Tuesday, April 30, 2019

"Age of Reason" (철드는 시절): Boyhood in North Korea

For a change of pace, this month’s post looks at the lighter side of North Korean literature. The following story, from a children’s literary magazine, lends insight into the use of humor in North Korean fiction writing.

"Age of Reason" (철드는 시절) is a short story by Ri Gyŏng Ae that appeared in Adong Munhak (date unknown) and was recently posted on the North Korean website uriminzokkiri.

Adong Munhak (Children's Literature) is the Party’s monthly literary journal directed at children. Stories from this journal may be read and discussed in schools as part of either the national language or moral education curriculum. Compared to Chosŏn Munhak and Chŏngnyŏn Munhak, the stories are much shorter and usually cover lighter topics. The journal also publishes poems, serial novels, fables, interviews and essays.

This coming-of-age story is told from the perspective of a rambunctious nine-year-old boy, Chŏl Song, who longs to "grow up" and be respected as "a hero." The young narrator rumbles through several humorous Dennis-the-Menace-style episodes before finally reaching the moral of the story.


The Story

One snowy winter day, Chŏl Song sneaks out of the schoolhouse with his buddies Hyŏn Sŏng and Pyŏng Hun to play in the snow. In short order they stack three enormous snowballs to build a snowman.
   “Well, what sort of snowman should he be? Father Harvest? An Ottogi doll?”
   I slap my knee. “I know! Let’s make an American jackal soldier (승냥이 미군놈), then we can smash him to smithereens!”
   “What a great idea. Chŏl-song, you’ve got a mind like a ball bearing!”
   Portly Pyŏng Hun waddled off home to retrieve a pot and a radish. While he was gone we sculpted the body. The result looked a bit more like a bear than a jackal, but it suited our purposes. We turned Pyŏng Hun's pot upside-down for a helmet, and the radish made for a perfect jutting hawk nose. We got excited just thinking how we would smash him down.
   After preparing a good-sized arsenal of snowballs, we opened fire. After several fusillades, the snow soldier collapsed magnificently. We then “shot” at it with sticks. My buddies cheered and I felt my heart swell, just as if I’d become a real hero of the People's Army.
A North Korean girl shoveling snow. Src: Daily Mail
The boys' cheery mood is doused when Chŏl-song's last ball strikes a Young Pioneer cadet (단위원) named Il Shim full in the face. His companions flee, afraid that the older girl will report on them. But she just glares at Chŏl Sung in annoyance and asks, "When are you going to grow up?" She then continues about her task, doggedly shoveling snow off the roadway.

The boys meet up back at Chŏl-song's house, where they discuss her comment. It seems all of them have been hearing this "grow up" phrase a lot lately, whenever they get into some mischief.
   “Well, growing up means getting bigger, right?” said Hyŏn Sŏng. “So all we need to do is hurry up and grow some.”
   “That’s right. You guys need to grow fatter, like me, and taller too.” Pyŏng Hun shook his fat belly proudly and extended his fist above his head to illustrate.
   “And our voices need to get lower,” Hyŏn Sŏng added, dropping his normally piping voice an octave. We all tried to talk low like adults, but no matter how hard we tried the result sounded weak and raspy.
   “It’s no use. To get a deep voice, you have to grow one of those ping-pong ball things in your throat first.” Hyŏn Sŏng pointed to his throat. “Like our dads have. That’s where the deep grown-up voice comes from.”
   How mysterious the grown-up world seemed.
   “That’s not all!” Pyŏng Hun rubbed his chin. “We have to grow beards!”
   We laughed out loud. “Imagine Pyŏng Hun with a big beard like a billy goat!”
   “Well, we’ll just shave like our dads do. Do you have any ideas of your own, Chŏl Song, or are you just going to pick on us?”
Chŏl Song gets the bright idea to pull some of his dad's business clothes out of the closet and try them on. He struggles into the snow-white shirt, wraps the tie clumsily around his neck, shrugs on the heavy jacket bedecked with medals, and digs his father's spectacles out of his desk. Finally he hangs his father's physicians' medal around his neck. The boys are mightily impressed with the result, and a scuffle ensues as they all want to try the clothes on. 

Il Shim walks in to find them rolling on the floor fighting over the clothes. Again, she tells them to "grow up." They patiently explain to her that they were trying to do just that.
   She chuckled. “I see. So you decided to grow up in a hurry. And then what?”
   “We’ll be heroes, of course,” I said.
   “Heroes?”
    “Yeah. I’m going to be a doctor like my dad, and Pyŏng Hun’s going to be a farm hero like his grandfather.”
   Nuna [big sister] started putting the clothes back on the hanger. “That’s a fine dream. But do you think you can become a hero just by imitating adults? … Do you know the trees in your schoolyard were planted by our hometown hero Hyŏng Nam? The hero Hyang Rim, whose name is known all over our country, was your age [when she died], and the hero Cho Hyŏk Chŏl was just two years older than you [two children who perished trying to save portraits of the leaders]. Nobody would ever call them immature.”
   We thought about that. “Nuna, are you grown up?”
   “Me?” She gazed off hazily toward the window for a moment, then shook her head slowly. “No, I’ve still got a long way to go.”
The next day, Il Shim comes across the boys joyfully sledding down a roadway, where they've poured well water from the hilltop to make an icy track.

"Chŏl Song," she says, "Won't our moms and dads have to travel this road for the spring planting? When you ice it over like that, how will the tractors and carts get up it?" Chastised, the boys help her haul sacks of gravel to pour down the hill. Passersby, including their parents, are pleasantly astonished to see the normally rowdy boys doing something to help the community. They exclaim over how “kids grow up so fast these days,” and the boys swell with pride.

Grabbing Il Shim’s hand, Ch’ŏl Song thanks her for “helping us to grow up,” and asks her how she came up with the idea to clear the road each day. She explains:
   “My father was in charge of maintaining this stretch of road. One spring day two years ago, he left for an assignment far away. Since then I’ve been keeping the road smooth, clearing rocks and ruts, waiting for him to return.
   “One sleety winter day, I stared out the window and just couldn’t bring myself to move. How could I have known that I would regret that decision for the rest of my life? For that very morning, our Great Leader, our General traveled along that very dangerous road on his way to a guidance visit.
   “That day I beat my chest and swore an oath, that I would grow up fast and do everything I could to ensure the General’s happiness.”
Chŏl Song reflects on their foolish attempts to mimick grown-ups, dropping their voices and pretending to shave. He says to his friends, “Hyŏn Sŏng, Pyŏng Hun, I’ve figured it out. To truly be grown-up is to want only to bring happiness to the Fatherly Leader.” [아버지원수님께 기쁨을 드릴 때 사람들은 철이 든다]. The children all hold hands and vow to work together to bring the Leader happiness.


Monday, April 1, 2019

The Hot Blizzard (뜨거운 눈보라): CNC, Sanctions, and R&D at the Taean Machine Factory

The Hot Blizzard (뜨거운 눈보라) is a short story by Kim Ch'ŏl Sun that appeared in Chosŏn Munhak in June 2016 and was reprinted in Chŏngryŏn Munhak in February 2017. Through this story we see how US sanctions attempt to disrupt North Korea's heavy industries, but the country's intrepid engineers are able to overcome the difficulties and emerge all the stronger for the adversity.

KJI touring Taean in 2009.
The story follows a guidance visit by Kim Jong Il to the Taean Heavy Machine Factory complex in 2009 and highlights CNC technology as an answer to US sanctions. This factory is a longstanding showcase of North Korean heavy industry; it is even featured on the North Korean tourism website exploredprk.com, which boasts that "Employees of the Taean Heavy Machine Complex in the DPRK put spurs to boosting the production of generating equipment with the will to frustrate the U.S. and other hostile forces’ harshest sanctions and provocations in the spirit of self-reliance."

The story jumps back and forth in time a lot over a 20-year period, showing how the factory has triumphed through adversity and how the main character has grown from a headstrong young engineer to a capable and seasoned problem-solver.

The Story

KJI’s SUV struggled through the first big blizzard of the new year. He’d set off on another guidance visit, overriding the earnest pleas of his staff that he not travel through such a bad storm.
   Their concerns were not unfounded. He was emaciated from endless hard work. But He had decided that 2009 would be the breakthrough year for achieving an economically prosperous nation (경제강국건설). Last December 24th He visited the birthplace of the Chollima Movement and lit the signal fires of Kangsŏn, which then spread to Sŏnggang, Namhŭng, Hŭngnam, Tanchŏn; to strike targets at the front lines of the economic battle (경제전선의 주타격대상) and all across the land. To keep fanning the flames, the General carried on His hard march of extreme labor (초강도강행군길).
KJI was greatly troubled by a report from the Taean machine factory. It seemed they were unable to produce a turbine for a certain hydropower plant the KPA was building, and thus the plant could not be made operational in time for the KWP Foundation Day celebrations. The machinery problem was seriously delaying the top-priority power supply restoration effort.

It was hard to believe that Manager Chang Tae Ch’ŏl could have overseen such a mistake. KJI had personally taken Chang under his wing many years ago. He recalled how they first met, 20 years ago, after Chang had been disciplined by his superior for "being overly pushy and causing mistakes."

Workers at Taean Factory. Src: dprktoday
Reading this account, KJI saw an unseemly abrasiveness and uncooperative nature - but also a stubborn intensity and revolutionary fighting spirit that needed nourishing.

With a heavy heart, he wrote a recommendation for “criticism education” (비판교양). Then, on impulse he picked up his prized orchid cactus and handed it to the waiting factory rep, telling him to give it to Chang on his return. “Horticulture is a good hobby for correcting one’s rough edges.”

Several months later, in a phone call with the Taean Factory director, he learned that Chang's attitude had completely transformed. He recommended that the young engineer be sent to the People’s Economic University (인민경제대학) for further training. After Chang had completed the university course, KJI set him up as a manager at Taean, the country’s largest industrial complex (련합기업소). The Leader even helped out when he heard Chang’s division needed materials to renovate their 장비직장건물, personally sending a large order of wood, cement and steel.

KIS touring the Taean Machine Factory in 1980.
Src: Uriminzokkiri
One day, while retrofitting the factory under Chang's orders, a young technician named Shin Sang Ch'ŏl suffered a bad fall. The doctors at  Kim Man Yu Hospital said he might never fully recover the use of his legs. Chang brought him to his own house to tend to him personally. He bathed him in medicinal herbs and muds, massaged him and served him potent herbal teas, even read to him when he had trouble sleeping. In just a few months, young Shin made an amazing recovery.

Years passed. Chang was promoted to a post in the Ministry of Heavy Industry; but bureaucratic work did not suit the hands-on engineer, so he soon returned to Paean.

Touring a dam site together some years earlier, Chang explained to KJI how his team had set an ambitious plan to adapt their largest rotor assemblages to CNC. But they were only using two turbine assemblages; KJI thought they should aim higher.
   “Looking at the global trend, and in terms of production efficiency, you can’t expect much with just two. You really need five axes. Of course, only a few countries have been able to achieve a synchronized five-axis turbine assemblage, but we must find a way to do it. You never know if you don’t try, and we have to show the world what we can do. To do that, we have to set bigger, bolder goals (더 대담하게 목표를 걸고). I know you are up to the task.”
   Chang nodded vigorously. “Yes, General! Count on it!”
   KJI smiled at the chief engineer’s enthusiasm. “First, to broaden your horizons and get a feel for the tech, you should go abroad and see how other countries are doing this. Go ahead and put together a delegation of your best engineers. You can go wherever you like.”

As ordered, Chang Dae Ch’ŏl had led a delegation of engineers on a 40-day tour of neighboring countries and Europe. They found a European manufacturer of CNC devices that had the part they needed to achieve a 5-axis assembly and even offered show them the specs. They reached an agreement and returned home.
A CNC-adapted assembly at Taean.
Src: dprktoday
Chang soon departed again to purchase the part. On his way, he had a layover in Moscow.
   When his flight stopped in Moscow, he ventured out to find the city abuzz with the news: Our country [NK] had met the US’ nuclear provocations by declaring itself a nuclear weapons power.
    In Russia, the astonishing event was on the front page of every newspaper and the lead of every TV news show, with everyone offering their own take and predictions for how the situation would unfold. Through all of them there was a palpable note of thrill that Korea would once again out-punch the United States, and amazement about our unimaginable gutsiness and resolve.
    When he arrived at the export company, the CEO’s formerly open and affable attitude was nowhere to be seen. He tossed the EU ruling onto the table and offered nothing but apologies. Since the US was threatening them with COCOM sanctions, he could neither sell them the CNC device nor show them the specs.
    So they returned home empty-handed. The General received their report, and around midnight He called up Chang, asking calmly: “Well, what are you going to do about this?”
   “General, our engineers are furious about what the US bastards are doing, and we’re determined to get this done by our own power (우리의 힘으로).”
   “Good thinking. The more they try their nasty underhanded tricks, the harder we have to push back with our own strength (자력갱생)."
They discussed a lot of complicated technical details. There was a tricky problem with the circuit coupling method; KJI immediately offered a bold solution that none of the engineers had conceived of in all their days and nights of working on this problem.

Engineers test a CNC machine at the Institute of Machine
Automation. Src: Uriminzokkiri
Chang's team got to work, and KJI dispatched some engineers from the Institute of Machine Automation (조종기계연구소) to help. In three months, the 5-axis assembly was operational.

KJI  toured the factory and met the factory managers, including Shin Sang Ch'ŏl, the once-injured worker who was now a lead engineer. He toured the factory history hall, where lovingly framed photos showing the Great Leader’s many guidance visits, and the showcase room, where new inventions and scientific breakthroughs of the factory are on display (the story takes time to describe these).

Then it was time to view the new CNC assembly.

KJI gazed proudly at the huge, smoothly spinning assembly. Turning to the weary but triumphant team of engineers, he spoke:
   “Of all the CNC machines we’ve made to date, I’m proudest of this one. Only the most advanced nations have been able to achieve a five-axis hydropower turbine assembly; that our engineers were able to build one through their own strength is truly amazing. The enemy took forceful measures to stop us from importing a five-axis assemblage, but the engineers of Taean really bloodied their noses good... That you were able to triumph under such tough circumstances makes this all the more precious.”
The engineers protested, saying it was all thanks to the General, who found a solution and supplied them all the equipment they needed. Everybody had tears in their eyes.
   The General could read the hardships reflected in their faces.  “Look at me,” He said softly. “You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you?”
   The party secretary spoke up. “It’s true, there’ve been some hard sacrifices. One of our material supply engineers was diagnosed with a terminal illness but still spent his few remaining months working tirelessly here. We kept pushing him to go to the hospital, but he insisted he’d rather spend his last days at work than in bed; he died by his phone after successfully acquiring the ferromagnetic material we needed. Ironically, it was he who had reported Chang Dae Ch'ŏl for criticism twenty years ago. He’d since resigned from management and returned to engineering, achieving many breakthroughs in material supply. For years, he’d been caring for that cactus You sent to us. As he slumped over his desk, dying, he asked that the cactus be laid beside him. He asked us to take good care of the cactus, then died.”
KJI touring Taean in 2009. Src: uriminzokkiri
They continued on the factory tour, observing various CNC-operated lathes, milling machines and cutters, a smoothly spinning assembly churning out stators for Nyŏngwon Electric Dam, a shiny new computer lab where they could now do 3-D modeling and experimental turbine simulations.

KJI was impressed by all of this hard work; still, the elephant in the room needed to be addressed.
   Taking a deliberately stern tone, He asked, “But why haven’t you built the generators for the military yet?”
   Chang hung his head. The party secretary answered: “General, we weren’t able to anticipate every circumstance. As soon as the new modernized process was ready we were planning to order the materials and start production, but we never imagined that the enemy’s sanctions would go so far. We were so focused on the modernization effort that we gave only secondary consideration to the people’s economic plan. I’m largely responsible. The manager said we should wait so that we could send the KPA more efficient generators made with modernized equipment, and I agreed.”
  Lead technician Shin Sang Ch’ŏl spoke up, his voice tight with guilt. “I’m also responsible. I supported the decision. Please punish me too.”
   Chang Dae Ch’ŏl lifted his head. “No, General, I am to blame for everything.” 
KJI ruminated for a moment. Of course it was wrong of them to ignore the economic plan, but their determination to secure a basis for better quality and efficiency was praiseworthy.
    The General suddenly stopped and turned to face them all. “The sanctions by the US imperialists and their followers will only get more severe.... At times like this, government must help our industries. As we have a planned economy, central guidance will always be important, but our enterprises cannot function properly if they are tied down by endless regulations in the name of central guidance. Now’s not the time to quibble about numbers and blame; we must match our economic policy with each factory’s management strategy and real circumstances.”
He declared that Chang was right to prioritize R&D and encouraged him to continue, offering to fully fund everything they needed for a top-of-the-line operation. Then, to their collective joy, he suggested that they all get their photo taken together in front of the 5-axis assembly. Chang began sobbing in an unmanly fashion.

Instead of punishment, KJI gave them a commendation. He told the workers that they had given him new energy and new faith that “victory in the construction of a strong and prosperous nation is certain.”

Finally KJI departed, looking hale and unshakable as he stepped out into the blinding snowstorm. As his car rolled away, he rolled down the window to wave at them, heedless of the snow and cold wind that swept into the car. The factory workers stood in the storm, but they didn’t feel cold at all. They were warmed by the General’s love.

R&D under Sanctions

This story is a prime example of North Korea's "what doesn't kill us will only make us stronger" propaganda approach to sanctions. We see how the factory is all set to import the technology they need from a European firm, when US sanctions (mentioned in passing to have been in response to the North's nuclear declaration) force them to develop the technology on their own instead. They succeed in short order, achieving a difficult piece of CNC technology that "only a few of the most advanced nations have been able to achieve."

At the climactic moment in the story, KJI makes a big speech:
   “The sanctions by the US imperialists and their followers will only get more severe. As long as we hold aloft the banners of self-determination and sŏngun, the enemy will never back down. That is why, now and forever, we must always believe in our own strength (자기 힘) and find solutions in our own style (자기식). Yesterday, today and tomorrow, self-rehabilitation (자력갱생) is our lifeline.”
This one speech includes most of the key late-KJI-era buzzwords and is a nice encapsulation of North Korean ideology at its core. To wit: it's better not to rely on other countries, even friendly ones, because the enemy can always cut off those sources. You may call it isolationist (and many do), but it is also the natural outcome for a country that has repeatedly lost vital supply lines throughout its history.

Of course, the reality is that being cut off from outside information and technology greatly inhibits R&D. But through stories like this, the Party reassures the domestic audience that its intrepid scientists are more than a match for US sanctions, and outside pressure only strengthens their resolve.

Lighting the signal fires of Kangsŏn

"Spirit of Kangsŏn" reads a banner in imminent danger
of combustion at Chollima Steel Factory.
Src: ournation-school.com
"The signal fires of Kangsŏn" (강선의 봉화) is a slogan associated with a late Kim Jong Il era economic revival policy that sought to emulate the earlier Chollima Movement of the 1950s, which drove a period of rapid reconstruction following the Korean War.  This slogan originated with an incident in December 2008 in which Kim Jong Il visited the Chollima Steel Factory, known as ground zero of the Chollima movement, and gave a speech invoking the "signal fires of Kangsŏn" - Kangsŏn being the factory's original name (http://nk.chosun.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=112379).

This slogan is clever in a couple of ways. Kangsŏn is a near-homonym for kangsŏng, "strong and prosperous," which had already become a big buzzword by 2008. "Signal fires" refer to a pre-modern Korean communication system of bonfires on high hilltops by which people could send warnings and mobilize forces across vast distances. Koreans are quite proud of this early signaling system, and it has featured in a number of movies and period dramas over the years - my personal favorite being the recent Netflix drama "Kingdom," in which it is used to warn the capital of a zombie outbreak in the southeast.

CNC revolution

I will admit to being so narrowly focused on North Korea that I was mistakenly under the impression that CNC (Computer Numerical Control) was just a North Korean thing. They certainly talk about it as if it was their own invention.

It turns out it is a rather universal term for the standardized system of automating the movements of industrial machines. A good short explanation (with animation!) can be found here. This site offers a bit more explanation about the whole deal with the axes. It seems that having more rotation axes allows for more efficient and precise work on complex surfaces. The things I learn through this blog project!

North Korea has promoted CNC technology heavily through a propaganda push since around 2009. Though KJI is the protagonist of this story, I strongly associate it with the rise of Kim Jong Un. NK Economy Watch did a long post about it back in 2010.

It is easy to see why an impoverished regime that is bent on rapidly catching up in manufacturing would seize upon automation as a sort of magic bullet. But CNC has taken on a broader meaning in regime propaganda, symbolizing all aspects of modernization and new technology. The Pochonbo Electric Ensemble even wrote a catchy song about CNC that provides a great compendium of KJU-related slogans.

It is interesting that this story shows North Korean engineers first going on a study tour of “developed countries” to acquire the CNC technology they need. It’s also telling that the unnamed European company seems cooperative and happy to sell them the technology at first, until they get threatened with US sanctions.

Seed Theory

This story is a good easy example of “seed theory,” the literary technique attributed to Kim Jong Il. Every story must have a “seed,” some small symbolic element that appears throughout the story, ties the narrative together, and represents the overall meaning. In this story, I believe the seed is the orchid cactus. It’s lurking in almost every scene, and gets the spotlight at important moments. As the party secretary explains, “That cactus has become a symbol of our General’s love for and faith in factory workers, and of our devotion to our General.”

Seed Theory was first promulgated through Kim Jong Il's treatise On the Art of the Cinema, published in 1973. According to the North Korean Literature and Art Dictionary, "The seed, which forms the core of any literary and art work, is a fundamental element that determines the value of the work and the authors and artists must hold the seed straight in order to convey clearly his thoughts and aesthetic intention and assure the philosophical value of their work."

In his memoir, defector Kim Ju-sŏng writes about how much of his literary training as a member of the Korean Writer’s Union revolved around trying to identify the "seeds" in various famous literary works. The seed in The Flower Girl, for instance, is the basket that the girl carries with her everywhere.

I got some further clarification on Seed Theory from Alek Sigley, founder of Tongil Tours and current MA student in literature at Kim Il Sung University. In his literature classes, he was taught to identify the seed (종자), the subject (주제) and the ideology (사상) in a story.

Sigley’s literary theory textbook quotes Kim Jong Il as writing, “The seed is the basic idea at the core of the story that the author is trying to communicate; it is the ideological kernel upon which the entire story is rooted.” The textbook gives an example analysis of the novel/play The Destiny of a Self-Defense Corpsman [한 자위단원의 운명], one of the five "immortal classics" (불후의 고전적명작) attributed to Kim Il Sung. The seed of this story is explained to be the main character’s realization that he will lose his life whether he fights in the corps or not - that life under Japanese occupation is no true life at all.

Revolutionary Mentorship

It has not escaped my attention that each of the last four stories I've reviewed features a close, emotionally fraught relationship between two men. "Night Path" depicted the rivalry between an older manure farmer and his dimpled young frenemy, with the younger man oddly playing the role of guide and mentor. "Morning of Departure" painted a portrait of two old army buddies reuniting under tense circumstances, as one had to bring the long arm of the law down on the other. "Unification Arirang" followed the reconciliation of two old friends, a musician and choreographer, who had been separated since the Korean War. Each of these relationships had elements of admiration, envy and rivalry.

Commemorative stamp promoting CNC
In this story, KJI mentors Chang and is pleased in turn to see Chang mentoring young Shin. After hearing about how Chang nursed Shin back to health, he gazes at Chang proudly, "like a parent seeing his child all grown up" (성장한 자식의 모습을 보며 기뻐하고 대견해하는 친부모의 심정).
   “To think that the young engineer I once knew has now become a chief engineer, and a manager who mentors others (사람을 키우다) in his own right. No true revolutionary can be disinterested in mentoring others. And to mentor someone takes great compassion and love.” 
In almost every story where they appear, the Leaders are depicted as mentors - not merely guiding, but getting personally invested in the long-term life trajectories of key individuals. They are always there to offer the spark of inspiration at the critical moment so that the main character can make a breakthrough - be it forestry, weather prediction, mass games choreography, or 5-axis CNC. It is difficult for any character to achieve unalloyed success without some sort of help from the Leader along the way. That is why Kim-free stories tend to have much more ambiguous endings.