Dear Comrade

Chapter 11. Military and civilian (1)

Chapter 11. Military and civilian (1)

It was November 1988, a time when the Eurasia giant Soviet Union was slowly approaching its sinking and the Cold War was leaning toward victory for the United States and the capitalist camps.

And around that time, the sudden change of regime in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a country far away from the socialist camp, was loudly heating up diplomats in each country.

China, Russia, the United States, and Japan, as well as direct stakeholders, as well as the South Korean intelligence agency and the Blue House, were in an unprecedented panic.

– Who the hell is Kim Jung-hwan? Where did you come from? How did you become the leader of North Korea? Rather, why don’t we know anything about this guy?

Less than 12 hours after Jeong Hwan took office as general secretary of the party, questions like these thundered through the doorsteps of intelligence agencies, embassies and high-ranking bureaucratic offices.

And the most shocking among them was the Ministry of National Security Planning, which oversees Korea’s internal and external information, called the ‘Security Ministry’ for short.

Whoa!

“ね…..!!”

A man in a shirt with rolled up sleeves was kicking his shin in a dark office of the Overseas Department of the National Security Agency in Imun-dong, Seoul.

The intense pain emanating from ‘Joint’ caused a moan to come out of his mouth, but the man clenched his teeth and tried not to hear the moan in the ear of the boss who had just kicked his shin.

It didn’t have much effect.

“Heh heh heh… I’m really… Did I just say this?ね? There are even groans in this panguk, and your mental state is very generous, Park Se-hwang? Just because the Olympics are over, I just lost my discipline. ok? right?”

“Oh, no! I will correct it immediately!”

“Yeah, fine, fine. Come on again. immobility.”

The man who had just kicked his shin, the 3rd deputy head of the Ministry of Security and Security, gave the order, and Park Se-hwang, a man in a shirt, immediately put his hands on his thighs and took a stand up posture.

And soon, a joint price several times stronger than before flew in.

“……………………”

For a moment, the sky turned yellow, and outstretched hands clenched into fists.

It was a blow that clearly revealed that the deputy commander was from the Airborne Brigade, but Park Se-hwang endured the pain as if he had been fighting the war in the dark, crossing Dandong, Shenyang, and Hong Kong.

Perhaps this time, even the deputy chief was a little surprised, he didn’t kick Park Se-hwang’s joint anymore.

Instead, he put his hands on his waist as if to cool himself off and took a deep breath.

“Whoa… Hey, Se-hwang Park, the head of the Overseas Information Center. Manager Park.”

“Old, Chief! Say it!”

“Now, where do you think I went with my supervisor?”

“…………”

“I’ve been to the Blue House, the Blue House! I went to the emergency cabinet meeting there, and I’m on my way back right now. But don’t you know what kind of disgrace our chief has suffered in front of other ministers and seniors? You bastard, huh!”

“………………”

I couldn’t have known

The memory of the opening ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games was still vivid to Park Se-hwang a while ago (it was not an exaggeration to say that the entire nation of Korea was prepared with great effort).

The Olympics are a global festival watched by people around the world.

It was impossible to describe in words the devotion and effort put in by the public and private military to publicize that the Republic of Korea is no longer a war-threatening country on the periphery and to certify that the national prestige has been raised to the next level.

Efforts in the sun were hard work, such as demolishing the ugly shack and decorating Seoul, but the efforts in the shade, led by them and the Ministry of Security, were not easy.

To sabotage this national event, the Olympics, knowing that those horned rednecks and North Koreans are looking for an opportunity to sabotage.

After confirming that there was no last single suspicion of terrorism under the direction of the second deputy chief’s office in charge of domestic security, Park Se-hwang was able to leave work after a long time.

As the position of the head of the Overseas Information Office, it was not directly within the scope of his duties, and it was a honey-like break he got after he ejaculated that he would forget the faces of his family, as he had more work to do overseas than to be in Korea.

And finally, on that day, when I tried to get some points from my family after a long time with the ticket to the opening ceremony, which I obtained by mobilizing my status and personal connections, everything changed.

‘Chief Park! What are you doing right now!’

‘yes? What happened?’

‘What’s going on, go to sleep and come out now! There was a big accident in the North!’

As soon as he heard the angry boss’ voice on the connected phone after seeing the number indicating the 3rd officer on the pager and the message ‘8282’ attached to it, Park Se-hwang had no choice but to run away like the wind, leaving his family behind.

Then, for a few days after that, all the HUMMINTs in the North-Chinese border area were operated and the collected information was collected with the analysts under his command.

‘Chief, given the strength of the North’s information control, it doesn’t seem like other railroad derailments or apartment collapses.’

‘Yeah, I don’t know what it is, but it seems like I’ve had a big accident. Otherwise, there would be no way to leak this much information. Maybe it’s a coup… I’m crazy, why the Olympics…’

‘I can’t believe it, a coup d’état in that psycho-controlled neighborhood… I think I can already hear the sound of the front troops being cut off on vacation.’

‘My friend, we’re already cut off. I don’t want to go home for at least ten days. Ugh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the faces of my family. I guess I’m not the Olympic ball seller.’

Jeong-hwan proposed a ceremony to commemorate the 76th floor of the Ryugyong Hotel, and suggested to Kim Jong-il not to invite foreign reporters.

The reason was that when the 105th floor, the final goal, was achieved, it would look better if foreign media were invited.

Rarely, when General Kim Jong-il and President Kim Il-sung were together, the General Guard, who wanted to prevent any possible contingency, agreed to this, and for the first few days, what was known outside the republic was limited.

But there are no eternal secrets in the world.

As soon as it became known through the embassy in North Korea that the Ryugyong Hotel, which North Korea was proud of, had collapsed, the reaction of most Koreans, even though they were bewildered, was ‘it’s a joke’.

As a result of reporting the citizens who came to watch the Olympics on the state broadcaster right away, the overwhelming majority of those who responded to the coverage said, ‘It seems that the fortunes of the country are finally turning to the other side’.

– Oh my, you look great, you bastards. They all trembled at all the damned plagues to catch up with our 63 Building. Anyone knows how to build skyscrapers. tttttttttttttttttttttttttt

– It’s cool inside! Finally, those who died at the Aung San Mausoleum over there in Myanmar may rest in peace even in the underworld.

– My father-in-law was dragged to the North on June 25 and has yet to come back, but seeing them being punished, the sky is still not indifferent.

Of course, there were others who reacted a little differently.

Many of the citizens were worried that North Korea might commit another sudden action following the accident, and a small number of them still applauded and said that they couldn’t like it.

However, either way, as the Ministry of National Security, they could not approach the accident from the same perspective as ordinary citizens.

Read at readwn.com

No, it was their thoughts, including Park Se-hwang, that it was questionable even from the beginning whether this was really a pure thought.

‘Deputy chief, information that has not been confirmed yet, but North Korea’s No. 1 and No. 2 are on the spot. It is said that Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il were both present. If those two people were killed or at least seriously injured in the accident, this is probably…’

‘Yeah, there’s going to be another wind of blood blowing. The collapse itself could be part of the bigger picture. But who else has the ability and guts to draw that big picture in the drums? People’s Army?’

‘It could be China or the Soviet Union. Anyway, we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out for now. I will tell the informants to keep their eyes and ears wide open.’

‘That’s right. Still, these redheads, if they die in vain like this, something will be lost…. Anyway, information control is going well, isn’t it? Cooperate well with the second chief’s office. Don’t scrape it again.’

‘…………..All right.’

‘Two Jindo dogs have already come down in front. But there is no need to inform the general public. You bastards like X, anyway, what’s the point of choking on a feast day? At the Olympics…’

‘…………..’

‘The Ryugyong Hotel accident is a big deal, so even if you say you couldn’t prevent it, there’s no need to deliberately circulate disturbing information like the possibility of a coup. What are you trying to do to make people anxious about the Olympics, not the election season?’

At that time, Se-hwang Park tried to say inwardly, wouldn’t it be better to be more vigilant, but in the end, he swallowed it.

During the Olympics, US forces in Korea reported that an object believed to be a fighter was detected while monitoring the skies over North Korea, suggesting that an armed conflict may have occurred in Pyongyang.

The foreign press gradually sensed something strange, and ghost stories circulated around Jongno and Yeouido, and the price of government bonds fell, but even then, the official position of the INS was ‘uncertain’.

In the past, there were many times when such information was false, and above all, it is the Olympic period.

I have been preparing for years to let the world know that Korea is not a dangerous truce state, but there was no need to surprise foreign tourists by acknowledging inaccurate information.

However, these concerns of Park Se-hwang soon became a reality that could no longer be hidden under the name of ‘General Secretary Kim Jeong-hwan’ and appeared before their eyes.

“Your Excellency stopped the manager and asked him! ‘What the hell is a friend named Kim Jeong-hwan doing? Answer me.’ But the manager came there with his mouth open, but what the hell are you bastards doing in the foreign intelligence office!!!!”

‘The third deputy chief who is in charge of North Korea’s intelligence is the same as you! Am I the only one who didn’t know who Junghwan Kim was? Why are you only fucking with me!’

Park Se-hwang wanted to shout …., but if he did, he would just keep his head down and listen, as the next time he was going to hit a fist instead of a joint.

The deputy chief, who was jumping and jumping, fussed about something as if he was exhausted from the fluff, and then immediately opened fire to Park Se-hwang.

“Don’t talk long. Go to Dandong right now. Find out everything there is to know! Is this a coup or a regime change? How the party congress was held, where did Kim Jong-il evaporate and Kim Il-sung is still president! And above all!”

“Yes Yes! Say it, Commander!”

Park Se-hwang, who had been swearing at the conductor inside, was startled by the growl of the conductor and raised his voice.

“.. Kim Jeong-hwan or something, is it a horse bone from where it came from, is it a real power in the North, or is it a madman! How will relations with North Korea work out and how will that affect your North Korea policy? You want to know that, okay?”

“No, leave it to me! I will definitely do it with the spirit of Myoksabonggong!”

“Anyway, you’re good at talking, you bastard. Ttttttttt…”

Soon after the conductor disappeared, Park Se-hwang sat down at his office desk and took out a brush cigarette.

Dandong is Dandong and Kim Jung-hwan is Kim Jeong-hwan, but in this case, nicotine supply was the top priority.

“Ha~~ That bastard’s 3rd commander that… ha…”

Park Se-hwang, who was smoking a cigarette and looking back at his work a while ago, murmured.

He had just discovered a patch attached to his shin under the hem of his trousers, which had just been lifted up slightly while the third commander was running rampant.

The pass covering his shin, which was still red, was emphasizing the fact that the deputy manager who had just polished him off somewhere excitedly ran to him with a ‘joint’.

And whoever kicked his joint… it doesn’t matter.

“In this guy’s Republic of Korea, work doesn’t work without a joint, work… X foot…”

Park Se-hwang went to the office after quitting his cigarette to buy a flight ticket to Dandong, with a hopeless civic wish that one day he would come to a non-violent Republic of Korea without articulation.

Meanwhile, in Pyongyang, far away from Seoul, Kim Jeong-hwan, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the main cause of the downtrend in the Ministry of Secrecy, was sitting in the secretary’s office on the third floor of the Workers’ Party building and reading the report.

Since taking office as general secretary, those around him thought he would start by consolidating his power by first defeating the people of former general Kim Jong-il, but that prediction was wrong.

The first thing Jeong-hwan did was to ask the heads of the party’s specialized departments to post a general report by field in order to take over the work.

So, for about a week, watching Jung-hwan chewing through the reports piled up like a mountain next to the gorgeous mahogany wooden desk in the secretary’s office, our family members were really hard at work (pretending to be) like this because of what kind of person this young general secretary is. It was the car I was watching while sleeping.

“Whew…”

Feeling the pain in his eyes, Jeonghwan immediately laid down the report that had been sent to the head of the light industry department on his desk.

Then he turned his gaze to the air, made his eyes rest, and then spit it out as if tossing it.

“You bastard !”