"Blossoming Dreams": Kim Jong Un raises the next generation of artists

"Blossoming Dreams" (피어나는 꿈) is a short story by Kim Il Su that appeared on the literary magazine Chŏngnyŏn Munhak in January 2017. This is the first story I've read that focuses on the qualities of the newest North Korean leader, and (spoiler alert!) he's every bit as extraordinary as his father and grandfather were.

The biannual National Drawing Exhibition* at the International Culture
Center in Pyongyang.  Src: Tongil News

The story follows Kim the Third's efforts to cultivate young artists and architects, and particularly highlights his ability to spot talent in young pupils who have been overlooked by their teachers and parents. This makes it an appropriate complement to earlier stories like "Uri ui Mŏt" that depicted Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as peripatetic talent scouts for the nation. Pay close attention and you may also detect a not-so-subtle message about youthful potential that has clear implications for young leader Kim himself.

This is the sort of story that would likely be assigned to students to read and discuss in class. It fits in the category of 수령형상창조, stories focused on extolling the magnanimity and revolutionary spirit of the leaders. Unlike the more literary stories reviewed earlier, this one has little in the way of character development or lessons for everyday life.

*Note - In the translated excerpts I have capitalized the male pronoun to indicate where the text uses the honorific pronoun "그이." I find this format helpful both to clarify who is speaking and to give a sense of the reverence for the leader that comes through in the North Korean text. In South Korea this pronoun refers to respected elders, but in North Korea it is exclusively used to refer to the three leader Kims.

The Plot

The Dear Leader Kim Jong Un makes a call to his old college professor, Yu Myŏng Ch'an, to wish him a happy birthday. By the by, he inquires about the professor's son, Yu Kang Myŏng, and learns he is now in his third year of art college.

   "I saw your son's piece 'New Sprouts' on display at the national drawing exhibition. Remember? The one from his workbook..."
   "Ah, I still get the sweats thinking about that."
   The Dear Leader chuckled softly. "Yes, but thanks to that, we found a great talent together, didn't we?"

Flashback to years ago, when the young Kim was a student in Professor Yu's class at Kim Il Sung Military University. One day Professor Yu is setting up for class. As he opens up his lecture book, he seems to pause and frown distractedly at something before hurriedly putting it aside. It's just a momentary pause, but the eagle-eyed young Kim catches it and notices that his normally stoic professor seems slightly out of sorts.

After class, Kim stops by Professor Yu's office and asked about the incident. The professor confesses guiltily that he had unexpectedly found his son's school workbook stuck in his lesson planner.

   "I don't know what to do about that kid. First he wanted to do gymnastics and he ended up breaking his leg. He never sits still. If he's quiet in his room for once, I assume he's finally doing his schoolwork - then I go in and find he's just been drawing silly pictures all over his workbook. He does it in class too, I just got a note from his teacher. How can a merited family (총대가정) produce such an airhead (쭉정이)? This is what comes of my neglecting his education."
   While listening to Yu's story, He slowly turned the pages of the book. It seemed that the kid would get halfway through solving a problem, get struck by a random idea and start drawing all sorts of things - doodles, panel cartoons, flip books.
   "The second one is growing up fine, no problems, but this eldest one is always causing trouble. Last night I really lit into him about it. I couldn't concentrate after that, and I must have left the workbook stuck in my planner..."
   Comrade Kim Jong Un continued examining the photos as He listened. He was quietly impressed by many of them... The child had a good sense of perspective and scale, and though his technique was immature he showed a great talent for capturing small nuances with just a line or a dot...
   "These are quite interesting drawings," He remarked, to Professor Yu's astonishment. "A good drawer must have a sense of spacing, form, proportion and color, and Kang Myŏng's drawings display all of these. In this one, 'Happy Birthday Teacher,' he captures each person's essence through a single distinguishing feature. This is an innate talent." He goes on, "Art forms the base of architecture as well. Artistry and architecture are said to complement each other..."

Kim turns to the drawing "Spring," and remarks on how skillfully the child was able to capture the energy of the sprouts coming out of the earth and straining toward the sunlight, in a simple pencil drawing. He scribbles a few notes in the margin, suggests that 'New Sprouts' would be a better title than 'Spring,' and hands the book back to Yu saying, "Please encourage him to continue. Perhaps I should pay a visit or write him a letter, if it would help." Professor Yu is deeply moved by the young Kim's personal attention.

Back in the present day, Kim concludes his birthday call to his former professor and stares out his office window in quiet contemplation. Yes, Kang Myŏng's talent has grown by leaps and bounds since that first notebook, just like the "new sprouts" in his picture. And it is gratifying to see that his words of encouragement were heeded. But one thing gnaws at the Dear Leader. Is it right to consider Kang Myŏng a mere sprout? Just because he is young and "still studying," is it too soon for him to do professional work? If he already has the skill and the talent, why not put him to good use?

Just then in walks Ri Ju Yŏng, Kim's director of architectural design. Ri reminds him that he is scheduled to do on-site guidance at a military construction unit that day.

Kim Jong Un visiting Rungna People's Pleasure
Ground with his wife Ri Sol Ju. Src: Daily NK

At the base, Kim examines various blueprints and designs. He is amused by one blueprint - a logo design for the funhouse at the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground, featuring a monkey. He learns that this was designed by a student at the Pyongyang University of Architecture. As he holds the design, he flashes back to some of the drawings he had seen at an exhibition of the State Exhibition Center for Commercial Art (국가산업미술전시회장).

The exhibit had been full of innovative and amusing designs and mock-ups for all sorts of products. At a display of designs for uniforms and bags, something struck him as familiar. He checked the designer - it was none other than Yu Kang Myŏng, his old professor's son. He had asked the exhibition director if they had many student entries this year. The director replied that yes, they had accepted a few even though they were "still just students," figuring they could benefit from some positive feedback.

Exhibit at the State Exhibition Center for Commercial Art in Pyongyang, 04-08-2016.
Src: Xinhua

Later in the car, Kim remarks "It would be good if more student entries were put on display.... Think about it. Praise from teachers can inspire students for weeks to come, and has great educational value. How much more so if they can display their work and compare it with others?" Ashamed that he had not thought of such a thing himself, Ri responds that it will be done immediately.

Kim once again sinks into quiet contemplation.

   How can these exhibits be such a problem! The thing is that some people have the wrong mindset. Just giving students a little praise and then setting their work aside as "practice" - how can that method effectively raise the next generation? We focus on feeding and clothing them well, and of course that's important. But is that our only task? It won't do to have such a narrow outlook about the future.
   Of course, for a student, learning is everything. But age and experience shouldn't be the only standards for judging good from bad. In the history of our fatherland there are so many examples of great achievements in music, art and design made by students.

At his desk computer, Kim looks over a report on various building modernization plans produced by the University of Architecture. He is pleased to see that students as well as teachers took part in the designs. Here Kim indulges into a lengthy contemplation of the relationship between art and architecture, and the country's need for more building designs displaying sort of creative whimsy that only the young can produce.

3 years earlier...
Yu Myŏng Ch'an stares at the paper in front of him. It's his son's acceptance letter to the Pyongyang University of Fine Art. But now his son has announced that he wants to join the military instead! He says he wants to join an artillery unit like his father.

Lately, due to the enemy's constant military provocations, young people have been frantic to enlist - not only middle school students but older kids who've taken their college exams. Kang Myŏng didn't come home after school today; he's no doubt out with his friends singing patriotic songs and swearing to protect the fatherland.

Yu recalls a young soldier he had known in his artillery unit - a young aspiring artist from Hwanghae Province with a large head who was always nattering on about spacing and proportion. His name was Ri Ju Yŏng (yes, the same Ri who is now Kim's architecture director). "You're a born gunner," Ri told Yu at their first target practice. "You sight your target faster than anyone else. They say a sense of space and form is the essence of an artist. What do you say, why don't we be buddies?" Yu thought this was a little hokey, but he liked the idea of thinking of a gunner as an artist.

Among the unit Yu was known as "Doctor Gun" for his extensive knowledge of everything about artillery guns; their varieties, their different characteristics, and their history. Eventually this reputation spread to the division commander, who called him in and quizzed him on his knowledge. The division commander was so impressed he recommended Yu's admission to artillery officer's school, paving the way to his eventual academic career.

His pal Ri Ju Yong kept showing him drawings. Yu would act gruff and disinterested, but when pressed would always point out brilliant ways to improve the composition or design. In frustration Ri exclaimed "You should be the artist, not me!" to which Ri replied, "I love guns more. Hah! Guns are everything!"

But when his son showed such a strong artistic proclivity, Yu turned to his old friend Ri for advice, and Ri convinced him that the boy's artistic talent would serve the fatherland.

But now, it seemed that his son had heard a greater call to serve his country in the military, and decided to postpone his artistic career. Shoving the acceptance letter away in a desk drawer, Yu felt nothing but pride for his son, who put his country's needs ahead of his own dream.

Yu was walking home from work when a car rolled up and stopped alongside him. Who should step out, but the Dear Leader Kim Jong Un! Yu's former student greeted him warmly, grasping his hand. He congratulated Yu on his son's decision to join an artillery unit - but how could he know? Yu's old army buddy Director Ri told him, of course.

Kim was on his way back from an inspection of the front lines, and had intended to stop by the university to drop off some new materials pertaining to artillery science. He had been hoping to run into Professor Yu there, and proposed they drop by the professor's home for a quick visit. Yu didn't want to interrupt the Leader's busy schedule, but Kim was insistent.

At Yu's home, Kim warmly greeted his wife and two sons. He noted that the shelves were stacked with books on artillery and other military subjects, but there was not a single work of art on the walls. How did Kang Myŏng get inspired to become an artist, growing up in such an environment?

   "Kang Myŏng, I still remember that drawing of yours that I saw years ago. What was it called, 'Spring'? Fresh shoots springing from the earth; it made an impression. Tell me, where do you think dreams come from?"
   "Dreams? The brain makes them while you sleep."
   "Yes, but sleep isn't the source of dreams. Dreams are longing, and hope, and love. They say dreams are the joy of living. I think it is the people's longing for a strong and prosperous country that gave birth to the reality of our country today." As He grasped Kang Myŏng's hands, He seemed to be passing along both His warmth and His great aspirations, and the boy felt overwhelmed with feeling.
   Comrade Kim Jong Un turned his gaze on Yu Myŏng Chan. "Lately everyone's talking about the  recent editorial in the Rodong Shinmun,  'A Country with Great People Will Prosper.' Not only was it well-written, it reflected the urgent desire of our military and our people, to create an 'army of doers' (실천가형의 인재의 대부대)."
   He instructed Yu to bring out Kang Myŏng's college acceptance letter. Bringing the letter and the old school workbook out of the drawer, Yu sighed as if facing an impossible and oppressive question.
   Comrade Kim Jong Un continued: "Seeing the enlistment fervor spreading among our youths, I have felt renewed faith in our outstanding army of young people. There's nothing more patriotic than the sight of so many young men like Kang Myŏng exchanging their college acceptance letters for enlistment papers and grasping the guns of revolution, with their fathers fervently supporting them, putting the security of the country above their own personal development."
   He spoke of how even if war was expected to break out tomorrow, we'd still keep working at national construction until midnight tonight. Such was the firm will of our Great Leader [Kim Il Sung] and our General [Kim Jong Il]. He added, our country's enemies do not dare to tangle with the unrivaled military might of Sŏngun Korea, and no matter how they talk of pressure and war, our advance will not halt for even a moment, and the normal flow of our lives will not be interrupted.
   "In the heat of the war, when our Great Leader recalled college students from the front lines, wasn't that done for the future of the country? The struggle we face today for national construction is a war of creation, lacking the sound of gunfire, a decisive battle against the enemy, and the rich cultural nation of tomorrow will be built by our talented people. As our nation advances into the world of global culture, won't our young people have to shoulder that burden?... The more talented people we have, the better."
    Placing the acceptance letter and the old workbook in Kang Myong's hands, He told the boy, "Kang Myong, your father will have the answer for you. The answer to how to make the dreams of your generation blossom and spread across our land. Our nation and our era demand it. Your generation must stand up and make our nation beautiful in the next stage."
  Yu Myong Chan could hear His voice ringing in his ears long after Comrade Kim Jong Un departed.

Kim Jong Un visits the Wonsan Shoe Factory.
Src: Joongang Ilbo

Fast forward a few years. Kang Myŏng is now a young art student off on his first on-site study (실습) tour of the Wonsan Shoe Factory and the Songdowon International Children's Camp, two prestige projects in the east coast region. But his father fears that he is not mature enough for such professional work. In preparation for his first big study trip, what did the boy do? He asked his mother to pack a bag full of all sorts of snacks and candy. He claimed it was to share with the workers on-site, but his parents have their doubts.

Kang Myŏng calls home regularly to report on his project, his high young voice babbling excitedly over the speaker. The normally taciturn professor frets, "That kid seems to think he's gone off to summer camp, not an on-site study."

Songdowon International Youth Camp
Src: Tongil News

Professor Yu goes into his son's room and looks at the picture on the wall; it's Kang Myŏng's prize-winning drawing "New Sprouts" from the national exhibition. The boy spent a week whittling the frame by hand. Yu teased him that he was making too much of his first big success, and would have trouble keeping it up. "You just wait, I'll fill the whole wall with my designs!" the boy retorted.

Staring at the framed drawing, Yu suddenly recalls another time when Kim Jong Un spoke  on the subject of dreams.

One summer evening Yu paid a visit to Comrade Kim's living quarters and found his student bent over his desk arrayed with various stencils, colored pencils and pens. "I was working on my tactical maps, but then I decided to do a few drawings to blow off some steam," the young leader said. "It's become a hobby of mine and I can't seem to stop." He handed a few drawings to Yu. But what fantastic images they were! Some seemed to be designs for 3-D or even 4-dimensional buildings, or complex geometric configurations. Was this his mental vision of the future?

"Art is not just beauty, it's a way to plant and cultivate dreams inside of people..." Comrade Kim Jong Un's gaze strayed around the room as if momentarily lost in a private world all His own. "Even while studying military science, I feel ever more firmly committed to peace and to creating a brighter, more beautiful land."

The POV switches to Director Ri. Driving back from a construction site with Kim, Ri thinks back over the last few years of amazing construction he has presided over, and the amazing character of the young leader he works for. He remembers something Kim told him one day:

   "Our future as a socialist nation of culture will not be built by architects and experts alone. It will require all our citizens to become gardeners and creators adorning our country with beauty. And it is the young generation that must stand up to bring about this bright future. Lately, I hear the saying 'everything's getting younger,' but isn't that wonderful? This era is young, and our people are getting younger..."
   Youth! Youth is not a matter of how many years one has lived; people feel younger through their love, hopes and dreams. This new era is younger and more dynamic just like our peerless great leader. Ri glances out the car window, and suddenly the fresh new grass outside seems to glow with special meaning....
   Comrade Kim Jong Un, seemingly lost in thought, suddenly commanded the driver to take them to the cable bridge at Kŭmrŭng Tunnel. He said He wanted another look at the skyline of the Rŭngna People's Pleasure Park, which had opened last summer.
   "Comrade Director, have you seen the clips on TV of the people enjoying the dolphin aquarium, water park, and amusement park? They really love it, don't they? They say people can't stop smiling. When they finish the Fun House and the House of Mirrors, it'll be even better." Recalling the sight of the people's joy, He seemed to have completely forgotten how He suffered in the summer heat and fierce winds while touring the site in person.
   "That fun house monkey logo was really well done. It was designed by a college student, right?" He spoke in a voice of deep contemplation. "Choosing a college student's design would have special meaning. It would help us to view our college students in a new light. We must find a way to shape them into the advance guard of cultural construction, as soon as possible. I keep hearing of all the international contests they are winning, and I'm always struck by their originality in design."

Kim orders the driver to stop the car at the top of the Ch'ŏngryubyŏk bluff. There Kim steps out of the car and stands looking out at the sunrise over the new construction in the Munsu district. From this vantage he can see the Munsu Water Park, the new Ryugyŏng Dental Hospital, and the children's hospital under construction.

The new Okryu Children's Hospital

   "We still haven't come up with a name for that children's hospital yet, right? How about Okryu Children's Hospital?" Comrade Kim Jong Un's eyes were sparkling at the thought of tending to the  children's health and future like polishing a piece of jade [ok means jade in Korean, and Okryu is also the name of the ward where the hospital is located].
   "Okryu, Okryu," Director Ri repeated. "In the Munsu district, where the waters of the Taedong glimmer like marbles. What a great, meaningful name. Really wonderful."
   "Isn't it? Then it's agreed!" His bright laugh shook the morning calm. "Is construction nearly finished?
   "It is, there's just a little detail work left on the interior. It should be wrapped up today or tomorrow. There's just a little issue with the fairytale pictures..."

Ri relates to Kim what he saw when he visited the site the night before. They had planned to decorate the wards with fairytale illustrations submitted by various supporters of the project. But looking over the drawings at the last minute, Ri realized that they had no thematic consistency and lacked the "innocence" of children's drawings. The artists had likely never drawn children's illustrations before and just drew what they thought children might like. Kim grasps the problem at once.

   "These fairytale pictures are important not just for decoration; they are vital to the children's recovery and mental development. Pictures communicate emotional messages to children that their doctors and their parents can't express," Comrade Kim Jong Un continued in a voice fraught with emotion. "First-rate equipment and a fanciful, childlike environment! Let's redo the pictures with this attitude in mind...  And while we're at it, let's not stop at just a few pictures. See to it that the whole surfaces of the walls in the waiting rooms and treatment rooms are chock full of drawings!"
   Ri Ju Yŏng quickly scribbled down notes. "I'll make the arrangements immediately. Since we'll want artwork of the highest standard, we'll have to call in some professional artists."
   "Actually, I was thinking of giving the job to the students at Pyongyang University of Fine Art."
   Ri Ju Yŏng's pen faltered on the notepad, and he looked up in surprise. Not professionals, but students? But this hospital was so important to Him! ...
   Suddenly His eyes were twinkling. "What? Don't you have faith in our college students? Their drawings will be more fresh and original than some professional who's been at it for years."
   It was true, students at that age exhibited peak creativity and a sense of adventure. And by handling such a project on their own, they would expand their horizons and build confidence....
   "Comrade, remember Kang Myŏng's drawing "New Sprouts"? You said yourself it showed skill well beyond the student level. Did you know he drew the first draft while still in middle school? If his father had just dismissed that as a doodle, he might never have risen to where he is today. And if we dismiss our college students' work as practice, we'll just slow down their progress..."
   Ri Ju Yŏng suddenly felt a new sense of purpose as if a bright light had gone on in his brain. Like a  bolt of thunder, he was struck by His faith and determination in calling forth students as the pioneers of the new cultural nation.
   Comrade Kim Jong Un raised His voice. "Let's assign the university students the task of creating all of the hospital artwork. All of it! Send them the necessary materials.... Ah, the students are off on their study trips, aren't they?" "Yes, I'll recall them to Pyongyang immediately."

Fast forward to an evening in October...

Kim sits in his office, looking over a booklet of the completed artwork from the hospital. The university students produced all sorts of fantastic works of art - a flying horse, an orchard of exotic life-like fruit, a child's view of the Pyongyang skyline, an underwater scene of colorful fish, a white rabbit traffic cop. He gestures to Ri Ju Yŏng, standing behind him. "This one hangs in the entrance to the inoculations room. Imagine a little kid scared to get his shot. The sight of this picture will spur him forward!" Kim talks about the students' illustrations like a proud father showing off a child's work, seeming to forget the mountains of documents piled on his desk awaiting his attention.

Meanwhile, old Professor Yu and his wife are touring the newly opened children's hospital. The normally gruff and taciturn Yu cannot contain his excitement at the wonderful artwork his son and his fellow students created.  Turning to his wife, Yu wonders if Kang Myŏng will want to add copies of this artwork to the wall of his room at home. If so, he declares, this time he will make the frames. "I'll show you what I can do. After all, my work is not unrelated to art; it's natural that the son of an artilleryman would become a great artist."



Youth and Potential

The underlying message of this story hardly bears spelling out. It's easy to see why, at this particular point in time, the Party would be eager to publish a story about the untapped potential of young people and the need to deploy their skills in real-world situations.

Kim Jong Un ascended to the supreme leadership position at the tender age of 27 or 28. In July 2012 he was promoted to marshal, the highest military rank, despite having never served in the military and only attended a few years at a military officers' college. Some with contacts in the North have reported a general feeling of skepticism among the public at that time about the qualifications of such a young leader. The regime appears to have made efforts to conceal his real age from the public.

Such a young leader would face skepticism in any country, but the challenge is all the greater in a place like North Korea, where the Confucian mindset places high value on age and experience. However well-trained North Koreans are to revere the bloodline of Mt Paekdu, they are bound to feel some cognitive dissonance when they see elderly generals kowtowing to a fresh-faced young man, hanging on his every word and taking notes as if he were some senior scholar.

Ergo, stories like this one seem geared to implant the concept of "young genius" taking over. But rather than simply illustrating the genius of Kim himself, the author rather cleverly makes a much broader point about how young people in general are too easily dismissed, and the country is wasting valuable human capital by holding them back. This message is becoming all the more important as Kim replaces the elderly cronies of his father and grandfather with people closer to his own age.

Inheriting Greatness

It's hard to express how weird it is the way Kim Jong Un's speech is rendered in Korean. Even in the scenes when he is a college student talking to his professor after class, he uses the speech forms of a respected and learned grandfather lecturing a wayward child. His speech sounds exactly like his father's and grandfather's as they were rendered in earlier stories I've read - jovial, avuncular, manly, patiently condescending, not quite rude but rather abrupt, filled with otherworldly wisdom.

It is distinctly disconcerting to hear young Kim give parenting advice to his professor about his problematic son, offering to stop by and lend a hand ("나도 한번 짬을 내여 가정방문을 하든가") if needed. Recall that at that point in the story, Kim is a university student years from having his first child, talking to a respected professor at the most prestigious university in the country. It is never made clear where he got this wisdom from; he just seems to naturally know more about the world and human nature than anyone else. Kim didn't have any formal titles as a college student, but several times he is referred to as "위대한 스승" (great teacher).

Young Kim seems to have inherited his father and grandfather's habit of staring out of windows in contemplation. Every good idea that these men ever have seems to come when they are staring out of some sort of window, usually on a train or at their office. Other characters also tend to have moments of epiphany while staring out of windows. One begins to suspect that if their windows were taken away, the whole country would fall apart.


Prestige projects

This story makes reference to several locations and projects that actually exist and have recently been promoted as a way of showcasing the new leadership's fun-loving style. These include the Rungna People's Pleasure Park an the Songdowon International Youth Camp. Rungna opened in 2012 and provided the backdrop for Ri Sol Ju's official coming out as North Korea's first lady; Songdowon has been around for over 30 years but recently underwent a renovation and re-opened with much fanfare in 2014. Around that time, several foreign media organizations were invited to tour the location. English-language reports can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here. A North Korean promotional video of the camp can be viewed here.

The National Drawing Exhibition has been held in Pyongyang every two years since 2006 and roughly coincides with Kim Jong Il's birthday. The 6th and most recent festival was held in 2016. The State Exhibition of Commercial Art takes place in April and seems to have been going on for the past several years; KBS did a report on it back in 2012 and Xinhua published a photolog on last year's exhibition.

The "cable bridge at Kŭmrŭng Tunnel" probably refers to the 청류교 connecting the island of the May 1st Stadium with the north shore of the Taedong River. Both the tunnel and bridge were fairly ambitious construction projects when they were completed in the mid-1990s, as is described in detail on this blog.

New construction in Mansudae.

The field of architectural design seems to be having a bit of a moment in North Korean media. KBS reported that the North Korean broadcaster did a major program on "construction guidance" in late December, one month before this story was published. That broadcast particularly highlighted the Pyongyang University of Architecture. North Korean media credits this school with designing the much-lauded new construction in the Mansudae area of Pyongyang.

Director of Architectural Design Ma Wŏn Chun, visiting
the Mangyongdae Children's Palace with Kim in Dec 2016.
Src: NK News

In this story, it is mentioned that PUA is the alma mater of Ri Ju Yŏng, Kim's deputy in charge of architectural design who faithfully accompanies him on his on-site guidance visits to various construction sites. At one point Kim congratulates Ri on his alma mater's recent anniversary and recalls that it was opened in 1953, "rising from the ashes of the war." From this we can infer that Ri Ju Yŏng is a pseudonym for Ma Wŏn Chun, director of the Design Department of the National Defense Commission, who has been an established figure in Kim's entourage since late 2015 and is known as the "architectural brain" behind North Korea's new construction projects. It is common in North Korean fiction to use pseudonyms to refer to certain prominent advisors and bureaucrats, possibly to avoid the hassle of having to censor the stories when those officials fall out of favor. Ma joins the small but growing pantheon of North Korean officials who had once been rumored to have been executed but then turned up alive and well several months later.


For a summary of an interesting North Korea-produced timeline of Kim Jong Il's purported leadership in art and architecture, see this link.

North Korea's uriminzokkiri website posts stories from Chongryon Munhak on a 4-6 month delay. They can be viewed at this link (The site is very slow and I advise not downloading it on a computer you care a lot about).

"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.

Lim Soon-hee's new book on North Koreans and religion

Dr. Lim gave me a free copy of her latest book, 북한 주민의 종교성 (Religiosity of the North Korean people), which is full of great anecdotes and quotes. This book should be of great interest to those interested in studying the state of religious faith in North Korea or the religious elements of the Kim family cult. Her primary source material comes both from interviews with North Korean defectors living in South Korea and her extensive reading of North Korean literature.

Inside a state-sanctioned North Korean church service.
Src: Donga

The introduction discusses the current state of religious practice in North Korea, the regime’s policy on religion and its evolution over time. It includes some interesting excerpts of interviews with North Koreans, who recount their actual experiences of religious practice in North Korea today.

The second section sets the scope, giving an overview of the three religions under observation (Confucianism, Christianity, and Korean folk beliefs), and identifying the main identifiable components of each that are relevant to North Korea. For instance, as regards Confucianism there are three key observable components: 효 (filial piety), 남존여비 (patriarchy), and 장유유서 (respect for the elderly). As regards Christianity, the important themes are “love” (both brotherly love and God’s love), “eternal life,” “salvation,” and “heaven on earth” - all concepts that have been adapted to the Kim family cult. Folk beliefs incorporate practices like fortune-telling, shamanistic rituals, and talking to spirits - all of which are still actively practiced in North Korea today despite the official prohibition on them.

The third section is where the real meat of the research is - analysis of the religious elements incorporated, intentionally or unintentionally, into various excerpts from North Korean literary works.

For instance, in the section on “folk beliefs” Dr. Lim identifies numerous references to “하늘” (heaven or God) found throughout modern North Korean fiction. Some of these are automatic utterances of old sayings, as one might say “goddammit” or “Thank God” in English without any real religious feeling. At other times, characters seem to see the hand of God in miraculous events. In one incident in the novel “한 자위단의 운명,” Kim Jong Il is driving an ORV along a muddy mountain path when the vehicle begins to slide downhill, stopping finally just at the edge of a cliff. Kim’s attendants in the convoy lose their minds, exclaiming that God must have saved the General (하늘이 장군님을 도왔습니다). (박윤, <오성산>, 평양: 문학예술출판사, 2012)

In one scene in the novel 해방전야, after a character speaks critically to Kim Il Sung, another character chastises him by saying “하늘도 무섭지 않나?" (an old Korean expression, translated as “Don’t you fear God?”).  This could be taken to imply that Kim Il Sung himself has taken the place of God, or that God in heaven will punish those who speak critically of his servant Kim Il Sung; either way, some sort of God is at work.

Dr. Lim recounts various ways in which North Korean literature compares the leader to God and even describes him as a God. For instance, there is this line from Rim Byong Soon’s treatise “Thoughts about God": “If there is a God, he would appear pathetic in comparison to the boundless foresight, generosity and wisdom of our General… The God that exists in the faith of religious people is a mere illusion, but the absolute faith of our people rests in a real God (현실의 하늘), General Kim Jong Il.” (림병순, “하늘에 대한 생각”, <조선문학> 제9-10호, 1994)

Parts of the book discuss the god-like qualities ascribed to Kim Il Sung in North Korean fiction. Many times in novels and essays, various authors refer to Kim as being "a great man descended from heaven" (하늘이 내신 분, 하늘이 낸 위인) to "save" the Korean people. In the novel <항일의 전설적영웅>, Kim Il Sung appears before an old man in a dream and tells him where a secret cache of gemstones are buried. The old man proclaims that Kim is "a great man who can perceive divine secrets and even see deep within the earth!" (천기를 내다보실뿐아니라 지하수천척까지 들여다보시는 위인). The novels <백두산장수별> and <백두산전설>, which recount the anti-Japanese guerrilla struggle, ascribe numerous miracles to Kim Il Sung:

• Turning pinecones into bombs
• Turning grains of sand into grains of rice
• Using magic to contract space and shorten distances
• Predicting the weather
• Firing a single bullet that turns into thousands of bullets mid-flight
• Making pebbles fly with his mind
• Making rock cliffs crumble with a command
• Riding around on a cloud
• Calling a magical horse to ride through the sky
• Taming tigers
• Controlling Japanese military officers through hypnosis
• Inanimate objects like stones turn in Kim's direction out of admiration

It is important to note that these novels fall under the category of "youth literature" and fulfill the basic human need for fantastic adventure stories. Among adults, they are probably absorbed with the same degree of seriousness that Americans have for the tale of George Washington's cherry tree. Because North Korea cannot have any heroes outside the Kim family, Kim must become not only their political founder but also their Paul Bunyan, Jesus Christ, Iron Man, and James Bond all rolled into one. Whether these various miracles are evidence of religious faith or simply expressions of the North Korean creative consciousness, I leave to the individual reader to decide.



임순희, <북한 주민의 종교성>, 평화나눔연구소, 서울: 2016.

Ryŏksa ui Daeha (#1): A North Korean writer imagines the Clinton White House

Ryŏksa ui Daeha  (력사의 대하) is a full-length novel by Chŏng Ki Jong that was published in North Korea in 1997. The title can be translated as either "Great River of History" or "Jumbo Prawn of History." Since North Korea refuses to use Chinese characters in their publications, there is really no way to definitively know which was intended, but I prefer to think it is the latter.

Author Chŏng Ki Jong passed away in 2016.
Src: Yonhap

This novel is quite famous in North Korea, and the author received a rare eulogy by the KCNA when he passed away earlier this year.

Dr. Lim recommended this novel when I asked for stories depicting world leaders and current events; it is a fictional account of the events surrounding North Korea's threatened withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993. She said there is a particularly good scene in which President Clinton is depicted cowering in fear under a blanket. Since this is a 500-page novel, I'll be skipping around and posting select segments.

The main story line follows the North Korean scientists and officials struggling to develop the nuclear program, with frequent assistance from Kim Jong Il. At several points, however, the POV switches to show the reaction of the Clinton administration to events. The following is an excerpt from the first Clinton chapter, which begins on page 111.

The Clintons in the White House

   On Friday evening, Clinton was planning his weekend vacation.
   His wife Hillary had been frantically making preparations since yesterday. She had set up their itinerary for the two-day trip, carefully allotting time for each activity - yachting, fishing, golf, duck hunting. They had even argued over how to get there; Clinton loved driving his car at high speeds through the countryside, but Hillary cast his preferences aside and decided that they would take the private plane to Camp David (known as the place where Eisenhower and Khrushchev held the Camp David Talks in 1959).
   This weekend would be his first vacation as president. Ever since Bill Clinton took office on January 23, he had been constantly busy making cabinet appointments, managing his administration, formulating his own political and military strategy (크린톤식 정치군사전략) for dealing with global instabilities, engaging in diplomacy and laying groundwork for the "American economic revival" that he had so emphatically promised during his campaign. There had been not a moment to relax.
   But at last they had a chance to catch their breath. Hillary was particularly happy. In her long career as a lawyer she had only dressed in a scholarly fashion, and her mind was always on her legal work; but since becoming First Lady she had begun to to dress elegantly and involve herself in various entertainments and parties, becoming almost vivacious.
   "Bill! About this weekend," she had said at breakfast that morning. "No talking politics or legal stuff while we're away. Got it? We're going to have a 'Return to the State of Nature' like Rousseau. That's the rule for this weekend."
   Then she had insisted that everything about their trip must be set according to her wishes, not just the itinerary but also the music and TV programs, and even the menu for every meal.
   Finally the time to leave was almost here.
   At 5pm, Clinton phoned from his office in the West Wing to the second floor living quarters, but nobody answered. He tried the number for his daughter's study room; still no answer. On a whim he tried the central hall phone number, and finally his daughter Chelsea picked up.
   "Chelsea!"
   "Dad?" Her voice was bubbling with excitement. "Dad, I finally did it!"
   "Did what?"
   "Guess! No, I'll tell you. I finally played 'Dreams of Love' all the way through!"
    12-year-old Chelsea had been working on Liszt's "Dreams of Love" for ages but had been stumped by the arpeggios in the latter section. It seems she had finally had a breakthrough today. It was easy to picture her pirouetting joyfully around the central hall, where the grand piano was.
   "Hey Dad, wanna hear it?" His daughter was already setting the receiver down by the keys. He could hear her excited breathing grow more distant. "Okay, here I go. Listen to this, Dad."
   Shortly, piano chords began emitting from the speakerphone on his desk. As his ears filled with the familiar tune that he had been forced to hear almost daily, his mind turned to other thoughts. In the iron-fenced rose garden on the South Lawn, his helicopter sat waiting. No doubt the house staff were busily loading all the luggage Hillary had packed at that very moment.
   Just then the door opened and in walked White House Chief of Staff Thomas McClarty. Clinton gave him a quizzical look. It was unusual for him to appear unannounced.
   "What is it, Tommy?"  Clinton had called him by this nickname since they were kids. They had grown up in the same town of Hope, Arkansas and had gone to kindergarten together.
   "Mr. President." Thomas' thick jowls quivered and his expression was stern. "There's one thing you need to see. I was going to wait until after the weekend but the CIA director insisted..."   

McClarty hands Clinton an AFP article reporting that South African President De Klerk has publicly revealed that his country developed six nuclear warheads. At first Clinton cannot understand why this has the CIA so upset; Western efforts to help South Africa develop the bomb had been an "open secret" for years. McClarty reminds him of the upcoming IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, and the fact that North Korea has been increasing its diplomatic lobbying in advance of this meeting.

   Thomas was watching him expectantly. "Mr. President?"
   "Tommy, when it's just you and me, you can drop the formality," he said, suddenly annoyed. "Who in the Cabinet is still around?"
   "Uh, the Interior Secretary, the Attorney General, Treasury, Commerce -"
   "Never mind!" The one he really needed, Secretary of State Christopher, was overseas. "Get me the Secretary of Defense and the CIA director, right now!"
   Just then Chelsea's voice rang sharply from the speakerphone. "Dad! You said you would listen, but you're talking again!"
   "Ah, Chelsea." Clinton ignored Thomas' grin. "Something just came up. What can you do, your dad's the president."
   "Ugh! Do you do anything but make speeches?"
   "Hey, listen to me, okay? I'm going to make time to hear it. Now's just not the time. Understand? Okay, Chelsea, bye now."

Clinton switched off the speakerphone and ordered McCarty to gather the two officials, plus the national security advisor, in the Roosevelt Room. He then turned to the bank of TV screens on one wall showing four networks - ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN - and a live satellite feed provided by the DoD. From here, the President could watch events unfold anywhere at any time, down to "the pensive expression on the face of a farmer tilling wheat in a Russian village."

CNN was already abuzz about De Klerk's announcement. A panel was discussing the history of Israeli-South African nuclear collaboration, including suspicions that the "double flash" incident in 1979 was an Israeli nuclear test done with South Africa's cooperation. The CNN panelist noted that the US obtained uranium from South Africa in the 1940s and that France and Germany had also secretly collaborated with it on nuclear development in the past.

Clinton moved to the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing, which "was built by President Theodore Roosevelt to allow more space for his six children and the various beasts they raised." Defense Secretary Les Aspin, CIA Director James Woolsey, and his national security advisor were already waiting there and greeted him with anxious looks.

   Clinton took his seat and began the meeting.
   "We're here today to discuss North Korea's likely response at the IAEA meeting convening in Vienna.   In case they use South Africa's announcement to accuse the US and the IAEA of discriminatory treatment against them, we must ensure that this does not jeopardize 'Operation Focus'."
   The mood grew serious. "Operation Focus" was the Joint Chiefs' secret plan to attack the North Korean nuclear facility at Yongbyon. Around the time of the Team Spirit 93 joint military exercises, they intended to launch a targeted strike against Yongbyon and then use the North Korean response (which would surely be swift and merciless) as an excuse to launch a full-fledged war.
   In order for this operation to succeed, the role of the IAEA was crucial. By using the meeting to highlight the lack of transparency of North Korea's nuclear program and  its refusal to allow "special inspections," they could further isolate the North and justify the attack to the international community.
   "Mr. President," the CIA director began. "Regardless of what North Korea does, the participants are already drafting their resolution."
   "Is that so?" Clinton asked, and immediately felt stupid. The CIA director doubtless had access even to drafts of the IAEA members' speeches.
   "Yes, sir. And if the North Koreans bring up South Africa and Israel, they'll only be implicating themselves. After all, their nuclear program is just as untransparent."
   Defense Secretary Aspin spoke up. "This might actually be a good thing. The more they complain about South Africa, the more they will alienate the Western countries that aided it, and we'll get even more support from them for our strategy."
   To this, the NSA countered, "The world is not just countries like France and Germany. When it comes to the nuclear issue, we have to worry about the influence this will have on problematic countries like India and Pakistan, and Algeria."
   As he listened to their arguments, Clinton began to quietly reconsider 'Operation Focus." The truth was that he did not consider war to be necessarily a desirable outcome. As the last election had proven, the most important issue for Americans was the economy....
   Clinton was well aware that he was neither a great epoch-making man nor a battle-blooded war hero. In his view there were four great American presidents: the independence war general Washington, of course; the civil war era leader Lincoln; FDR who led America in WWII; and Kennedy, who overcame the greatest tension of the Cold War when the Soviet Union tried to put missiles in Cuba. All four were heroes of their eras, with extraordinary courage and leadership capabilities.
   But why couldn't he, Clinton, be the same?
   People thought of him as a jolly guy and an optimist, but few knew that behind the smiling face lay a deep ambition and competitive spirit.... From his unhappy childhood under the care of his alcoholic stepfather, he had been driven by a desperate ambition. This ambition had allowed him to be selected to visit the White House as a youth, even shaking hands with his hero President Kennedy, and his sights had been set on the White House ever since....

The text continues in some detail about Clinton's education history and his early political career, noting that he was both the youngest and longest-serving state governor in US history. After "a ferocious campaign of one year and one month," he had finally become president. Now, his final competition was against the great presidents of the past whose names had been written large in history.

He thought of the long line of presidents who had been humiliated by North Korea - Truman and Eisenhower with the Korean War, Johnson and Nixon with the Pueblo and EC121 incidents. But now the world had changed, the Soviet Union had collapsed and North Korea was left isolated. Now was his chance to end them and, in so doing, write his name large in history.

   With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Clinton regarded North Korea as a trifling matter. He made a public fuss about the advanced weaponry they possessed, but privately he wasn't too worried. America's superior firepower had been proven in the Gulf War.
   So what was there to worry about? A pretext for war, that's what. They could not allow a stain on the veil of democracy that America draped about itself. He must take care not to acquire the "mass murderer" label that had plagued Truman after giving the order to drop the first nuclear bomb.
   Just then Woolsey spoke up. "Mr. President, the important thing is to keep provoking the North Koreans so that their leadership loses their wits."
   "?" Clinton hadn't been following the earlier conversation closely and wasn't sure how to respond.
   Aspin stepped in to the pause. "History shows that wars are always preceded by some strong peace offensive." (강력한 평화공세)
   "What are you saying?" Woolsey demanded. "Are you calling 'Team Spirit' a peace offensive?" The mood grew tense.
   Just then the door opened and Hillary walked in, carrying a tea tray and smiling coquettishly. Hillary was always taking over from the servants and playing hostess whenever guests were around. This allowed her to snoop in on conversations.
   Traditionally the president's wife was not supposed to hold any official position or involve herself in the administration's work, but Hillary had never stuck to that rule. At this point she had become his most influential advisor.  It was said that most of his cabinet had been chosen or recommended by her.... With her wise advise and novel ideas, she had directly influenced policy and earned a formal seat in the cabinet meeting room....
   Her sudden entrance swept away the grim mood in the room. Clad in a black dress, she warmed up the room with her feminine scent and warm smile.  "Drink up, everyone," she said, delivering tea, coffee and soda around the room according to each man's preference. "But why the long faces?"
   "Madam, just now we feel like poets searching for inspiration," said Aspin.
   "Is that so?" she replied with another grin. "But do you really need to search for it? I thought inspiration had to come on its own."
   "Of course! It's just that..."
   "Just that the president is making you all search for it?"
   The room erupted in laughter at her wit.
   "Whatever you do," she continued, "Don't get too far ahead of yourselves or you'll just wear out. Why not sleep on it?" Clinton read the look she gave him to mean that she had given up on the weekend plans, and was proposing to continue discussing this important problem tomorrow.
   "Let's do this," Clinton turned to address the room. "We'll take the position of welcoming South Africa's decision to come clean on its nuclear program. But we'll use that to put pressure on North Korea. We'll strongly urge them to confess what they've been hiding, as South Africa did. The Vienna conference is key to making this work. The pretext for war that we've been seeking depends on that conference. By pointing out their lack of transparency and deepening suspicions about their nuclear program, we can heighten global concern about them. Then the whole world will support our 'Operation Focus'."
   After thinking a moment, Clinton called Thomas in and gravely commanded, "Inform all NSC staff. For the next month, no weekends off for anybody." The order to cancel vacations for all NSC staff, including himself, indicated that he intended to put an end to the nuclear issue - and North Korea - once and for all within the month.
   That left one more matter to address. "And the time has come to send our tactical nuclear bombers to the peninsula.... This will put huge psychological pressure on the North Korean leadership and fill their people with fear."
   At his words, everyone in the room knew that war in the Far East would soon be a reality.

Depiction of US Politics

For a North Korean novel, this passage paints a relatively nuanced portrait of the workings of executive power in the US. The president is depicted as not having much control over the media, making promises to get elected and then feeling obligated to make good on them, and having to appease more conservative elements in order to achieve his agenda. His cabinet members openly disagree and argue with one another in his presence. He is concerned about global opinion turning against the US at the IAEA meeting.

It is notable that the text points out Clinton's humble upbringings, even exaggerates them a little. In describing Clinton's rise to power, the key words "ambition" and "competition" are repeated many times. These concepts have a decidedly negative connotation in Korean popular culture. North and South Korea share a common trove of folk tales endorsing the narrative of the ambitious schemer who seeks to steal power away from the virtuous prince. This narrative can be seen in many South Korean dramas today.

Depiction of Hillary Clinton

The Clintons in the White House
Src: AP

Like Rosalynn Carter in "Maehok", Hillary Clinton is depicted here in mostly positive terms as a "wise" (현명한) and "creative" (기발한) advisor to her husband, if a bit controlling. Clearly, the author had been following US media coverage of Hillary's role early in her husband's administration and the criticisms of her exceeding her brief as First Lady.

What is most interesting is the way the author imagines Hillary using her feminine wiles to interpose into the world of male power. She comes in bearing a tray of drinks, sorted in advance according to each man's taste - a classic female chore in office spaces across East Asian countries. Her "feminine scent" (녀성특유의 아릿한 체취) and "coquettish smile" (애교있는 미소) are described as having a warming effect on the men in the room. She seems to be very adept at using her feminine characteristics to wheedle her way into the policy conversation.

"A Shift Manager's Day": A North Korean working mother tries to have it all

"A Shift Manager's Day"  (직장장의 하루) is a short story by Kang Bok Rye that appeared in Chosŏn Munhak in August 1992.

This story, which was in the same Sallimtŏ collection as "Fragrance of Life," follows a day in the life of a working mom in North Korea. The protagonist, Kim Myŏng Ok, is a manager at a textile factory, the wife of a lecturer at an agricultural college, and the mother of two elementary school children. The story follows Kim through a day in her harried life, as she deals with crises large and small. Along the way we are treated to glimpses of family life, work life in a big factory complex, inter-office dating, and even a North Korean wedding. Since the wedding comes at the end, I believe that makes this story technically a comedy in the Shakespearean sense.

This story was written in a fairly plain style with lots of dialogue and less flowery description, almost Hemingway-esque compared to "Fragrance of Life," and thus it was a much quicker read for me.

A North Korean textile factory.
Src: USA Today

The Plot

Kim Myŏng Ok starts her day getting her young son and daughter ready for school. She has a brief conflict with her husband, who is distressed that he cannot find his good white shirt. She had just washed it last night, and it is not dry yet. He fumes that he needs it because he has to attend his students' presentations today; she points out that he should have told her that last night. He finally storms off in his less presentable gray shirt, without even fastening his tie.

Feeling inadequate, Kim goes to the office and throws herself into the day's work. She checks the machines that are to be prepped for a new pattern, and notes that three of the warp twills have not been switched out. She is informed that the new warp twill patterns are not ready yet, and so she confronts the supply manager. He lackadaisically remarks that delaying three looms is not such a big deal, to which she responds with a blistering speech about the vital importance of meeting deadlines and supplying cloth in a timely fashion "for the people." She orders a technician over to prepare the twills ASAP.

One of the assistant managers, briefing her on issues in the previous shift, mentions that a worker named Tanshil has missed two days of work. The reason? Her baby got sick and she had to tend to him in the hospital.

   "Comrade manager, how about shifting the women with babies to the service department? After all, how are they supposed to work properly when they're always needing to stay home with sick kids, or running off to the daycare center?"
   Kim Myong Ok knew that even with just two or three nursing mothers in every shift, the decline in productivity made the shift foremen unhappy and caused headaches for the assistant managers. But still, she couldn't accept Assistant Manager Cho's suggestion.
   "Comrade, your thinking is flawed. If you shift the young mothers to the service department, you'll be pulling the most experienced workers off the machines. We're short of skilled workers as it is, with the number of machines increasing."
   "But that's what the other managers are doing," Assistant Manager Cho replied stubbornly.
   "Well, they can do as they please, but I won't do it.  What we need to do is correct the mindset of the assistant managers who complain so much about nursing mothers," Kim said curtly, indicating that she would brook no further comment on the matter.

The assistant manager mentions in passing that he expects Tanshil will not be around much longer in any case; the gossip is that she is planning on quitting. Kim is startled to hear this; Tanshil is one of her best workers.

On her lunch break, Kim goes to visit Tanshil and her baby Young-ho in the hospital. She finds that it was just a minor stomach bug and the boy has almost completely recovered overnight. She chides Tanshil for being a nervous first-time mother, but also urges her to keep the boy in the clinic until he is completely better.

Then she broaches the subject that has been troubling her.

   "Tanshil, is it true that you are planning to quit?"
   Tanshil smiled nervously, and finally replied, "Young-ho's dad said I should quit, so..."
   "Your husband said that?" Kim repeated, surprised. She had been hoping it was not true. Tanshil avoided her gaze. "Well, what do you think? Will you do as he says?"
   "I don't know what I should do."
   "Tanshil, you are a skilled technician of complex multi-machines who can produce 400 meters of cloth in a day; if you just quit and go home what will you do? Just rely on your husband for everything? You know right now the whole factory is teeming with orders to increase cloth production; how could our most prized worker entertain such thoughts? I'll have to have a word with your husband."
   Tanshil lifted her gaze from the floor and quietly replied, "Comrade manager, it may be my husband saying it, but I too feel like I'm not taking proper care of him. And we're having fights over little things, I can't help feeling sorry."

Kim is suddenly reminded of the morning scene she had with her husband. She confesses to Tanshil that she has had similar thoughts herself, but still urges her to persevere, arguing there is little meaning (보람) in a life spent relying on one's husband. She then takes her leave and returns to the factory.

Upon returning, she makes her rounds on the floor and comes upon a heated exchange between a young factory repairman named Jeong Nam and a loom worker named Sun Ae. She can't hear what they're saying over the roar of the machines, and the two break apart as soon as they see her, but it is clear they were arguing about something. She tells Jeong Nam to follow her to the office where they can talk. Before she can even sit down, he makes an urgent request:

   "Comrade Manager, please transfer me to a different shift!"
   "Change shifts? What for?" Kim Myong Ok stared at him in surprise.
   "Just please, transfer me. I cannot work this shift anymore." Jeong Nam was adamant.
   "I can't transfer you without having a meeting to discuss the problem. We have to get the assistant manager's position. Anyway, why were you fighting with Sun Ae?"
   "Loom workers should take proper care of their machines. All they care about is churning out cloth, with no thought for how the machines are bearing up. That's why we were arguing."
   "You're right, loom workers should care for their machines as if they owned them. But you have to persuade them reasonably; what's the use of fighting? I'll have a word with Sun Ae."

Later on, however, Kim hears from the assistant manager that there was another explanation for the fight. Jeong Nam and Sun Ae are in love, but rumor has it Sun Ae's parents have arranged for her to marry some guy in Deokcheon. The two have been fighting ever since.

The major conflict of the day occurs around 4pm, when the statistician runs the numbers and find that they are going to be 300 meters shy of the factory's 24-hour quota. The daily quota sets the total cloth output in meters that must be produced by all the shifts summed together each day; this number is set by the Party and comes due at the end of the day shift, at 5pm.

The other office workers seem unperturbed by this shortfall, but Kim springs into action. For her, the daily quota is a matter of law and "a reflection of the ambitions of the Party" (당적 량심의 거울). She devises a plan to select thirty of the fastest machines and assign them an extra 10 meters each, to be completed in the next hour. She busily runs about collecting spools as the final minutes tick by, and the statistician announces the final tally: 56 meters above quota! The factory floor erupts with cheers.

As the shift ends, Kim gets a visit from Sun Ae, the young woman who had been seen fighting with the repairman.

   "Comrade Sun Ae, is it true that your parents are sending you to Deokcheon to get married?"
   At her manager's blunt question, Sun Ae's eyes took on a mischievous light. "No, I told them no way. I don't see any reason to leave the town where I was born and raised."
   "Then why distance yourself from Jeong Nam? He's a good man and a go-getter. He'll be a senior technician in two years."
   "Oh, not you too. What did I tell him? He walks right on by even when my machine's service light is blinking, of course I'm going to get mad."
   Kim's heart brightened as if the sun had just shone through a break in the clouds.
   "Then Jeong Nam is clearly just nitpicking! And to think he asked to transfer shifts..."
   "He did what? That's ridiculous!" Sun Ae's smile disappeared.
   Kim grinned at Sun Ae's sudden seriousness. "I'll have a word with him tomorrow. I'm sure it will be fine. You must be tired, head on home."
   "I'll have some words with him too! I had no idea he was so petty," Sun Ae said primly, turning to leave.
   "Sun Ae, this isn't pettiness. When two people are in love, they have all sorts of misunderstandings. Don't be too hard on Jeong Nam when you see him. He's a good man."

After the end of the shift, Kim attends a general meeting with the other staff members, and finally leaves just as it is getting dark. There is a wedding tonight that she is determined to attend. The groom is a factory mechanic recently discharged from the army, and his father Deok Bae works in the supply office. She hurries along the road leading from the factory to the residences, but midway there she decides to drop in quickly at home and fix her kids some dinner first.

    Her 10-year-old daughter popped out of the kitchen to greet her, wielding a kitchen knife. Kim Myong Ok's eyes went wide.
   "Eun Hee, what are you doing?"
   "Chopping onions," her daughter proudly replied.
   "You're doing what?"
   "Dad told me to."
   "Your father is home?"
   "Yep. He's in the bathroom washing Gyeong Su."
   Kim Myong Ok wondered what could have happened to bring him home so early. With a twinge of guilt she remembered their argument that morning. The children's bags and picture books were scattered haphazardly about the living room. Kim quickly removed her shoes and straightened things up.
   By day she was a manager of several hundred workers producing tens of thousands of meters of fabric daily, but by night she was a wife and a mother of two young children.
   Finishing with the living room, she peeked in the bathroom. Just as her daughter had promised, there was her husband washing her son's face.
   Gyeong Su turned his soapy face up to greet her and shouted, "Mom, I beat Chol Nam!"
   "Be still. Wash you face first and then tell her." her husband scolded.
   Kim turned to her husband. "Why are you home so early?"
  "I can leave early from time to time." 

Her husband informs her that Deok Bae was already by asking after her, wanting to know whether she would be at the wedding. He tells her he has things under control at home, and urges her to hurry along to the party. She insists on fixing the children dinner first. In a surprising character twist, her husband tells her that he can handle the housework tonight, Eun Hee is old enough to start helping a little, and it is wrong to keep an old man waiting. Kim suddenly realizes that this is his way of saying  that her work relationships are important and he wants to support her.  Deeply moved, Kim quickly changes clothes and hurries off to the wedding.

Just like in South Korea, the term "wedding" (결혼식) seems to mean "reception." We do not see any ceremony or exchange of vows, just the afterparty. The reception is held in father-of-the-groom Deok Bae's apartment, which is laid out for a banquet. All the familiar faces from the factory are gathered around tables drinking soft drinks and liquor. People move around pouring liquor into their friends' cups while making little speeches to them; for instance, as Deok Bae fills Kim's glass he recounts how he knew her as a little girl, and congratulates her on rising to become a superb manager.  This is pretty similar to what I've seen at weddings I've attended in Japan and South Korea.

At some point, Kim Myong Ok stands to address the room at large.

"Comrades, on this happy day, I have something I'd like to say to the young people seated here. There is something you must know and always remember about Deok Bae and all the grandfathers in our supply department (자재과 아바이들) .  During the wartime, these men dug air-raid shelters into ravines and worked there weaving military uniforms for the troops. After the war, they endured many hardships amid the ashes to build our factory, and developed our country's textile industry into what it is today. These elders, who were once the managers, assistant managers, core workers and technicians, were this factory's central pillars and deserve our utmost respect. We must shoulder their burden and further develop this industry. We must feel a greater sense of honor and responsibility for our work, so that our whole nation can take even greater pride in our magnificent textile workers."

The reception concludes with a performance by the factory accordion band, which has the whole room on their feet dancing and singing along. Kim feels upbeat as she walks home from the party. It's a tough life, she reflects, with never a moment to rest and relax - but it's because of all her hard work that she can truly enjoy nights like tonight. 

Main Themes and Intent

Similar to "Fragrance of Life," this story seems primarily intended to educate people about ideal managerial behavior while raising consciousness about gender issues in the workplace. Kim Myŏng Ok is represents the ideal, both as a woman and as a socialist worker. Like a lot of social realist fiction, the story tries to further emphasize the protagonist's perfection by surrounding her with sub-par individuals. As a result, Kim ends up seeming like the only person in the factory's management with any common sense or work ethic.

Kim Myŏng Ok displays several ideal behaviors. She is attentive to the pressures in her workers' private lives and takes personal responsibility for helping them. She is keenly aware of her most valuable workers and works hard to keep them on the team. She also respects deadlines and quotas as the law; the rest of her staff seem content to let things slide. The primary sin of her colleagues is their complacency; Kim has to repeatedly remind them of the importance of their product and the customers they serve.

The urgency behind this theme is easy to grasp: North Korea needs its women to wholeheartedly participate in vital areas of the workforce, without being slowed down by family commitments. Kim's feelings of inadequacy about her homemaking duties are depicted as irrational, if common, sentiments shared by her junior worker Tanshil and many others. She knows in her heart that she is not really at fault for not having her husband's shirt ready, but she instinctively blames herself. Her conversation with Tanshil at the hospital helps her to realize that the real problem is one of correcting her own consciousness.

Frankly, the at-home conflict seems rather unfinished. Tanshil's husband seems like kind of a jerk in the morning, runs off in a huff, and then reappears near the end of the story as the very image of an attentive and understanding husband. There is no interaction in between to explain how he reached this epiphany. I get the feeling something got left on the cutting room floor with that sub-plot.

Workplace Personnel and Staff

Through the story one can get a sense of the age and gender dynamics at play in North Korean work assignments. It appears from the story as if all loom workers (직포공) are female; various images found online seem to confirm this. The repair technicians (수리공) in the story are all male. Interestingly, all the workers in the supply department (자재과) are referred to by the honorific title "아바이" implying that they are all elderly men.

Since Korean has no gendered pronouns and characters are often referred to by their titles rather than names, one often has to rely on context and style of speech to determine gender. The supply manager (준비직장장) with whom Kim argues about the warp twills appears to be older than her and male, based on his style of speech.  The unnamed statistician (통계원) is young and speaks rather formerly, so it is hard to definitively ascertain gender. The head technician (책임기사) and assistant manager (부직장장) are also young but I'm guessing they are both male based on their names, Yeong-seop and Seong-man respectively.

The story offers a few glimpses into some characters' career paths. Kim Myong Ok was a loom worker for 12 years, five of which were spent attending a light industry college, before becoming a manager. She got married and had her children when she was in college. The head technician graduated the previous fall from a light industry college and was dispatched (배치되여) to the factory's tech repair department (기술준비실) initially as a temporary worker, but became head technician for unknown reasons just a short time ago.  The young technician Jeong Nam is described as highly motivated and is currently attending the factory college (공장대학); in a few years he is expected to become a senior technician (기사). In the episode with Sun Ae threatening to move to Deokchon, it is mentioned that it would take 5-6 years to train another skilled loom worker of her caliber. The bridegroom, old Deok Bae's son, was discharged last year from the army and promptly assigned to his father's factory as a repair technician, where he already shows great promise.

North Korean vocabulary

I discovered an easy way to determine if a vocabulary word is North Korean or just Korean: use Naver's 국어 dictionary tool and look for the [북한어] tag in the definition. Here are some of the North Korean words I learned in this story:

• 직장장  A unit manager in a workplace
• 혼타공장 a spinning mill in which different cotton fibers are spun together.
• 따지다  To burst a piece of stitching (means something very different in South Korean)
• 나뉜 옷 A woman's two-piece suit
• 시뚝거리다 To sulk and be displeased
• 오똘거리다  To be flippant and quick to anger
• 아바이  "father" in the Kyeongsang dialect; frequently used in North Korea as a respectful title for elderly men. In this story, all the workers in the supply department are referred to as 아바이
• 고뿌  cup (my North Korean student specifically mentioned this as an example of a Japanese "borrowed" word, which is kind of funny because in Japanese it is considered foreign and is spelled using Katakana. She believes North Koreans still use more Japanese words than South Koreans)