I was satisfied with the small wage increase and dismissed it.

But that did not mean that the discontent and anger in his heart had disappeared.

Someday, perhaps in the not-too-distant future, they will rise again with new slogans, new organizations, but similar beliefs.

And then it will never go away as easily as this time.

* * *

2003 was a year of change, so to speak, when the North-South Joint World Cup ended in 2002 and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was celebrated.

In fact, since the historic reform and opening of the 1990s and the transition to the market economy system, everything has changed day by day and the traces of the old republic have been rapidly disappearing. woke up.

One of the changes you can feel right now is… … .

“It’s delicious too. this. It’s really strange, is there something genetically innate in this Korean people’s fried chicken?”

In fact, Jeong-hwan’s day, when he almost managed North Korea’s politics and even the economy with one hand, had to be very busy.

As a result, there were many cases of filling meals while on the go.

Read at readwn.com

Normally, the chef in charge of the clerk’s office packs rice cakes (boxed lunches) considering both taste and nutrition, but there were times when I ate a ‘special meal’ like McDonald’s.

“… … Why not just eat KFC? To be honest, I still don’t know what’s different… … .”

“Twitter, lieutenant Yu still doesn’t know the true taste of chicken. I bet you, in the next 15 years, the republic, or the supreme dignity of the people of the North and South, will be this chicken, right?”

Yoo Hye-rim, who sat in the driver’s seat, tilted her head to the end at Jung-hwan’s joke as she looked at the documents with chicken oil on her fingers in the back seat of the official car.

One of the changes that occurred in North Korea after the World Cup was the delivery-style fried chicken that Jung Hwan is eating now, and it was a social phenomenon that was almost the same as what occurred in Korea at the same time, at the level of decalcomania.

The business form of having food delivered was already common in North Korea.

Most of the businesses that Korean immigrants, who were already one step ahead of the chicken-leading country (?), came to North Korea after the financial crisis and started, similar to other immigrants, were the catering business.

And when the World Cup was held, South and North Korea soon achieved great unity in the fact that there was no leisure other than eating the chicken delivered by others while playing the World Cup broadcast at home, blowing air on the air conditioner, and sipping a beer.

“It’s strangely different from KFC. Similar, but something is wrong. That’s right.”

It was certainly not that there was no way to eat fried chicken in North Korea (like KFC) before, but it was the World Cup that led to the creation of a business in which a delivery man on a motorcycle takes an order and delivers fried chicken to each household.

Almost six months have passed since the World Cup, and now, in 2003, the chicken franchise industry was booming in the Republic.

“It would be great if I only learned chicken. … But it’s not like that, so it hurts my head.”

While muttering like that, Jeonghwan roughly wiped his hands with a napkin and opened the Goryeo Ilbo in the car.

On page 1 it was written:

The 16th President of the Republic of Korea Hyun-chang Lee, the people choose the economy again.

A win-win election like never before… … Lee Hyun-chang’s rival, Noh Yun-hyeon, although he lost, quickly emerged from an unknown politician to a promising prospect in the opposition.

The propaganda of Noh Yun-hyeon that no one expected… … Fighting on an equal footing with Lee Hyun-chang, the ace of the huge ruling party, in the presidential election!

Inauguration of the new President Lee, ‘We will make efforts to meet the demands of the new era of the 21st century while preserving the conservative values of economy and national defense… … .’ He seemed to be conscious of the growing demands of progressive forces and criticism of being an authoritarian.

“Isn’t this a sufficiently predictable result? It is surprising that a candidate like Noh Yun-hyun would do so well… … .”

“… … I didn’t expect it. I thought that the conservative forces in South Korea would regroup and sharpen their swords after the Great Inter-Korean Compromise. But this… … .”

It was just as Jeonghwan said.

The South’s evaluation of the North-South Grand Agreement and the corporate mergers and loans that resulted from it was largely divided into two parts.

The first was the opinion to favorably accept the North’s loan and economic support, to end the years of inter-Korean conflict and to move forward toward the nation’s longing for unification.

Through this compromise, the two Koreas are now united under the common value of a market economy system.

Read at readwn.com

Now, all that remains is the ultimate goal of unification, so let’s get rid of unnecessary foreign interference such as the United States and Japan and start planning for unification in earnest. It may be difficult right now, but wouldn’t it be better to form a constitutional assembly for unification under the agreement of the leaders of the two Koreas and unify the laws, institutions and systems one by one over the course of 10 years?

It was an argument made mainly by the progressive camp, and it was a story that gained quite persuasive power to the public due to sporadic immigration to North Korea due to the economic crisis and the World Cup.

This discussion on unification has been a hot topic at all universities, conference rooms, drinking parties, and tables in Korea for the past three years, but soon there is a backlash, and now the two logics are in a state of political antagonism.

It is acknowledged that North Korea has made reform and opening up and has now practically given up on military provocations, i.e., vague goals such as unification of red flags.

But, did you ever come up with the story of unification first? If North Korean leader Kim Jeong-hwan really wants unification, how can he explain why he resumed diplomacy with South Korea only after maintaining a strategy of ignoring South Korea for 10 years after reform and opening up and then resuming a national level that would not be absorbed by others?

Moreover, North Korea is now conducting ruthless sweeping operations in Afghanistan, and has not yet broken the DPRK-China alliance with China, which was the main culprit that blocked reunification during the Korean War. All these controversies aside, listen to the testimonies of Koreans who have immigrated to North Korea right now. Newspapers, broadcasters, and most large corporations hold stakes in state-run funds, and if they complain about their leaders or the system, they will go bankrupt. heavy fines and imprisonment. Do you see this system as a system that can be integrated with the Republic of Korea?

And Lee Hyun-chang’s election as president this time was proof that the supporters of this second logic, centered on the conservatives, had won the primary victory.

President Lee Hyun-chang, who was elected in this way, declared a policy suited to the taste buds as if responding to the demands of the conservative voters who elected him.

– Fellow citizens! A strong country comes from a strong defense! Now, by 2020, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces declares that it will be reborn as a technical force equipped with an outstanding air force and navy, not a deformed national defense force that is biased toward the army! To this end, the ‘government in principle’ following me, the new government, and the people’s government will launch a plan called ‘defense reform 2017’ and do everything in its power to have a systematic and advanced national defense capability that can protect the sovereignty of the country.

“The reason why someone suddenly raised such a national defense power… … Does this mean that we are still defining our republic as hypothetical?”

“About half? Seeing that you said that you would break away from the center of the army, it seems that an all-out war with us is almost out of sight now… … Leaving behind doctrines and notions of the main enemy, he must have declared that he was aiming for the republic and strengthening the national defense power. In any case, the last thing that the community of the state can rely on for its existence is not an ideology or a system, but in the end it is armed forces and military power.”

‘Defense Reform 2017’, which Lee Hyun-chang and the newly launched ‘Government of Principles’ has been carrying out since the beginning of their inauguration, was earlier than the ‘Defense Reform 2020’ that Jeong Hwan knew in the original history (other president’s), but most of the detailed agenda was the same. It was the same in terms of whether it was good or bad.

It was that Jeong-hwan did not specify a clear hypothetical enemy, although it may be in the current political situation in which he is living in a strange cohabitation that is neither harmonious nor hostile with North Korea.

Most of the plans to strengthen national defense power, which were put on hold or canceled during the financial crisis, were revived, but no matter where you look in the draft plan, only the furiously vague goal of ‘to develop a strong national defense capability that can respond to any situation and any enemy’ was written. It was not written at all whether the country was most likely to go to war.

Even though the discussion on unification is not progressing, the Lee Hyun-chang administration’s goal to properly manage relations with North Korea while matching the base of support in the present situation where the two Koreas exchange incomparably more than in the original history was clearly visible.

“Anyway, you are quite high. Well, this is not something I am in a position to swear at.”

Jeonghwan muttered as he folded the newspaper.

Right now, busy with public affairs, the place he is heading to is closely related to North Korea’s defense reform.

Then the car stopped.

“Ah, you have arrived.”

“Yes, it has already been listed in a hundred … … No, Comrade Chasu has arrived and is waiting for you.”

After leaving Pyongyang for quite some time, Jung-hwan’s official car started to slow down and passed the barbed-wire fence on the outskirts with this warning sign on it.

warning. It is strictly forbidden to enter, access, and take pictures of the facility except for authorized citizens. Violation of this will result in the death penalty or a prison sentence of 25 years or more.

The Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army

After passing through the barbed wire fence, the guardhouse came out, and at the front door guarded by the guardhouse, there was a signboard reading ‘Kim Jeonghwan Defense Science Research Institute 2nd Branch’.

Soon, when the security vehicle that was leading Jeonghwan’s vehicle first informed the guard that it was a top secret visit, the iron door was opened in a hurry.

Jeonghwan got out of the car and threw a word as he saw a friendly face walking out to greet him.

“It’s been quite a while. Comrade Antonov. I thought I was just hanging on to airplanes at the Advanced Aviation Regiment, but what happened to the ground weapons test site all of a sudden?”

“Have you forgotten that you haven’t seen it? I also came in as an aerodynamics consultant when designing a direct flight (helicopter). Now, and thanks to the genius of this body, there has been a lot of progress. By the way, the secretary general. What do you want to see first? helicopter? self-propelled guns? Or the next main battle tank?”

“From the main tank.”