Chŏng, author of the novel Ryŏksa ŭi Taeha reviewed previously in this blog, passed away in 2016. As one of North Korea's most famous chroniclers of the previous leaders' exploits, it was symbolically important that he was able to pen a story about the new leader before passing away. Chŏng never disappoints; this story features more fascinating glimpses of the U.S. leadership in action.
The Plot
The story opens as Kim Jong Un steps out of his car one early spring day to pick some azaleas blooming on a ridge by the roadside. The flowers remind him of his mother, who had always loved azaleas as a sign of spring. KJU begins speaking to the azalea sprig as if it was his late mother.
"Oh mother! If the bastards fire even one shot on our satellite, I swear I will mercilessly crush their strongholds. And I'll be sure to tell you the good news of our victory. Just wait, Mother!"
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| Young KJU planting a tree with his mother. Src: Namu Wiki |
KJU competently drives up a rough mountain road the 503rd Air Base to observe a night flying drill led by hot-shot squad leader Han Se Woong. We learn that Kim Ha Chŏn has a long-standing beef with Han, whom he considers a cocksure show-off (멋따기나 좋아하는).
Years ago, when KJU and Han were both students at Kim Il Sung Military University, Han once complained that the military history curriculum was irrelevant to modern warfare. KJU stoutly defended "the profound Juche tactics of the Great Leader and the General" that had defeated America time and again. Chastened, Han apologized, "I was just boasting, I don't even know the first principles of military arts. Forgive me!"
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| KJU touring airforce corps 1016 in March 2015 Src: Chosun Shinbo |
After observing Han's squadron competently execute the flying maneuvers, KJU advises him, "Confidence is very good, but your target can constantly change. It's not fixed. At times, your target won't be what you expected; you will need to be aware of not only your assigned target but everything in the sky, land and sea (하늘과 땅, 바다)."
In the command center, KJU delivers a detailed lecture on how commanders must be prepared to "seize the opportunity" to strike the enemy when it counts most (적들에게 강타를 안길수 있는 타격의 기회).
"In a war, opportunity does not always present itself to you. See here, the Yanks and Japs and their south Korean puppet friends who are threatening to shoot down our satellites. Do you know how massive their forces are? What can we do to demolish such a massive force in a single blow (일격에 타격소멸)? Never forget, opportunity comes and goes in an instant. It's just one time in a thousand! Being decisive in the moment, evaluating all the surrounding conditions and seizing the opportunity - this is fundamental!"
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| KJU picking targets like a boss. Src: Sky News |
KJI and KJU discuss plans in the event that the enemy tries to intercept their satellite launch, which North Korea has already announced they will consider an act of war.
They decide to instruct all army, navy and AF units to make preparations to strike at enemy bases throughout region at a moment’s notice, if there is the slightest hint of a strike against the satellite launch. In addition, KJU proposes mobilizing the airforce to conduct an attack drill over the East Sea, where the enemy fleet is deployed. That way, if the enemy makes the slightest twitch toward an attack, the fighters will be in place and ready to sink the whole fleet into the sea.
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| "The MiG-29 is North Korea’s most formidable and modern aircraft, but Pyongyang has only a handful of jets." Src: The National Interest |
KJI thinks this is a fantastic plan and gives his approval. KJU suggests that Han Se Woong lead the squadron.
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The day of the launch arrives, a warm spring day without a cloud in the sky. KJU and KJI arrive at the launch command center. KJU holds his cellphone close at hand; from this one phone he can command all divisions of the KPA, including Han Se Woong's squadron that is even now hovering over the East Sea, ready to attack the enemy fleet at a moment's notice. He keeps a grim eye trained on the enemy's movements.
The enemies were in an uproar.
In Prague, U.S. President Obama stood before a great crowd gathered in the central square surrounded by stately old structures and delivered a speech proclaiming U.S. leadership in a grand epoch-making effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons. No sooner had his speech concluded than he was handed a dispatch on North Korea. The satellite launch was imminent. A squadron of North Korean fighter jets were conducting a very realistic attack drill in the airspace above the allied flotilla of destroyers in the Korean East Sea. What should be done? Should they shoot down the fighter jets first?...
The telegram from the US PACOM commander was uncommonly belligerent: "Intercepting the satellite launch is practically impossible. Instead we should do a pre-emptive strike against their launch site, major cities and key military posts. We can fire hundreds of cruise missiles at once. And our nuclear submarines are already in the area, awaiting the DEFCON 3 order."
Obama couldn't help gnashing his teeth at the stupidity of PACOM Commander Keating's response. "No, that's unacceptable! Unacceptable, I say!" he screamed at the embassy's CIA comms officer. "Order them to terminate the operation immediately. Our carriers and destroyers are to stand down and not interfere with the North Korean tactical attempt. If the missile launches, track it and report it without a fuss!"
It was classic Obama expediency [역시 오바마다운 림기응변].
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| North Korea's Launch Control Center, April 2009. Src: KCNA via Yonhap |
In the command center, the young scientists and technicians are brimming with excitement at the Leader's presence and anxiety over the possible enemy interception. KJI asks them many questions about the design, the solar panels, the materials, and the physics, even though of course he knows it all already.
Moving to a map of the region, KJI taps a pointer over Japanese airspace. "This space here is what the Japs are most worried about. Right? That's why they're fussing and frittering about interceptions. But I've instructed the General here [KJU] to prepare a devastating counterattack if they make any attempt at an intercept. So don't worry, comrades, and just go about your duties."
At 11:19 AM, KPA Vice Marshal Kim Kwang Hyŏk [probably Kim Yong Chun] appears on the small screen to announce that all is ready, and the Leader gives the order to launch. The countdown concludes and the rocket leaves its platform in a pillar of fire. The room erupts in cheers.
Then there is a tense moment when the red line of the rocket on the screen appears to stop abruptly. Was it intercepted? KJU picks up his phone, ready to make the call that will start "a merciless war, setting all of sky, land, and sea ablaze at once!" But just in the nick of time, they receive confirmation from one of their patrol boats of a successful signal transmission. The "interception" was just a computer glitch.
Soon after, cheers erupt again as strains of the revolutionary songs "Song of General Kim Il Sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong Il" sound over the loudspeaker.
KJI roundly congratulates everyone and honors the whole team with a commemorative group photo. Everyone wants KJU to be in the picture, but he humbly refuses.
Then there is a tense moment when the red line of the rocket on the screen appears to stop abruptly. Was it intercepted? KJU picks up his phone, ready to make the call that will start "a merciless war, setting all of sky, land, and sea ablaze at once!" But just in the nick of time, they receive confirmation from one of their patrol boats of a successful signal transmission. The "interception" was just a computer glitch.
Soon after, cheers erupt again as strains of the revolutionary songs "Song of General Kim Il Sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong Il" sound over the loudspeaker.
KJI roundly congratulates everyone and honors the whole team with a commemorative group photo. Everyone wants KJU to be in the picture, but he humbly refuses.
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| Official KCNA photo of KJI with officials and team at launch control on April 5, 2009. Note KJU is conspicuously absent (perhaps he was the one taking the picture?). Src: Hangyoreh |
KJU doesn't hear this, as he is talking on his phone with the doctors who have just operated on Kim Ha Chŏn's daughter, Han Se Woong's wife. Her heart surgery was a success.
The story ends with KJU once again clutching the azalea sprig and speaking to his late mother, telling her the good news of the successful launch.
April 2009 Missile Launch
It's been sort of lost in the sands of time after the endless stream of more successful launches in recent years, but the April 2009 missile launch was a big deal for North Korea. It was unusual in the degree to which the North announced and promoted the launch before it happened, hoping to attract foreign buyers for its missile technology. This left them vulnerable to greater embarrassment if the launch should fail - which it did. More recent launches have returned to the pattern of being conducted as stealthily as possible.
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| The Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 launch at Musudan-ri, April 5, 2009. Src: AP |
But the launch was effective in a different way - it established beyond doubt the toothlessness of all the regional powers, including the US and China, toward North Korea's missile development. The advance notice gave them all abundant time make their displeasure known and articulate dire consequences for North Korea, and yet the launch proceeded nonetheless. It was also the first big test from North Korea for the Obama administration.
Recall that at that time the Six-Party-Talks were freshly dead and there was still hope that they might be revived. So far North Korea had only doneN one nuclear test, the dud in 2006. It would conduct its second, far more successful, nuclear test one month later on May 25, 2009.
In April 2009, KJU was more than a year away from being formally designated successor, and it is impossible to know how much involvement he actually had in the launch operation. But it is interesting to note that, with this story, the Party has apparently chosen this failed launch as something to attach to his legacy. The North Korean media, of course, reported that the launch was successful and that the satellite is now in stable orbit, beaming patriotic songs across the universe.
The NYT has a good recap of the lead-up to and fallout from the launch. The names of the U.S., Japanese and ROK destroyers in the flotilla are listed accurately in the story. Needless to say, no North Korean fighter jets were reported in the skies over the fleet that day.
KJU's Mother Ko Yong Hŭi
This is the first story I've read that mentions KJU's late mother, Ko Yong Hŭi, who was KJI's third or fourth wife (depending on which marriages you count) and died of cancer in 2004.
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| Ko Yong Hŭi |
According to Kang, the main reasons why Ko is given a low profile are: 1) She was never formally married to KJI or approved by his father; 2) She was a famous dancer and some people might recognize her from old movies; 3) She was born in Japan.
Fast & Furious: Pyongyang Drift
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| KJU piloting a North Korean plane |
For more details and adorable photos of young KJU see this YTN clip.
UPDATE: KAF pilot killed in maneuvers?
Several months after translating this story, I came across the following article: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/12/116_174525.html.
Apparently in March 2015, around the same time this story was written, North Korean media reported about KJU bestowing a posthumous honor on a fighter pilot who died in scouting reconnaissance maneuvers a day prior to the 2009 launch. At the same time, Kim also honored 13 surviving flyers of KAF Unit 447 with the title "Hero of the Republic" for their role in the launch. There is very little information about how the KAF was involved in the launch preparations or how the one pilot died. However, the timing of this report, six years after the event and coinciding with Chong's story, adds an interesting wrinkle. Why did KJU choose to honor the pilots six years after the event? And why did this story, published in the same year by North Korea's most famous living writer, devote so much attention to the Air Force pilot character? We can only speculate at what the connection might be.
