"Gold Medal": Kim Jong Un teaches his athletes the power of positive thinking

North Korean athletes Kim Jŏng and Kim Hyŏk Chŏl compete
in the 2013 Table Tennis Mixed Doubles World Championship.
Src: Yahoo! News Singapore

"Gold Medal" (금메달) is a story by Han Jŏng Ah that appeared in the May 2017 issue of Chŏngrŏn Munhak. It tells the story of a mixed-doubles table tennis team and their coach as they prepare for the World Championships, with more than a little help from the Great Leader.

The plot is fairly standard, but the story demonstrates how the new prioritization of sports under KJU's leadership has to some degree supplanted the old priorities of film and the arts. It is also a good example of the use of military metaphors to describe non-military endeavors.

Most of all, this story is a prime example of how recent events (usually 4-7 years in the past) are re-interpreted via fiction in a way that reflects maximum glory on the Leader.

The Plot

The story opens with a familiar trope from North Korean fiction: The leader (KJU in this case) stops his motorcade on a country road to offer an elderly citizen a ride. Not realizing that she is in the presence of her Leader, the old woman airs her family laundry. She is headed to Pyongyang to fetch her granddaughter, Kim Yŏng, a table tennis player who recently failed spectacularly at the Pyongyang Invitational, before she can further embarrass her nation on the world stage. Without revealing his identity, KJU convinces her to return to her worried family, reassuring her that her granddaughter will soon be victorious.

The 4.25 Sports Club is most well-known for its soccer
team, but it includes many sports. It is named for the day
the KPA's predecessor was first formed.
Src: Choson Shinbo

The perspective shifts to Pyongyang, where Kim Chŏl Guk is the coach of the mixed-doubles table tennis team at the prestigious 4.25 Sports Club (4.25 체육단). His team consists of Kim Yŏng, a woman approaching 30 without marriage as she devotes herself to the goal of winning a championship, and Kim Hyŏk Chŏl, a married man with a 1-year-old son and a wife who has grown impatient for him to give up the life of a professional athlete and get a real job.

Coach Kim has been working with them on a radical new game strategy that messes with the traditional gender dynamics of mixed doubles; instead of having the female set up for the male's attack, he has them both attacking. Unfortunately this requires more physical stamina than his players have in them, and they suffer a humiliating defeat at the 2011 Pyongyang Invitational.

Even though his team has earned a place at the 2013 World Championships, they are getting on in years, and many of the other coaches argue that they should retire rather than face another humiliation on the world stage. Coach K is inclined to agree.

But then one day, on the lonely stretch of mountain road where he has his players doing strength training, he is met by none other than Kim Jong Un. Still in grief over the recent National Tragedy (the death of his father Kim Jong Il), the Leader nonetheless makes time to give the coach and his players a pep talk.

He says he just came from a visit to the front lines, and the athletes remind him of the soldiers he met there. Both are fighting to defend their homeland; one from military conquest, the other from humiliation in the eyes of the world.

After this pep talk, both coach and players attack their training with renewed vigor. Kim Yŏng and Kim Hyŏk Chŏl both ask to extend their training hours even beyond what they are already doing.

KJU speaks at the 4th Meeting of Secretaries of
Party Cells (제4차 세포비서대회) in January 2013

KJU's intervention goes beyond mere pep talks. At the 4th Meeting of Secretaries of Cells of the Korean Workers' Party, among all the other momentous new policies, KJU unveils a plan to boost all areas of sports in the country. He has top equipment sent to each athletic training center, including TVs and DVD players so that they can learn from recordings of leading world competitors and develop "Our-style Attack Methods."

He also has an aide personally deliver a record to Coach K, one that he says will surely inspire them to victory. It's a song the soldiers used to sing during the Fatherland Liberation War, "My Song from the Trenches" (전호속의 나의 노래).

With the world championships just months away, the athletes train hard against other players who mimic the features of leading foreign competitors. They get better and better. But still, Kim Yŏng's strength fails in the face of a strong attack from a male competitor.

Then just when Coach K's faith is ebbing low, he gets a call out of the blue from KJU. He has reviewed the tapes and identified the problem. Kim Yŏng's failure is not due to her advanced age, but rather a lack of spirit. The Leader notices that she starts out strong but loses all hope after a few mistakes.

KJU then makes a speech that I'm pretty sure is ripped verbatim from one of the Rocky movies, about how true champions are people who can get knocked down and get right back up again. He also tells the story of seven soldiers during the War who fought to the last man to defend a certain hill from the enemy. That last man? Kim Yŏng's grandfather.

North Korean champions on the medal stand at the 2013
World Table Tennis Championships in Paris.
Src: Sina 

At last the team takes the stage at the world championships in Paris. They make a gutsy comeback against Hong Kong in the semifinals before going on to beat South Korea in the finals.

The story lingers on the scene of the athletes saluting from atop the podium as their national flag flies high overhead and foreign sportscasters look on in uncomprehending awe.



Fact and Fiction

This story provides a good example of the limits on naming names of actual people in North Korean fiction. As this blog has noted many times before, with the exception of the Leader Kims, characters based on identifiable individuals are usually given pseudonyms. In this case, the actual athletes who won the mixed doubles table tennis event at the 2013 World Championships, Kim Jŏng and Kim Hyŏk Bong, are given the pseudonyms Kim Yŏng and Kim Hyŏk Chŏl respectively.

It's anyone's guess what the average North Korean reader makes of these name changes. By all accounts the two champions were feted with a lavish homecoming after their victory and are presumably household names. It seems impossible that anyone could mistake the characters for some other mixed doubles table tennis players who won gold at the World Championships in 2013.

Giving them pseudonyms perhaps allows the author some artistic license with the details of the players' lives; for instance, the real Kim Jŏng would have been only 22 when the story opens in 2011, not "approaching the summit of 30" (서른고개에 접어들고있었다) as the story has her, making her lack of marriage prospects and flagging strength more immediate concerns. But other facts about the player, like the fact that she is left-handed, are reflected accurately in the story.

Pak Yŏng Sun was a North Korean table tennis star in the 1970s.
Src: Choson Shinbo

Other, slightly more distant, sports figures are mentioned in the story by their real names: "Table tennis queens" Pak Yŏng Sun, Ri Bun Hui, and Yu Sun Bok, as well as track star Shin Kŭm Dan, speed skater Han Pil Hwa, and marathon runner Jŏng Sŏng Ok. All are mentioned in passing as examples of North Korea's dominance on the world sports stage in times past.

The story accurately states that the North Koreans played the strong Hong Kong team in the semi-finals, and that they lost the first three rounds before coming back to win in a stunning upset. It also mentions that they defeated the South Korean team in the finals, which had earlier defeated the "top-ranked" Chinese team. At the end, the story adds that the pair went on to win gold at the Asian Games the next year.

Choson Shinbo uploaded a video from Choson Central TV in 2015 in which you can see the real Kim Jŏng talking about how her mother encouraged her to play table tennis against her grandmother's wishes, how it felt to meet the Leader, and her relationship with her boyfriend. There is also a video of the real Kim Hyŏk Bong talking about his inspirations in the sport, how his career affects his marriage, and his hopes for his young son, as well as deflecting a pointed question about his relationship with teammate Kim Jŏng. They both confess to crying when they met the Leader, though they don't mention having ever met him before becoming world champions.

Athletes as War Heroes

The story hammers again and again at the theme that athletes are like soldiers fighting in a war. KJU diverts his motorcade to meet Coach K and his players with the words "Comrades, let's meet our warriors of the sports battlefield" (우리 체육전장의 전우들을 잠간 만납시다). Observing Coach K's glum look on the practice field, KJU jokes, "How grim is the commander's face before battle." When he meets the athletes he tells them,

   "When our people sent their sons and husbands to war, what did they hope for most? That even if they gave their lives, they would acquit themselves without shame before the nation.
   "You could say that sports are a battlefield without the sound of gunfire. There's no other arena where people come together in peacetime to compete for the right to fly their nation's flag and play their nation's song.
   "Athletes who compete at international championships are just like soldiers on the front lines defending their county. And so I think of you as my war comrades (전우) just the same as those soldiers defending our most forward outposts."

"War comrades" (전우) have a special meaning in North Korean propaganda as the only kind of common folk with a direct connection to the Leaders.

The players are amazed that KJU knows all the details of their family lives. He tells them, "Family bonds are what give our athletes their strength. During the Fatherland Liberation War, even when communications were at their worst, the Great Leader made sure to keep the mail cars running above all else."

He recalls that Kim Yŏng's grandmother mentioned that her husband died during the war defending a place called Chŏlbong pass, near Hill 1211. He tells them, "You have inherited the legacy of victory from the heroic soldiers of the Fatherland Liberation War."

At the Party Secretaries' Meeting, he tells the assembled KWP leaders: "The athletes who represent our country in international competition are just like soldiers fighting on a battlefield. Therefore you should treat their families just like KPA soldiers' families." Later Kim Yŏng is amazed to hear that the provincial authorities have been lavishing attention on her relatives "just as if they were a soldier's family" (후방가족과 같다).

Coach K, contemplating his players' sacrifices, thinks to himself: "Just as our soldiers fought for the day when they could stand proudly before their families wearing their medals, our athletes also fight as sons and daughters of the nation."


The Power of Positive Thinking

The other big message of this story is that if you can visualize victory in your mind, you will achieve it in real life. In his pep talk to the athletes, KJU says:

   "I just came from a forward outpost, and I was amazed by what I saw there. Those soldiers, even as they faced down the enemy, held the Dear General (KJI) in their hearts and were overflowing with faith in their victory.
   "The patriotism of the Dear General who gave his life for our nation has taught us this: that if we are firm in our faith, victory is certain. That is the wellspring of the strength of our people, who don't know the meaning of 'impossible.' Before technique, before physical strength, it is our faith in victory that allows us to win under any circumstances."

Through this pep talk, Coach K realizes what he was missing: he had lost faith that his athletes could win.

KJU also tells his athletes,

   "A gold medal is not just a symbol of being number one, it is like a gold brick in the fortress of our nation's psyche. The more gold medals we pile up, the stronger we will be in spirit. There is nothing stronger than a nation with a strong spirit.
   "In our history, our nation was strongest during the Koguryo Era, when martial spirit (상무기풍) was at its zenith.
   "Therefore athletes must develop their spirit alongside their physical skill." 

KJU leaves them with this parting thought: 

   "Our nation's history has been nothing but victory since the day of its founding, and we will continue to be victorious. But to win we must first have victory in our hearts.
   "When the Great Fatherly Leader organized his first platoon, even though it was tiny compared to the million-strong Japanese army, he already had a vision of his ultimate victory. And the Dear General,  even during the darkest days of the Arduous March, already foresaw a strong and prosperous nation and spared no expense investing in cutting edge technology.
   "Comrades, if we fight with the indomitable will of the Great Leader, we will surely be victorious."

New Emphasis on Sports

This story bears many of the hallmarks of past stories heralding the nation's achievements in the arts and sciences. One can clearly see how the new priority for sports achievement has been layered onto the same story format that was used in the past for artistic priorities like architecture and the mass games. The story also takes pains to explain how sports achievements will benefit the nation as a whole.

A new facility for the 4.25 gymnastics team, shown in 2018.
Src: Sogwang

In an early scene, Coach K remembers the late KJI visiting the 4.25 Sports Club syhortly before his death and giving the following speech:

   "In the near future our nation must achieve the status of a sport powerhouse. In order to do that, we must first promote events where we have a good chance of winning, before expanding to other sports. Table tennis is one of those events. After all, we've won two world championships in the past.
   "Sports are important to give our people pride and confidence in the task of socialist construction. With every victory our athletes achieve, our national status rises and our whole nation basks in the glory of victory."

The story takes pains to mention that it was KJI who first took an interest in the sports club and in
Coach K in particular before his death, and that KJU is just carrying through with his late father's wishes.

Later KJU is shown thinking to himself,

   Lately, as the military pressure and sanctions by the imperialist forces has thrown up barriers to our economic construction, some in the sports field have given in to defeatist thinking - suggesting limiting our delegations to championships and paring down the renovations of sports facilities.... But in hard times past, like the Chollima era and the time of the Arduous March, how many great sports figures emerged? ... All these victories were made possible by the victorious spirit passed down from the Great Leader through the anti-Japanese struggle and the Fatherland Liberation War. Without faith in the victory of our Revolution, our people would have no confidence. 

KJU views an archery demonstration
at the 4.25 Sports Club in 2013.
Src: UriDongpo

At the 4th Meeting of the Secretaries of Cells of the KWP, which was held a little over a year into KJU's reign and was one of the first publicly televised party meetings under his command, KJU delivers a speech to the assembled Party secretaries in which he says:

   "Sports aid our people's solidarity and sense of collective purpose.
   "A year ago, when I asked a local party secretary how the county electric grid was completed so quickly, he said it was through the power of athletics. It seemed he had led a rope-pulling team (바줄당기기, a traditional Korean sport) to victory in the regional championships. They'd always been dead last in the past, so that victory inspired everyone. In the end, the people of Sangan County learned that if they set their minds to it, they can accomplish anything (마음만 멀으면 못할 일이 없다).
   "And yet, there are some party secretaries who don't even know how many athletes from their province are on the national team."

In conclusion, KJU tells the Party secretaries to devote their energy to developing sports in all regions, and to treat athlete's families with as much respect as front-line soldiers' families.

"The Old Soldier" (로병동지): North Korea's Greatest Generation

"The Old Soldier" (Robyŏng Dongji) is a short story by Baek Sang Gyun that appeared in Choson Munhak in 2017.

The heart of the story follows a senior military official's efforts, at Kim Jong Un's behest, to track down an elderly veteran so that he can be honored properly. The story's main purpose seems to be to illustrate the young leader's devotion to the country's aging veterans. Along the way it also manages to highlight the boost in construction projects (particularly hydropower), several new leisure and entertainment facilities in Pyongyang, and the increasingly ostentatious Victory Day festivities in the capital.

---

Along the way to visit the front lines, KJU’s car passes a construction site. He sees a group of elderly citizens stepping off a tour bus, their chests jangling with medals, tambourines and accordions in hand. It is a veterans' art agitation troupe (로병기동예술선동대), heading to an event to educate the young laborers about the war.

A student art agitation troupe performs to encourage construction workers
Src: Tongil News

KJU privately contemplates the unflagging energy of the nation’s veterans. There was that group in Yŏngchŏn who formed a tree-planting brigade and covered hundreds of hectares of once-barren hillsides with trees. And that group from Myŏngsŏn County who gathered tens of tons of scrap metal to donate to the steel mill. He must find a way to celebrate their contributions at the upcoming Victory Day (전승절) ceremonies.

2013 Victory Day celebration in Kim Il Sung Square, Pyongyang
Src: RFA

The car rocks along the bumpy rode, jolting him from his reverie. As if apologetic for disturbing the Leader's thoughts, the driver slows down.

"Why are you going at turtle speed?" KJU complains. "As the saying goes, a horse responds to the whip, and a car responds to the jolt of the road. Speed up! The country's development follows our pace."

Turning to General Ri Jŏng Mook, who is accompanying him, KJU asks about the preparations for the elderly veterans' participation in the Victory Day festivities. "We must take their health into account." Then, a non-sequitur: "I guess we'll see that old fellow from Sŏkgaryŏng again?"

Jŏng Mook draws a blank, so KJU reminds him. "You know, the old codger who had been drinking and wandered into the road that night."

---

Flashback: It was a cold mid-January, and KJU was on the road with Jŏng Mook, having just reluctantly left one barracks full of sobbing, adoring soldiers behind to visit another. They were headed to Ch'ŏnhabong, a mountain post so rugged and remote that no roads can reach it; they get all their food and supplies delivered by cable ropeway.

Suddenly sensing danger, KJU snapped alert. "Driver, slow down. I think there's someone in the road ahead." The driver slowed. Jŏng Mook craned to peer out the window.

The car's high beams illuminated the figure of a man, staggering down the center of he road, oblivious to the car approaching behind him. "I think he's been drinking," KJU observed.

He ordered the car to stop and got out. Following after him, Jŏng Mook heard a shout and a thud. It seemed the man had belatedly moved to the side of the road and promptly fallen over.

"Are you okay?" KJU asked, helping him up. Reeking of alcohol, the drunkard (술주정뱅이) lurched upright and muttered thanks.

It was too dark to see his face, but he sounded ancient. Jŏng Mook asked if he's been to a "daesajib" (North Korean type of pub).

"Wharrya mean, daesajib? D'ya think an old guy like me'd be out drrinkin' this late atta place like that?"

Jong Mook was so offended by his rough speech that he started to berate the old man, but KJU restrained him, reminding him to respect his elders.

The old man settled down a bit. "Truth is, I's just sharin' a drink with my old departed war buddies (먼저 간 전우들)." After a pause: "My war buddies, they're all sleepin' up on yonder ridge."

A KPA machine gun unit during the Korean War.
ⓒ NARA, via OhMyNews

At his words, KJU remembered hearing that during the War of National Liberation, a group of resistance fighters died protecting the ridge they just crossed. This must be a survivor of that battle.

"T'was October 1950. The eight of us were headed back from patrol when we met up with some American bastards with a tank. We could see they were trying to open a route to Pyongyang. Were we supposed to stand for that? Just let 'em march right into Pyongyang, where the great General Kim Il Sung was? We swore to protect that road with our lives, so we opened fire on the bastards. That was a ferocious fight; we were way outgunned. When I think how my buddies said I had to come out alive, 'cause I was the youngest..." The old man's voice broke.

KJU held his hand and praised him for remembering his fallen comrades. But the old man shook his head.

   "Truth is, I've no right to stand before them. Didn't fulfil my pledge, did I? Swore to honor the Great Leader and the Party... So I went to them to do my penance and swear, to my dying breath, to revere the heaven and destiny of our people, the Dear Leader Kim Jong Un."

KJU was overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to meet this wonderful old soldier, and wanted to talk with him some more. They offered the old man a ride, but he adamantly refused, saying he lived just up the road. So they parted ways, never revealing KJU's identity.

---

Roused from the memory, KJU suddenly orders Ri Jŏng Mook to go pay the old man a visit. Jŏng Mook returns to the same stretch of road to find no dwellings anywhere nearby, not even a hint of a human presence. "So the old man lied," he thinks.

Upon questioning one of the rare passers-by, he learns of an electric line repair station in a lonely place a ways down the ridge. Sweating bullets, he finally reaches the place to find a 50-something man just exiting, who greets him cheerily. After hearing Jŏng Mook explain his business, he looks befuddled.

"That old man comes round every Chusŏk, he stays here overnight after visiting the graves on the ridge. Never asked his name, I just know he lives up north in Kyŏngp'yŏng..."

A rural village in North Hamgyong Province.
Src: AP

So Jŏng Mook travels to Kyŏngp'yŏng, where he learns that the man's name is Chŏng Ch'un Sŏng and he is 78 years old. He hurries to the man's house and eagerly knocks on the door. To his dismay, the woman who answers informs him that the old man, her father-in-law, left home a month ago and never came back.

"It's all my fault," she mutters, then begins telling him the whole story.

---

About a month ago, the old man gathered up his battered toolchest and took off, mumbling something about "paying of my debt to the nation while I still can." She ran after him but couldn't catch him to get a clear explanation.

The old man had been on pension (년로보장) since before she joined the family 10 years ago. After the war, he had worked as a highly skilled machine repairman on everything from cars to construction cranes. He had four children, but his wife perished during the Arduous March and his three daughters had all completed their military service and then (at his insistence) all married officers deployed at the front, leaving the old man alone with just her and her husband, who worked as a supplier [자재인수원] at a chemical plant and was away most of the time.

At first she took good care of him, but after having a few kids, she grew indifferent. He kept going round to the local work sites, asking if they had any machines that needed fixing, trying to be useful. She wished he would put his talents to use on little home improvement projects, like some of the other old-timers in the neighborhood.

Hearing her story, it seemed obvious to Jŏng Mook that the old man must have run off to some construction site. But such sites were as numerous as the forests; inquiring at each one would take forever.

---

KJU is grieved to hear Jŏng Mook's report. Undeterred, he orders a nationwide search for Chŏng Ch'un Sŏng, instructing aides to contact construction heads in every county, city and township until they locate the old man.

---

At last Chŏng Ch'un Sŏng is found. The old soldier has been working at the Sŏngsan hydroelectric plant construction site.

Construction of Huichŏn Hydroelectric Dam.
Src: Chosŏn Pub

According to the site manager, he showed up two months ago offering his assistance, but the site planners treated him like a "leftover stone from the castle" [성쌓고 남은 돌]. This kind of work was tough even for young men, so what could an old geezer like him do? They thanked him for his offer and advised him to go home. Ch'un Sŏng said not a word in reply, but left the office to find transport to the work site.

In the parking lot a small group was crowded around a broken-down freight transport, arguing over how to fix it. After eavesdropping a bit, Ch'un Sŏng put in some advice. At first they all wondered where this old geezer came from; but upon hearing him speak sensibly and competently of various auto parts, their "mouths hung open" in astonished respect. Following his advice, in short order, they had the engine roaring back to life.

Soon word circulated of an "all-knowing machine guru" (만능기관박사) who "could repair anything with an engine, with his eyes closed." Soon the various work units were vying for the old man's time.

Receiving this report, a delighted KJU thanks the Sŏngsan County party secretary, who provided the information. He promptly sends Jŏng Mook off to fetch the old man to Pyongyang.

As he leaves, the desk phone rings. KJU answers, listens briefly, and hangs up. Apropos of nothing, he announces,"Gotta go, the dolphin circus is starting," and dashes out. [I've decided to start using this as my new excuse to get out of any conversation.]

---

Returning to his office after giving final instructions at the newly-constructed Rŭngna Dolphinarium [릉라곱등어관], KJU thinks over his impressions.

A show at the Rŭngra Dolphinarium.
Src: Uriminzokkiri, May 2015

He had been standing before the water tank, when suddenly the calm water bubbled up like a bowl of juk, and the dolphins leapt into the air. They swam right up to him and bowed their graceful heads, as if thanking him for giving them such a splendid home.

The facility is set to open on Victory Day, and the old veterans will be in attendance to see the fantastic show. KJU realizes that most of the veterans should have arrived in the city by now, and he wonders if their lodgings are comfortable enough. He immediately dials up the hotel manager.

"Comrade hotel manager? This is Kim Jong Un."
The hotel manager's joy and astonishment blares from the receiver. "Dear Leader, hello!"

War veterans transported by bus to the 5th National Veterans'
Conference, July 2018.
Festivities. Src: Hangyoreh

KJU asks if the veterans' lodgings lack anything. The manager replies that no, all is well. After some hesitation, he carefully adds that all the old soldiers are settling comfortably - except Chŏng Ch'un Song, who is not eating well and seems depressed. They've tried talking to him, but he has completely clammed up.

A worried KJU immediately calls Ri Jŏng Mook to his office. As KJU explains the problem, Jŏng Mook visibly blanches. Suspicious, KJU asks him if he knows anything about it.

Veterans bound for Victory Day festivities arrive at
Pyongyang Station, July 2015
Src: Uriminzokkiri

Jŏng Mook confesses that when he went to greet the veterans arriving at Pyongyang Station, he was hauled aside by Chŏng Ch'un Song. The old man explained that he had been too bewildered to ask any questions on the day the officer tracked him down, but now he wanted to know how the Dear Leader knew of him.

Jŏng Mook reluctantly told him about the circumstances of their meeting that night, including his drunken stumbling along the road in front of the Leader's car. The old man shook his head in disbelief.

   "It's true I'd been drinking that night, but how could I have been so impertinent in front of the Dear Leader?" Finally acknowledging the reality of the matter, he slumped down in his chair.
   "Aikoo! What kind of senile haze was I in that night? To think that I gibbered on like that while the Dear Leader stood out in the biting wind on a cold winter night! What would people think of me if they knew? That I couldn't even protect Him..."
   After berating himself at some length, he suddenly sprang up and turned on Ri Jŏng Mook. "Hey! Why did you just stand there? No matter how dark it was, you could have given me some kind of hint that I was in the presence of the Dear Leader. Why didn't you slap my worthless face?"
  Jŏng Mook just sighed, regretting that he had said anything.

Veterans being féted in Pyongyang during the 2015 Victory
 Day Celebrations.
Src: Uriminzokkiri

Hearing this story, KJU realizes that the old man must feel terrible, but he is deeply moved by his devotion. He scans his desk calendar; Jŏng Mook knows he is trying to find a free moment in his packed schedule to meet with the old veteran.

At length he sighs and shakes his head. There's just not a minute to spare to visit the veterans' hotel. Jŏng Mook offers to go in his stead.

"Very well. Go and tell them this: I, Kim Jong Un, am grateful to all the veterans for their sincerity, so they are to not worry about anything and just enjoy themselves."

---

Kim Jong Un devotes himself wholeheartedly to the elderly veterans throughout the Victory Day celebrations, joining them at various performances and festivities. All the old soldiers are overwhelmed by the Dear Leader's tireless devotion and thrilled to hear that they will have a commemorative photo taken with him.

---

KJU arrives for the photo shoot and warmly greets Ri Jŏng Mook.

Jŏng Mook has been continually amazed by the Leader's detailed attention to the veterans' comfort; he even arranged the veterans' meals to match their various palates and health conditions. He attended every event with them, including the visits to Rŭngna People's Pleasure Park, Okryugwan, and Ch'ŏngryugwan [all relatively new prestige structures in Pyongyang - an amusement park and the two most famous restaurants in Pyongyang, respectively].

KJU honors war veterans at the 4th National Veteran's
Festival, held in Pyongyang in July 2015.
Src: ifeng.com

KJU asks after Chŏng Ch'un Song. The old man is still as depressed as ever, saying he's not worthy of standing before the supreme commander.

They enter the photo shoot area, where the Leader is greeted by the waiting veterans with thunderous shouts of "manse." As KJU grins and clasps their aged hands one by one, he notices one veteran standing aside with a hangdog look. He casts a questioning look at Jŏng Mook, who quietly confirms that that is Chŏng Ch'un Song.

   With a nod, Comrade Kim Jong Un sought out Chŏng Ch'un Song.
   "Comrade Veteran!"
   At the sound of His booming voice, everyone fell dead silent. At Comrade Kim Jong Un's call, Chŏng Ch'un Song lifted his head and gazed at the leader with tear-filled eyes.
   "Dear Comrade Supreme Commander!" Chŏng Ch'un Song stuttered in a strangled voice, then bit his lip as if biting back a sob.
   Comrade Kim Jong Un warmly grasped both his hands. "Comrade veteran! Welcome. I wasn't able to greet you properly when we last met at Sŏkgaryŏng, so I'm happy to greet you now."
   Chŏng Ch'un Song shook his head vigorously, fighting back tears. "Comrade Supreme Commander! How can this be? I should be the one... That night... that night when I... I acted like an old fool..."
   But Comrade Kim Jong Un shook his hands firmly. "Comrade veteran! Stop this talk. You have no idea how much your words that night gave me strength."
   Overwhelmed by emotion, Chŏng Ch'un Song buried his face in Comrade Kim Jong Un's bosom. "Dear Leader, thank you so much. Thank..."
   Comrade Kim Jong Un gently patted his shoulder. "I've heard a lot about you, comrade veteran. How you went to the hydropower plant and tried with your remaining strength to give back to your country. That's really great." [KJU is using honorific speech here]
   Chŏng Ch'un Song raised his tear-stained face. "No, no it's not. Compared to the way you go around on dangerous roads, never resting, giving guidance so that our people can finally live well, what have I ever done?
   "Dear Leader! Until our strength fails us, we'll keep on doing whatever we can to carry on the Great Leader's wishes, and we'll make our children do so too. So please, don't walk those dangerous roads anymore."...
   Kim Jong Un turned to address all the assembled veterans. "Comrades! You veterans are a treasure more precious than gold and jewels to our Party. I honor you not just out of filial obligation but also in a human sense, because I think of you as my fathers and grandfathers."

An elderly North Korean war veteran speaks at a middle
school about his experiences of war and reconstruction.
Src: Rodong Shinmun 7/24/2014 via nknews.org

Everybody goes nuts. When the cheering finally quiets down, KJU instructs the veterans to "pass on the spirit of the 1950s to the next generation, so that the Great Work of the juche and songun revolutions can continue."

---

That night, the family of Chŏng Ch'un Song watches with joy and tears as their father and the other veterans appear on the evening TV broadcast, meeting with KJU.



NOTES

Celebrating Veterans

In North Korea, the generation that fought in the Korean War and then achieved the remarkable reconstruction of the 1950s is considered the country's greatest generation. Not only did they emerge triumphant (so the story goes) from a death struggle with the world's greatest military power, they then rebuilt from the ashes an industrialized socialist economy that, for a time, outperformed the South.

The Kim Jong Un era has seen a marked acceleration in efforts to honor the country's ageing veterans. Rodong Shinmun has run several full-page spreads in recent years highlighting veterans' activities, and war testimonies by elderly citizens have been featured prominently on the pages of literary magazines like Choson Munhak.

An elderly veteran's educational outing covered in Rodong Shinmun.
Headline reads "Learning Spirit of Struggle from War Heroes' Example"
Src: Rodong Shinmun 7/24/2014 via nknews.org

In a prominent example of this trend, last summer Pyongyang hosted the 5th National Veteran's Festival [제5차 전국노병대회]. This is a multi-day event in which veterans from all over the country are assembled in Pyongyang for various ceremonies and photo-ops.

The first and only such festival of the Pre-Kim Jong Un era was held in July 1993 to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. Since Kim Jong Un took power, it seems the idea has been resurrected; the 2nd National Veteran's Festival was held in 2012, the 3rd in 2013, the 4th in 2015, and the 5th in 2018. The event always occurs in conjunction with the nation's annual Victory Day celebration on July 27th, which North Korea marks as the official end of the Korean War. A 2015 RFA article talks about North Korea's Victory Day celebration.

South Korean researcher Kim Sŏng-su has written that, at the time of succession, Kim Jong Un’s youth was problematic from the point of view of North Korea’s aged senior officials, many veterans of the Korean war, who might reasonably have resisted the succession on the grounds that the young leader would disrespect them and eject them from positions of power in favor of younger cadres. Perhaps to combat this fear, Kim Jong Un has been depicted showing extreme deference to the elderly and particularly veterans. Many recent works of fiction such as “Our Succession” and “Sky, Land and Sea” have depicted Kim Jong Un going out of his way to honor veterans and flying into a rage when they suffer the slightest hint of an insult. Thus new fiction toes a fine line between depictions of older officials as ossified, inflexible and incapable of absorbing new ideas on the one hand, but still worthy of respect and gratitude on the other.



The Rŭngna Dolphinarium 

Completed in 2015, this was part of the ever-expanding Rŭngna complex of leisure and entertainment facilities - the same Rŭngna complex mentioned in Blossoming Dreams. This article posted at Uriminzokkiri describes the dolphin shows: "On Rŭngnado, the island like a flower barge floating on the river, one of the main attractions is the Dolphinarium. Since 'moving' to Rŭngnado, the dolphins' skills have improved and they constantly get thunderous applause from the audience. Foreign visitors who witness the happy world and cultured lifestyle of our ordinary workers at the Dolphinarium note approvingly that that this is the sort of benefit that only socialism can provide."

The dolphinarium's appearance in this story is the mother of all non-sequiturs. The author spends about three paragraphs talking about how much KJU enjoyed the dolphin show, but this interlude has no bearing whatsoever on anything that comes before or after it. It reminded me of the old Monty Python transition, "And now for something completely different." I can picture this author, after having the story mostly written, getting a note on his desk saying "Throw in something about the dolphin show."

New Construction Efforts

Ri Jŏng Mook's observation that construction sites are becoming "as numerous as the forests in this country" can be considered somewhat ironic, given that deforestation has long been a serious problem in North Korea. But the story does an admirable job of inserting a message that construction is on the rise, not just in the capital, but in rural places. Readers are expected to be particularly encouraged by the message that power projects are making progress, like the hydroelectric dam where Chŏng Ch'un Sŏng washes up.

While many foreign observers continue to express skepticism about their quality and durability, it is undeniable that the Kim Jong Un era has seen a dramatic rise in new construction projects in the capital. An interesting 2017 RFA article provides some detail on the human cost of the recent breakneck construction drive, particularly focused on the effort to spruce up Kim Jong Un's birthplace.

As far as I can tell, there is no Sŏngsan Hydroelectric Plant in North Korea, nor is there a Sŏngsan County. There is a small hydropower plant in Sŏngchon County, South Pyongan Province,  but it was completed with UNIDO support in 2008. The plant in this story was more likely intended as a fictional representation of the Huichŏn Hydroelectric Power Plant, a major project that has been under construction since the 1980s. Construction at Huichŏn has been ramped up in recent years after lagging throughout Kim Jong Il's reign. Here's a good 2011 article from Ohmynews with details on it, and an article in English at RFA. A 2015 article from the Telegraph details Kim Jong Un's efforts to ramp up hydroelectric power production.

"Neighbors": The 7th-floor families go on an outing

"Neighbors" (이웃들) is a short story by Ch'oe Sŏng Chin 최성진 that was published in Chosŭn Munhak in October 1991. It depicts the interactions among a group of families living on the 7th floor of an apartment building. The central conflict of the story surrounds the neighbors' efforts to figure out whether the gentleman in apartment 4 is as much of an insensitive jerk as he appears. Through this story we can discern several different ideal types among North Korean working family men.

Story Summary

The story opens thus:

   Our 7th floor households have many different jobs. In apartment 1 is a quality assurance director; I, a journalist, live in apartment 2; in apartment 3 is an elderly veteran who now works at a foundry. Then, the guy in apartment 4 was recently appointed as a food distribution manager. The young fellow in apartment 5 is a refrigerated truck driver.
   Four months ago we all moved in to the new apartment on the same day and became amicable neighbors.

Picnicking North Koreans.
Src: Joongang Ilbo

Because of their complicated schedules, it is not easy for everyone get together in the same place at the same time. One evening the neighbors gather in the apartment of the recently married truck driver, discussing plans for the upcoming National Founding Day holiday.

The jolly drunken QA director begins campaigning hard for a group outing to Mirim Dam (a dam on the Taedong River upstream from Pyongyang that is one of North Korea's prestige construction projects). "Let's think of it not as simply a chance to goof off and have a good time, but as a way to show off the combined strength of our 7th floor group," he says, pointing out the different advantages of the neighbors' diverse professions. The narrator senses that this remark is particularly directed toward the food distribution manager, who has a tendency to be aloof and prickly. At any rate, the neighbors all readily agree to the outing.

The night before the festival, all of the wives stay up late preparing picnic baskets with their own specialties. The narrator hears his wife clanking around the kitchen late into the night. Early the next morning, he sees the QA director's family bundling out into the hallway, loaded down with bags and parcels. The old war veteran and his wife in apartment 3 come bearing only one small bag each.

There is a cute moment where the truck driver is embarrassed that his wife insists on pinning his army medal on his chest. "This isn't some major event, why should I wear that?" he protests. The narrator and his wife debate over whether to bring the two bottles of "Songsansul," a new, locally produced rice wine that has just been distributed to all the families. "Why bring that stuff on such a day as this?" his wife asks, opening her bag and showing him the bottles of pricey store-bought wine she already packed. They decide to bring the local wine anyway.

Satellite view of Mirim Dam, from Google

The group gathers in front of the building and finds a bus waiting for them. It turns out the driver is a friend of the QA director, and they had made some sort of arrangement. The families all pile in after thanking the driver politely. There's only one group missing - the family in apartment 4.

Everyone is anxious to be off, not least the bus driver, who has to get back to his rounds. Finally the young truck driver runs back up to apartment 4 to see what is delaying them, and reemerges with the man's wife and kids in tow. The wife apologetically explains that her husband left in the middle of the night to attend some urgent issue at work, something about arranging a car. "He must be preparing a truckload of fantastic treats for us from the food distribution center," someone says. It's said jokingly, but the narrator is worried; surely the man wouldn't raid the food distribution pantry just to show off for his neighbors at a picnic - or would he?

The group eventually decides to leave without him, assuming he will join them later. The author feels uneasy as he watches the faces of the man's children, staring out the back of the bus as if expecting to see their father come dashing up any moment.

Photo of Mirim Dam.
Src: Institute for Peace Affairs

The group arrives at Mirim Dam and basks in the scenery, but they cannot relax. The apartment 4 family is visibly worried about their absent father. The narrator is perturbed that the man could be so insensitive to his wife and children, who are clearly disappointed. They set up along the lakeside without him. The truck driver whispers to his pretty wife, while the QA director plays with his wife and kids. Over by the bridge, a youth construction crew is waiting to board the pleasure barge. The QA director goes over to arrange their own group's barge ride.

The narrator goes over to talk with the old man, who has set up his fishing pole beside the water. The old man points to some ripples out in the water and mutters about some legendary fish that he's hoping to catch.

After a companionable silence, the old man mutters to himself, "That QA director is a nice fellow, but he's taking the joke too far. A food distribution manager is not the sort you want to play around with. Trying to trick the man into being more generous... Truth is, that food manager is a really good guy."

The narrator is stunned by this sudden declaration and wants to know more, but the old man just returns to silently staring at the water.

   The QA director came trotting over. "Well, that's settled," he announced. "The boat only had room for 20 more, but I negotiated with our construction crew friends to let us ride first." He glanced at his watch and wrinkled his brow. "What, that guy still hasn't shown up? The boat's leaving at 11."
   "He's the head of his household and a manager, something unavoidable must have come up," said the truck driver, who had suddenly appeared beside us. But something in the young man's voice suggested uncertainty.
   I too felt uneasy. "Hey, neighbors!  Today's a day for us all to enjoy together. We should let the construction crew go ahead on the first boat instead of us."
  "That's right," said the old man, standing up.
  I met the truck driver's eyes. "What does our newlywed think?"
  "Sounds good to me."
  The QA director seemed to understand what was unspoken. "Fine. Since everyone agrees, I'll go cancel our arrangement."
  The mood immediately brightened. It felt good to have everyone agree, even to such a small thing...

Fishing along the Taedong River near Pyongyang

   That's when it happened. The fishing pole jerked strongly. The old man grabbed the pole and skillfully worked the reel, little by little drawing an enormous carp from the river.  "Look at that! A pretty big fellow."
  After depositing the fish in a bucket, the old man recast his line and fished out another cigarette. But before he could even get it lit, the pole jerked again.  In the next 30 minutes he reeled in four large carp in rapid succession.
  The old man declared that all these carp had come out to celebrate the holiday. Whatever the reason, the bucket was soon overflowing with fish. Our picnic had become quite the spectacle. "Though the old man only brought a fishing pole, it seems he had the largest 'package' of us all!" "He really knows how to make something out of nothing!" (무에서 유를 창조할 줄 안다)

The men joke that the foundry worker missed his calling; he should have been a professional fisherman! They bring the bucket over to the picnic site, where the women set to work preparing and cooking the fish. Everyone is still wondering where the food manager is.

He finally shows up just as they are sitting down to eat. He steps out of a van and greets them tersely. Through the open van door they catch a glimpse of brimming packages and the tops of wine bottles poking out boxes.

The children are overjoyed to see their father, but the adults can barely contain their consternation. They are simple working people. How can they possibly justify this kind of bounty? The foolish man, in his determination to impress his neighbors, will get them all in a world of trouble!

   "Sorry for making you wait," apartment 4 says cluelessly. "On her way home from work last night my daughter spotted a brigade of youth construction shock troops setting up camp in our district. They should have warned me they were planning on moving during the holiday. I've had to work all morning to get their holiday packages ready. Well, it couldn't be helped. It wouln't do have anyone in my district spend an unhappy holiday."
   It took a moment for all this to sink in. What sort of excuse was this? Youth shock troops? Suddenly a gong sounded from across the way, and a cheer went up from where the youth construction troops were gathered. Realization struck; how hard he must have worked, from the wee hours of the morning, getting all these packages ready for the youth brigade! Thinking about it made my head spin.
   "Do you mean to say that all that stuff in the car is food for the youth shock troops?"
   "Of course. Oh, and I knew you would all be worried that your picnic would be delayed because of me, so I asked the driver to drop me off here."
   "What good people. Every one..." The old man seemed at a loss for words. He grasped the food manager's hand tightly. "Don't ever say you're just useless again. You are just the sort of person our district needs. Understanding that even the shock troops are part of our district, and taking care of them too..."

But the food manager hasn't completely neglected his neighbors either. From the back of the van he plucks two long bottles of "Songsansul," the locally produced brew. "Since moving in, I haven't even properly introduced myself to you all. Please forgive me!" he exclaims.

The old man from apartment 3 is the first to break the silence. "There's nothing to apologize for. Your arriving in the middle of doing your job has made our picnic so much more interesting." With a twinkle in his eye, the old man opens his own bag to reveal that he too has brought two bottles of Songsansul. One by one, all of the members bring out their bottles. The narrator meets his wife's gaze, silently glad that they decided to bring the Songsansul after all.

North Korean gender interactions

This is a manly story about men. The principal characters are all the male heads of household. Each male character is named by his job title ("The food distribution manager" "the truck driver" etc.) and the women are named in relation to their husbands ("The truck driver's wife" etc.). None of the women's professions are ever stated. None of the male characters ever interacts directly with any woman except his own wife, and the women fade into the background except when they appear in the context of interacting with their husbands - e.g.  the truck driver's wife arguing with him about wearing his medal. While the men worry among themselves about the whereabouts of the missing food distribution manager, they don't include any of the women in their discussions.


Ideal types of men

At various points in the story, the narrator contemplates the character of each of the men in the group.  These seem to represent different ideal types of working family men in North Korea.

Of the old foundry worker, he writes:

The old man sat quietly smoking a cigarette and looking out the bus window. He was a man of few words, always the most reticent among our neighbors. From his experience in the war, through the post-war reconstruction and the Chollima movement, the old man had lived through all the most trying and noble times in our nation's construction. He had seen all his children grow up and move away, and now lived quietly with his wife. The only times they ever had people around were their married daughters' rare visits. They were the smallest family unit among the neighbors, and had brought the smallest bundles. But poking out of the old man's bundle was his fishing gear. Wearing a straw hat and grey jumper, he looked like a professional fisherman. It seemed to me that the old man was more interested in fishing than our group picnic.

Regarding the quality assurance director:

The QA director went over to negotiate with the pleasure barge driver about giving us a ride. Truly, he was tireless activist for our group, the sort that is always running around and putting himself on the line to seek out fun and happiness for others. This sort of person is like a necessary vitamin supplement for our lives.

A great deal of time is spent describing the food distribution manager. At the beginning, when the characters are discussing what food to bring, he humbly describes himself as a "제구실을 못하는 지배인" (a useless manager who can't do his job right). The narrator describes him as  a "꼬장꼬장하고 고지식한 령감" (stiff and inflexible older gentleman), and notes that he does not seem to make much time for social interactions with the group.

While the others are always sharing around things that they got from work - fresh fish from the truck driver, local delicacies from the QA director, cigarettes from the foundry worker - the food distribution manager never shares anything. The other men infer from this that he is rather antisocial and ungenerous, but in the end it turns out that he is simply very earnest and dedicated to doing his job right. Ultimately, he is the best of them all, because he prioritizes doing his job above being neighborly.

"Dokdo": Love, loss and fishing on a disputed islet

The islets of Dokdo

The short story "Dokdo" (독도) appeared in Chosun Munhak in August 2006, right around the time the Dokdo/Takeshima tussle was heating up between South Korea and Japan. I remember this well, as I was living in Japan at the time. The Japanese prefecture that claims the islands of Takeshima as its jurisdiction proclaimed a "Takeshima Day" festival, and South Korean media blew up overnight. South Korea refers to the islands as "Dokdo" and has stationed a garrison there since 1954.

I picked this story because I wanted to see how the Dokdo controversy is depicted in North Korea, which also technically claims sovereignty over the islets (along with all South Korean territory).

This story is told in the story-within-a-story-within-a-story style; a historian, being interviewed in the present day, recounts a story he heard from an old fisherman he interviewed years ago, about events that occurred on Dokdo during the Japanese colonial period. The narrative thus jumps back and forth between the three different times and settings. The fisherman's speech is rendered in a thick Gyeongsang dialect.

The Plot

The historian Hyun Young Ryul had been commissioned by the Kumsung Youth Publishing Company to write an article directed at young people, explaining Dokdo's historical status as Korean territory. Looking over the papers he had been writing, Hyun suddenly felt he wasn't adequately expressing what he wanted to say.

Just then his thoughts are interrupted by a visit from a young publishing representative named Kim Jong Min who has come to interview him.

   "Far from abandoning their ambitions for seizing Dokdo, the Japanese reactionaries have grown more frantic. A clear example is their 2007 decision to use middle and high school texts claiming that Dokdo is Japanese. That's why our publisher has decided to print materials explaining the historical, geographic, and environmental components of the territorial issue so that youth to understand it more clearly. If time permits, I'd like you to discuss it in more detail." 

Hyun proceeds with a lengthy, rather pedantic description of the islands: their geographic features, ecology, mineral resources, distance from Ulleungdo and the mainland, etc. This section seems dedicated to simply educating readers who might not know what exactly Dokdo is.

North Korean stamps celebrating Dokdo
(Src: Chosun Ilbo)

As he speaks, Hyun is suddenly reminded of an interview he conducted many years ago with an old fisherman named Hwang Hak Chun who had been born and raised on Ulleungdo.

   "I had a dream last night that a historian from the capital would come to see me," the old man said, fiddling with his cigarette. "But I have no idea how this old illiterate could be of any help."
   "Please, just share anything about life on Ulleungdo. The lifestyle, the scenery, people and incidents you remember, things like that."
   "Ha, what nonsense. History is about great people who defeated foreign enemies, like General Eulji Mundeok and Admiral Ri Sun Shin, not some old guy who lived on some island."
   As he started to turn away, Hyun asked the old man if he had ever chanced to visit Dokdo.
   "Of course. Not just to visit, but I lived there in the summer," he said, lighting a cigarette. "Even when dirt fills my eyes, I'll never forget that place... You could say that I buried my youth, my love, and indeed my whole life on those islets. When I was young, I fell in love for the first time there."

When Hwang was growing up on Ulleungdo, there was a young girl in the house next door named Somnyon. A few years before national liberation, he and Somnyon both lost their fathers on the same day, when the two went sailing together and got swept out to sea. Hwang's household had a strong young worker and was able to make ends meet, but Somnyon's family was having trouble.

Hwang and Somnyon began working together to provide for their families. As they spent more and more time together out on the water, they developed feelings for each other. One flirtatious episode is recounted, involving skinny-dipping and a pair of fishing goggles. The pair eventually decided to marry. However, it was still a struggle to support their combined families. So Hwang decided to set out for Dokdo, where he had heard there was a wealth of abalone, sea urchin and sea cucumber in the surrounding waters.

"Dokdo is our land since ancient times!"
(Src: The Asia-Pacific Journal)

Hwang and Somnyon made many trips to Dokdo over that summer, staying overnight in a stone hut on a narrow gravel spit. It was on Dokdo, as the couple sat outside their hut counting the stars one evening, that Somnyon revealed she was pregnant.

As Somnyon's pregnancy progressed, Hwang tried to talk her out of exerting herself so much, but she insisted on accompanying him on one more fishing trip to Dokdo.

When they arrived, they found a fishing boat was already there. It was Hwang's buddy Myongduk. The fishermen called out happily to each other, and agreed to fish separate areas. Hwang deposited Somnyon at the campsite where she could prepare to cook their dinner. Hwang then spent the afternoon fishing alone, and was just about to turn toward the island for supper when suddenly, gunshots sounded.

Paddling frantically toward his campsite, he spotted a strange motorboat floating between the two islands. At the campsite, he found the abandoned pot still boiling. Somnyon was collapsed on the ground a little ways away, with a wound on her leg gushing blood.

   "You bastards! How could you shoot a living person?" Hwang raised his fists and screamed. The Japs, who had been busily loading a seal into their boat, turned and gaped at him.
   One fellow who seemed to understand some Korean came to the front of the boat and called out, "Oh, was someone injured? That's not our fault. You folks get mixed in with the seals, and it's hard to tell you apart. Koreans and seals are so much alike."
   "What? You thieving bastards, you think Koreans are the same as seals?"
   He had heard that the oenom had been making huge profits from seal hunting on Dokdo, but this was his first run-in with them. It was bad enough that they came creeping over to another country's islands like a thieving street cat, but to actually hurt people?  These were not simply thieves, they were bandits and beasts! Hwang thought: Oh, if only I had a gun, I would rain fire on their heads until I felt better...
   "You bastards, what gives you the right to come to someone else's island, hunt seals and shoot people?"
    At Hwang's relentless scolding, the Japs stopped what they were doing and came crowding to the front of their boat. The one who spoke Korean put on a bold front for his buddies: "This is Japan's land, Takeshima. Don't you know that?"
   "Don't talk nonsense. Dokdo has been Korean land for generations. Since when did it become yours?"
   "And what is Korea? There is no more Korea, so how could it be a Korean island?" The Japanese laughed. "Guy doesn't even have a country, and he says this is his country's island..."

Myongduk had also come paddling over at the sound of the gunshot. When he saw that Somnyon had been shot, the irascible fisherman flew into a rage and paddled over to the Japanese vessel, shouting obscenities. The Japanese fired several warning shots to keep him away, but when he started beating their boat with an oar one of them lowered his gun defensively, and accidentally shot him in the head.

Seeing his friend slump motionless in the boat, Hwang momentarily forgot his wife and rushed over to help. The Japanese took advantage of the confusion to beat a hasty retreat. Hwang turned to Myongduk's young companion and told him to make haste back to Ulleungdo to get medical care. After seeing his wounded friend off, he returned to his wife.

Her face was pale from loss of blood, but the more immediate problem was that the shock had sent her into labor. Hwang knew she would not survive long without help, but the nearest midwife was on Ulleungdo. Desperate, he began trying to load his wife onto the boat, but she just moaned and shook her head.

"If I'm going to die, I want to die here on Dokdo. This is where we fell in love, and I feel at peace here."

Somnyon finally gave birth, and then passed out from pain and blood loss. Hwang shook her awake, pleading with her to live, but it was no use. With her dying breath, she asked Hwang to take care of their baby, and bury the placenta on Dokdo.

Hwang accommodated his wife's dying wish, burying the placenta under the rocky shoal near their cottage, and marking the spot with a large rock. He then set off for Ulleungdo, with his newborn son squalling for milk and his dead wife lying motionless beside him. Upon arrival, he learned that his buddy Myongduk succumbed to his wounds en route as well.

Hearing that Japanese poachers had killed two people, the Ulleungdo islanders marched to the township offices to demand justice, but the (Japanese) township officials replied that since they had let the assailants go there was no way to find them and charge them. However, noting that none of them had obtained permits to fish on Dokdo, they charged Hwang and Myongduk's young assistant with trespassing and put them both in jail.

After languishing in jail for a month, Hwang returned to find that his baby had survived in his mother's care, although they had had to beg for help feeding him. Soon after that, he got his draft notice from the Japanese military. Hwang knew that without his support his entire family and Somnyon's surviving family would starve. With no other choice, he left to seek his fortune on the mainland, promising his mother he would send for them as soon as he could.

Hwang traveled north as far as Chongjin, where he found work as a day laborer. He sent word back to Ulleungdo with an acquaintance, and his mother brought the family to join him. Somehow, they survived to the end of the war.

   [Hwang recalls to Professor Hyun]: That August, the anti-Japanese struggle was victorious, the Japs were crushed and we were liberated. I remember it like yesterday, sweeping through the streets with my buddies, cheering "long live!" for General Kim Il Sung at the top of my lungs. The first spring after liberation, General Kim Il Sung visited Chongjin and held a huge celebration for the international worker's holiday on May 1st, declaring that the workers were now the owners of the country. I joined the march on that first May Day, waving the red flag proudly, and felt it was truly wonderful to be alive.
   To think that this poor fisherman, a draft dodger without a country, could become one of the owners of the new nation...  At that moment I realized that in order to live like human beings, people need a country of their own, led by a great General who serves the people as if they were heaven.
   Through all that, I never forgot Ulleungdo and Dokdo. I longed to spread my wings on my native island, free from the treacherous oenom. I kept thinking I would go back soon, but I waited too long and then the American bastards blocked us off at the 38th parallel. I wonder if I will ever get to go home again, and see Somnyon's grave...

At this point Hwang broke off telling his story, as there was a knock on the door. In walked a tall young soldier in a neat navy uniform. Hwang revealed that this was none other than his son, Tae Seok, now all grown up. He had been granted leave to visit home as a reward for his stellar performance in training.

"Professor, listen to this old man's words. Tae Seok, you sit and listen too. We say that Ulleungdo and Dokdo belong to our country, but that isn't just because it's written so in books and on maps. It's our land because our Korean placenta is buried there, and our sweat and our tears and dreams permeate the land."

Back in the present day, continuing his story to the young interviewer, Professor Hyun confesses that he recently met Hwang's son Tae Seok again, at a naval base on the East coast. The young soldier had grown to become a distinguished-looking naval commander.

    "Father passed away several years ago at 80, having never again seen his hometown on Ulleungdo. Even after you left, he kept on reminding me, 'You are a son of Dokdo. Your placenta is still buried there, under that large rock I left as a marker. He made me swear that I would protect it, not just as my duty but to preserve my parents' honor."
   His eyes scanning the distant horizon, Tae Seok continued: "Nowadays the Japanese reactionaries are acting completely ridiculous - declaring "Takeshima Day," printing distorted textbooks, claiming Dokdo in their 2005 Defense White Paper, and whatnot. They've even mobilized their warships and jets to make practice landing drills. They've made illegal intrusions in the area around Dokdo: 45 times in 1993, 63 in 1994, 85 in 1995, and 58 times in just 9 months from January to September 1999. It gets worse every year.... We soldiers will never forgive those who infringe on our national sovereignty."

Long after the interviewer leaves, Professor Hyun sits at his window contemplating that old fisherman's tale. The story ends as he takes up his pen and begins to write.

Territory as destiny

The story cleverly connects the Dokdo issue with the history of the Korean nation and the threat of becoming "a people without a country" (망국노) Several times in his story the old fisherman associates his sorrows with the fact that he had "lost his country." The Japanese who mock him after shooting his wife make a point of reminding him that he has no country, and therefore no claim, to the islets.

In concluding his remarks to his interviewer, Professor Hyun warns,

If we allow even a slight infringement of our country's sovereignty, the country will be taken away piece by piece and we will become a people without a country, penniless, aimless and scattered. Dokdo may be just a few rocky islets, but it is not small. It is a precious land imbued with our people's honor and infused with our forefathers' blood.

Interestingly, not once does the story mention the fact that the islands are currently occupied by the South Korean military. Clearly there are no North Koreans there, as the old fisherman bemoans being unable to visit either Dokdo or his ancestral home on Ulleungdo. And the Japanese clearly do not hold the islands, as they are supposedly planning an invasion. But the reader is left unaware of the current defensive fortifications on the islets, and the fact that they have become a major tourist destination for patriotic South Koreans.

Indeed, the reader is left with the strong impression that the islands are somehow being defended by the North Korean military. For instance, the old fisherman's parting words to Professor Hyun are:

"Don't worry, Professor. As long as we have General Kim Jong Il's revolutionary Songun leadership and our invincible Korean People's Army, Dokdo will remain our land. This is not just me talking; it is backed up by our soldiers, who don't know how to make empty threats."

Legal background for Dokdo

As this story seems primarily aimed at educating North Koreans about the details of the conflict, the narrator takes several long asides to reflect on the details. At the outset, we find the historian Hyun Young Ryul alone in his office, contemplating historical patterns:

  Taking advantage of the "Unyang Incident" that they had fabricated, the Japanese Imperialists threatened the feudal government of Joseon (리조봉건정부) and forced them into the Kanghwa Treaty. Then, by Article 5 of the Eulsa Treaty, they seized control of Korea. Even after their regime collapsed and they were chased out, at every opportunity they plotted to reinvade. Looking over the long list of such incidents, one can uncover a clear historical pattern.
  The recent moves by the Japanese imperialists to talk of our land of Dokdo, in the seas southeast of Ulleungdo, as "common territory" reflect a continuation of this pattern that cannot be overlooked.
  The Dokdo problem has continued for over 100 years, but never before have our people been so united and gutsy in responding to it.
   What has awakened our people so abruptly? In this era when we guard our independence like our lives, it is imperative that we view the Dokdo matter as not merely a territorial issue but as a serious political issue.

Later, in the midst of Hyun's story about the fisherman, his interviewer interrupts:

   "Professor! Lately these Japanese reactionaries have been going on about the Shimane Prefecture Edict 40, saying it 'proves' the legal basis of their right to Dokdo. Could you explain that in more detail?"
   Hyun Young Ryul replied without a moment's hesitation: "Edict 40 was concocted in February 1905 by the Shimane prefectural government to establish Takeshima - that is, Dokdo - as part of their prefecture. This tricky document is not worth even discussing. More importantly, we should be asking ourselves what the Dokdo issue signifies, and what its wider implications are.
   "Of course, the Japanese imperialists' designs toward Korea have always been the same, but we can assess that the Dokdo issue only really began around 1905. A Japanese whaler from Shimane named Nakai Yosaburo had been illegally hunting seals in the surrounding waters since 1903, making huge profits every year. By incorporating Dokdo into Shimane Prefecture he hoped to gain a monopoly on seal hunting. The Japanese government, which was just waiting for the chance to acquire Korea, approved Nagai's lease petition in January 1905 and determined that Dokdo, as "unclaimed land," could be incorporated into Japanese territory. Accordingly, on February 22 of that year Shimane Prefecture concocted Edict 40 and unilaterally incorporated Dokdo as its territory.
   "But was Dokdo really 'unclaimed land'? Already 1500 years have passed since the land of Usan (including Ulleungdo and Dokdo) was absorbed into the Shilla kingdom in 512 AD, as is recorded in the History of the Three Kingdoms (삼국사기). According to the basic principles of international law, a state can only claim a territory as 'unclaimed land' if its people were the first to inhabit it. By that principle, our country had already claimed ownership of Ulleungdo and Dokdo 1500 years ago.
   "Furthermore, the feudal Chosun government reaffirmed its possession of Dokdo in accordance with modern international law in October 1900 when King Kojong issued Edict 41, proclaiming Dokdo and Ulleungdo as part of Kangwon Prefecture."

This description matches pretty closely with South Korea's arguments supporting its own claim. One slight difference is that the North Koreans seem to more readily acknowledge the role played by King Kojong and the fading Chosun Dynasty. As a "feudal" government, it is regarded by the DPRK as illegitimate, and thus any legal documents they may have signed can be freely acknowledged and condemned without risk of contradiction.

Explaining Dokdo's value

Early on, Hyun explains to his interviewer that the area around Dokdo is rich in natural resources, not only fisheries but liquefied natural gas, "the oil of the sea." Later, after telling the fisherman's tale, Hyun elaborates on why he believes Japan covets the islands so much:

"There is no historical or legal grounds to doubt our country's claim to Dokdo. Yet the Japanese imperialists continue to make trouble about it. It is vital for us to understand the source of their ambitions.
   "Japan's desire for Dokdo stems from two root causes. The first is economic; they want to monopolize the rich natural resources in the waters and seabed around Dokdo, while using the islets as a base to redraw the ocean territory and push their exclusive economic zone closer to our country.
   "The second is their military aspirations. During the Russo-Japanese war they used it as a refueling base to defeat the czarist Russian fleet, and in the same way they intend to use it again when they invade the north and re-take Korea. In other words, the Japanese militarists want to use Dokdo as a military beachhead (군사적교두보) to re-invade Korea, on the way to finally achieving their old dream of conquering all of Asia."

Hyun then proceeds with a lengthy historical explanation of the "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" (대동아 공영권), Japan's ambitious plan for regional domination which he believes it has never truly abandoned.

Historical references

I was mildly surprised to see casual references to Eulji Mundeok and Yi Sun Shin in the story. I had been led to understand that North Koreans typically don't learn much about historical people or incidents unless members of the Kim family are directly involved. For instance, I recently discovered that one of my North Korean students was unaware of the story of Perry's Black Ships, although he knew all about the General Sherman.

North Korean geographic terms and labels

This story filled me in on all the various terms for Japanese, including the following:
일제   Japanese imperialists
일본반동들    Japanese reactionaries
일본군국주의자    Japanese militarists
왜놈   oenom, ethnic slur for Japanese

In addition, I learned these unfamiliar terms:
리조봉건정부  Feudal government of Choseon (i.e. the Choseon Dynasty)
짜리 로시야   Czarist Russia