Raise Your Bayonets (2002): Bob Dole plays a Bond villain

Raise Your Bayonets (총검을 들고) is a 2002 novel by Song Sang Wŏn, part of the Imperishable Leadership series of historical novels which purports to chronicle the life & deeds of Kim Jong Il. Song is also a co-author of Eternal Life (1997), reviewed earlier in this blog.

This novel covers events in 1996, chiefly the construction of the massive Kumgangsan Dam and Anbyŏn Youth Power Plant, the KPA submarine incursion into South Korea, and the Arduous March Famine. The famine coverage includes some quite moving scenes of ordinary workers and soldiers making extraordinary sacrifices to save the country from disaster, as well as depictions of high-level debates over economic priorities and the best strategy for recovery.

"Who has one thumb and a badass role
in a North Korean novel?"
Src: Getty Images

In this post I will ignore all of that, to focus instead on a secondary and rather silly portion of the novel: its depiction of the 1996 US presidential race, and particularly Republican Candidate Bob Dole. I choose to do this because it is one of the few cases of North Korean historical fiction depicting an American political campaign in any detail, and because it's just so gosh-darn entertaining.

The Room Z Fraktsiya

The novel makes the innovative narrative choice to cast then-candidate Dole in the principal bad-guy role, instead of the actual sitting US president. Dole leads a secretive cabal of like-minded hardliners within the US intelligence and defense agencies who meet periodically in a smoke-filled back room at CIA headquarters labeled simply 'Z'. The members of this "Room Z Conspiracy" are motivated by a shared belief that Clinton's Agreed Framework deal is a humiliation for the US and that new, hawkish leadership is needed to defeat North Korea, the greatest threat to US global hegemony.

The author takes some relish in playing up the cloak-and-dagger elements of this plot. When we first encounter Dole in Chapter 3, he is sitting blindfolded in the backseat of an idling car with reflective glass windows by the back door of CIA headquarters. We then backtrack to the story of how he came to be there:

   Early that morning, Dole had been awakened from sleep by the phone ringing on the small table next to his bedside. He stretched out his arm, picked up the phone, and groggily asked: “Who is this?”
   “This is your airport guide. Your flight to New York leaves at exactly 2:00 pm.” 
   It was a woman's soft voice.  But those words were enough to wake Dole for good. He sat up in bed and pushed the covers off, lifting his legs and lowering them to the floor, fumbling for his slippers. Such was his excitement that he forgot he was still holding the phone.

   He quickly recovered and, in a voice mixed with joy and fear of misunderstanding, asked: “Is that true?”

   “Yes, your contact asked me to inform you that he will wait at the appointed place at 10:00 am.”

   Dole absently set down the phone. He found his prosthetic arm, strapped it on, and walked around the room limping. He had lost his right arm and injured his left leg in the Vietnam War.

   Dole grabbed the prosthetic arm with his good hand and raised it to the right of his head, muttering to himself, “I’ve won! Clinton, you draft dodger [전쟁기피자]! Did you think I would lose to you?”

   His wife, Elizabeth Dole, regarded her husband in amazement.

   The call that drove Dole to mad ecstasy came from CIA Director Herriman’s secretary. The only important word in that phone call was the number “2.”

Dole understands that the number "2" in this call indicates the output of a calculation by a CIA supercomputer programmed to simulate various crisis situations in North Korea. The number signifies that if their plans are implemented, the computer predicts that North Korea will collapse in two years.

"The secret ingredient is... love? Okay, who's 
been messing with this thing?!!"
Src: WarGames, MGM

Eagle-eyed readers will note that the above excerpt incorrectly states that Dole had a prosthetic arm as a result of an injury sustained fighting in Vietnam. In reality, his arm was paralyzed, not prosthetic, and the injury happened when Dole was fighting in Europe during WWII. Such mistakes have little significance, but they hint at the difficulties faced by North Korean authors when researching for a historical novel while working with a limited selection of probably poorly translated news sources.

"CIA Director Herriman" [허리먼] is a fabrication; the actual CIA director at this time would have been John Deutch. It's quite common for these novels to give aliases to DPRK officials, likely to save trouble later if those individuals fall from favor, but US officials are usually identified by their real names unless they need to step far outside of their real historical roles for the sake of the plot. I've read enough by now to know that when a fake name is assigned to a clearly identified US official, something pretty crazy is going to happen with that character.

Anyway, Dole is thrilled at this phone call and the impending crisis that, in his mind, virtually guarantees his victory in the upcoming election. After savoring the feeling of victory a bit, he hurries to meet his co-conspirators in their secret CIA lair.

   Entering the secret room marked with the letter "Z" at the CIA at 10:00 a.m., Bob Dole was in high spirits.

   In attendance, as always at these meetings, were Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Jones (representing the Department of Defense), Deputy Secretary of State Seaburn [씨번], Deputy Director of the FBI Dipper [디퍼], and Senior Fellow Hoker [호케르] of the Carnegie Endowment, which was funding their group. None of them had ever seen Dole so exuberant, except for the first few days after their fraktsiya had been formed three years ago. 

  But Bob Dole, an extraordinary actor, managed to contain his elation. However much he had longed to see those computer calculations, he did not want to show his feelings in front of these people, who would occupy important positions in his future administration. By doing so, he would have been essentially admitting that he had been in a tight spot until now.

Again, all of these officials' names seem fictional; it is easy to verify who actually held those titles in 1996 and none of their names resemble any romanized rendering of the given Korean. Notice there are a lot of "deputy" chiefs here; perhaps the author felt it more believable that a deputy would be willing to conspire against the president who appointed them. Why he chose to pick on the Carnegie Endowment is anyone's guess (note: because Carnegie was misspelled 카네디, I initially thought it referred to the Kennedy Foundation). The Russian term fraktsiya is rendered phonetically and seems a well-known foreign loan word in North Korea.

CIA Director Herriman opens the meeting with his report on the latest computer calculations. He explains how they used data collected from espionage and satellite reconnaissance to input political, economic and military crisis situations of North Korea into the program, focusing on economic crises. All the data suggest that the NK economy is near disaster and cannot possibly recover (here the text accurately reports several grim indicators - 5 years' negative growth, record low GNP & foreign trade, near-zero factory operation rate). 

He concludes: “The fundamental reason why the North Korean economy has developed like this is that the socialist economic market on which they depended has completely disappeared, and they have been unable to enter Western markets due to our economic blockade. So if we tighten the economic blockade and increase military pressure, they will suffocate in the very near future. The computer has calculated this precisely.”

Bob Dole, speaking next, agrees. He believes that the DPRK has been rocked to its core by the death of President Kim Il-sung, and if this had been included in the computer input, they might see an even lower number. “Anyway, the collapse of North Korea is a fait accompli. Therefore, we must work to accelerate it with all our might. One year is enough to destroy North Korea, not two years!” To achieve this acceleration, they plan to instigate a series of provocations along the DMZ, which they will then use as a pretext for war.

World domination. The same old dream....

Later in the novel, the Room Z conspirators gather to watch their plans come to fruition from an underground command center at Mount Weather – the closest thing America has to a hollowed-out volcano ala Dr. No. The base is described:

   In the US state of Virginia is an unknown town that cannot even be found on a map. 7.2 kilometers from the capital Washington, this town is little-known and is not included in the government budget. This mysterious place, which they named "Mount Weather," takes on the mission of underground capital [지하수도] in the event the US enters a war.  
   Built in 1958 during the Eisenhower era, it had never before been opened, as its opening signals an intention to have a final confrontation with the enemy. It was clear that the fuse had been ignited for some kind of provocation, the kind of fuse that would decide each other's life or death.

"Mr. Kim, I've been expecting you."
Src: Getty Images (from You Only Live Twice)

Via a satellite feed, the conspirators are treated to a high-res view of the obscure point along the MDL where their agents have arranged a sort of ambush that they hope will escalate into a wider crisis. As they watch, their plan backfires spectacularly, thanks to the quick thinking of a certain KPA commander and his team: 

   The [KPA] attack was ruthless; a hundredfold, a thousandfold retaliation. All kinds of sniper weapons and artillery howled. Under this extraordinary battery, the enemy's concrete barriers were blown away like sheets of paper, and their firing points, anti-tank barriers and barbed wire were reduced to bean curd powder [콩가루가 되였다]. Not only the enemy's guard posts but also their radio broadcasting stations and first-line infantry medic wards were blown away to nothing.
   The attack was so unexpected, fierce and explosive that the generals back at Mount Weather, observing the scene via military satellite, were frozen and unable to give any instructions to the local commanders. Before any instructions could have even been given, it was all over, as the enemy soldiers in the field had hurriedly raised the white flag and acknowledged their surrender by holding breathlessly silent.

The plot involves sneakily moving a certain
MDL marker a few meters north and waiting
for a KPA patrol to come along

It's hard to imagine why the US/ROK forces would not have just escalated to airstrikes at that point, and this should have pleased the Room Z group since escalation was their hope from the beginning. But they all seem shattered, and instead of gaining popular support for the hardliners this incident causes Dole's whole campaign to fall apart. To me this is the most troubling part of the whole story, because it seems to suggest that massive retaliation is a good and productive response to DMZ clashes. Up to now, the lesson had seemed to be "The US warmongers are always trying to provoke a massive retaliation as a pretext for war, don't give them what they want."

Who's Your Baddie?

It's interesting to contrast this novel with Ryŏksa ŭi Taeha, part of the same Imperishable Leadership Series and written by an equally elite author, published just four years earlier in 1998. That novel, set in 1993 during the first nuclear crisis, had President Clinton in the role of warmonger-in-chief and principal villain plotting North Korea's downfall, with nary a mention of Dole or the Republican Party.

In this later novel, Dole is the main villain, but Clinton does not completely get a pass. By the time the DMZ clash happens, he has joined forces with the Room Z conspirators, spooked by the unexpected successful completion of the Anbyon Youth Power Plant which suggests that North Korea might be stronger than he [Clinton] had believed. 

Clinton has no dialogue or personal interaction with the conspirators, however. There is no explanation of how he found out about their plot in the first place, nor any dramatic scene of him confronting all the "deputy chiefs" who had been conspiring behind his back. There is just a brief paragraph explaining that the Anbyon Plant's success produced "a massive public opinion wave that combined the rival forces of the two presidential candidates, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole; in other words, hardliners and moderates had joined together."  It's unclear what Clinton contributes to the plot, aside from access to Mt. Weather, and there is no subsequent mention of his involvement, even when Bob Dole is dragged before a joint session of Congress and made to answer for the whole fiasco. 

If I were the gambling type, I might place a small wager that this Clinton involvement was added at the last minute, at some party bureaucrat's insistence. It would not do for people to start thinking of a sitting US president as "the good guy."

Rise of the Machines

There is also an interesting contrast between the two novels in their portrayals of American strategists relying on computer-based models. 

Loyal readers of this blog may recall the scene in Ryŏksa ŭi Taeha that I reviewed a few years back, in which the Clinton-era Defense Department ran a computer-simulated war game based on their secret plan to attack North Korea. There, Clinton and the assembled generals watched aghast as the simulation predicted that Seoul would be occupied by the KPA within two weeks of the start of hostilities. Seeing this, a shaken Clinton despaired: "They couldn’t ignore this result from a computer developed with state-of-the-art science and technology. The machine had no emotions and did not care about anybody's feelings, even the US president. It just produced scientific, absolute calculations."

In the novel excerpted above, we see a similar type of computer simulation, but this time it is predicting something the American warmongers presumably want to hear – the collapse of North Korea. When Dole hears the computer prediction he crows ecstatically,  “I won! ... Computers are science! Let's pull tighter for the final victory! I will appeal to the people. Clinton, I will beat you!” 

In this story, we the readers are invited to laugh at the folly of these computer-trusting Americans, knowing full well that the DPRK will not collapse in two years, nor ten, nor twenty. Yet in Ryŏksa ŭi Taeha, we are meant to appreciate the wisdom of the computer that could see what the US president and his advisors could not: a North Korean victory. What are we to make of this, other than that DoD supercomputers are apparently superior to CIA supercomputers? Whose side are these computers on, anyway?

Ryŏksa ui Taeha (#3): WarBot3000 disappoints President Clinton

This post continues my selective translations of Chŏng Ki Jong's epic novel Ryŏksa ui Taeha (력사의 대하) , which offers a narrative account of the first North Korean nuclear crisis in 1993. The following excerpt is translated from Part 3, Chapter 13, available online here. 

Like my previous excerpts, this chapter is narrated from President Clinton's perspective. The chapter follows the inner thoughts of the leader of the Free World as he prepares a dastardly attack on North Korea, with a science-fictiony twist as a computer war simulation goes awry...

The Plot

Clinton spent a sleepless night before the planned launch of Operation Focus. All was in readiness, the C3I command system awaiting his transmission of the secret code. It would start with the stealth fighters taking off from Anderson Air Base on Guam to demolish the Yongbyon nuclear facility. After that all will depend on the NK’s response, which will surely be swift and merciless.

But just lately he can’t shake the feeling that NK’s military minds are on to him. The declaration of quasi-war, the withdrawal from the NPT, and now these massive military exercises… Watching them via satellite TV from the situation room (국방성작전보고실), even the head of the Joint Chiefs - who had eagerly pushed to move up the operation date - turned pale and muttered in agitation.

As a saxophone player, Clinton applied his knowledge of music and particularly rhythm to the military analysis. In the exercise formations he perceived the gutsiness, resourcefulness and iron will of the NK commander.

Clinton asked his people to run the computer war simulations (전자전모의전쟁) again, inputting the new satellite data. Over a sleepless night, his awe and grudging admiration for NK’s tactical prowess turned slowly to anger. He arose red-faced and entered the 1st floor dining room thinking only of one thing: obliterating NK from the face of the earth.

'Leda and the Swan' by Paul Cezanne, 
c.1882 

He was unaware of Hillary watching him as the waiter wheeled in a cart piled with coffee, cream, sugar, toast, poached eggs, sandwiches, and strawberry jam. He just stared vacantly at the Cezanne on the wall, “Leda and the Swan.” 

“Dad!” Chelsea tapped her plate for his attention. “Breakfast time! Behave, little children, no fussing, don’t spill!” She imitated her former kindergarten teacher to tease him. 

Clinton just nodded absently, then shocked Hillary by ordering a whiskey.

“What’s with you today?” Hillary asked. “A drink first thing in the morning?”

"I'm trying to boost my courage. Today is a very busy day…” He trailed off. 

He had a solo meeting this afternoon with French President Francois Mitterrand, followed by dinner. There was also a State Department meeting on Middle East issues, a meeting with the Asia wonks on trade frictions with Japan, and finally an operational gathering of the Defense Department and Joint Chiefs to issue the "Operation Focus" order. After a few bites of breakfast, he worked out his schedule with Thomas McClarty, his chief of staff.

He added, “I’m thinking of doing the talk with Mitterrand at Mount Vernon.” Mount Vernon was a National Park and the site of the first US President George Washington’s grave. “Prepare the yacht. And check if the greens are mowed. Mitterrand likes golfing.”

McClarty informed the president of “a troublesome matter” (시끄러운 일) – the ROK foreign minister keeps asking for a meeting. “He’s been waiting at the door for 2 days now, says he’s got a message directly for the president.” The man was persistent, even sending a request via "HHS Secretary Donna” (which must be Donna Shalala). Knowing the female official Donna was close with the president’s wife, he had apparently decided to forego formal diplomatic procedures and go around the back door.

Sensing Bill's displeasure, Hillary offered to stall the man by saying Clinton has to visit his mother-in-law at Walter Reed Hospital. It was a plausible excuse, and Clinton agreed. 

He asked Hillary's opinion about bringing up NK sanctions at this afternoon’s presser with Mitterand, but Hillary had another concern. “There’s a bigger issue, Bill. What's behind NK’s hard-line stance? I’ve been reexamining the order given by the KPA supreme commander, and it emphasized 'the united power of the Leader, the Party, and the people.' To us it sounds a little strange and totally new. But shouldn't we look into it?”

“Whatever,” Clinton looked gloomy. “I’ve got a war to start today.”

That afternoon Clinton talked with Mitterand aboard his yacht Chelsea on the way to Mount Vernon. He asked for France's cooperation in the UNSC on sanctions for NK, including "military punitive measures (군사적응징) as well as the obvious economic blockade.” When pressed, Clinton admitted only that he was considering a pre-emptive strike to destroy NK’s nuclear facility.

Mitterand: “Then it’s war?”

“That depends on NK’s response.”

“They won’t back down. They’ll strike back far harder than you can imagine.”

Mitterand meeting Kim Il Sung in Feb 1981

Mitterand chose his words carefully: “I am the only Western leader to have visited NK. I met with Premier Kim Il Sung at length and we exchanged views on many topics in world affairs… My strongest impression was that NK is a very independent nation with great unity between its people and political leaders...  There’s no other like it on this planet. You must tread carefully. They can’t be pressured.” 

Mitterand spoke at length about his impressions of NK, noting it "was never a satellite state of a greater nation like the Eastern European countries and some parts of Asia were" and  "As they don’t believe in God, their faith in the Party and Leader is absolute." (하느님을 믿지 않을지언정 당과 수령은 절대화하고있다.)

“Finally, there’s the matter of North Korea’s military power,” Mitterand went on. “A while back we had a Japanese delegation that was very uneasy about it. They said the KPA’s firepower far exceeds our expectations. They’ve been building up their military force ever since Kim Jong Il took charge of the KPA, so basically for 20 years...

Mitterand and Clinton at the White House in
March 1993.

"As I said, North Korea will never back down. So threats, blackmail, and war are not solutions. And we still haven’t found a solution for the situations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Somalia, have we? Also, in war against North Korea we would have to be prepared for millions of sacrifices. Would the people accept that? Our allies will turn away too. That’s the way it is." He recommended instead "a long period of serious diplomatic maneuvering, compromise, and ideological offensives.”

Clinton was shocked by Mitterand's words. For the first time, he began to think about the word "compromise."

After the banquet with Mitterand, Clinton went back to the Defense Department's operations room. The defense minister and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were waiting for him. From their gloomy looks, he immediately sensed that the news was not good. 

Reluctantly, he said: “Alright, Let’s see it!”

On the big screen, the North Korea war simulation appeared. First all the U.S. military bases and forces across Northeast Asia were introduced, along with both sides’ troop numbers, locations of military and coalition forces, tactical bases, transport routes, communications networks, and numbers of various weaponry. 

The U.S. capabilities included more than 1,000 planes, 250 ships, various strategic weapons, and standby infantry troops. The simulation played out various battles with NK forces across air, ground, and sea, including missile strikes, anti-aircraft battles, and guerrilla combat with NK special forces, all depicted via complex symbols and arrows as if a real war were being fought on the screen.

Lieutenant General Wilkeson narrated everything - the areas of operation, the designations of various forces, the tactics and battle formations. The simulation lasted 40 minutes, but Clinton stayed riveted the whole time.

At last, it was finished. The simulation showed that two weeks after beginning hostilities, the North Korean troops would have advanced deep into the South, annihilating more than 400,000 U.S. troops and winning the war. The estimated material losses for the US would reach $80 billion.

Clinton was aghast. What the hell? Who could imagine that the U.S. military, which boasted of being the world's strongest, would suffer such a devastating defeat? Although they had accurate figures from each branch for U.S. troop numbers, weaponry, and operational plans, they had only input their best guess of North Korea’s numbers and tactics. In fact, they knew very little about their forces and tactical capabilities.

But even so, to reach such a miserable defeat in just two weeks. How could it be? Clinton had believed that the post-Cold War era was a period of de-ideology, a time of realism and power. Power-oriented times! How could the U.S., the world's only superpower, be outfoxed every step of the way in a nuclear showdown with this tiny country, North Korea?

Even the French defense minister had warned that North Korea was completely different from Iraq, saying, "It's not much use if the US strikes the suspected nuclear site... A military attack would just trigger retaliatory strikes from NK, turning the entire Korean peninsula into a sea of fire.” The computer had just backed up his words with scientific data. They couldn’t ignore this result from a computer developed with state-of-the-art science and technology. The machine had no emotions and did not care about anybody's feelings, even the US president. It just produced scientific, absolute calculations.

Clinton despaired. He felt that he had lost the absolute power he had believed in. For a realist like him, it was the last straw. His whitened lips were twitching. The unexpected shock left him speechless, sitting stiffly in his chair, his generals motionless behind him.

Random trivia

The thing I love about reading Chŏng Ki Jong stories is tracking down the random easter eggs he puts in from time to time, trying to guess how he hit upon these eccentric factoids, why they appealed to him, and why he chose to alter certain seemingly minor details. This chapter is particularly rich in such bits and pieces.

• Leda and the Swan

Investigating this led me down a fascinating rabbit hole. Apparently the question of which Cezannes have hung in the WH and how they got there is the subject of some intrigue. I couldn’t find a straight answer about whether any Cezannes hung in the Clinton WH. But it seems fairly certain that “Leda and the Swan,” at least, was never there at any time, which makes me wonder why the author goes out of his way to mention it specifically.

• Presidential Yacht Chelsea:

This novel repeatedly mentions that Clinton had a presidential yacht named Chelsea, explaining: “Historically, other US presidents had named their yachts after their political idols or their hometowns, but Clinton chose his daughter’s name, following the fashion started by world-famous billionaire Onassis who named his yacht Christina after his daughter (now infamous in Greece for having been seduced by a Soviet spy).” 

Apparently presidential yachts in fact used to be a thing, but the last was retired in 1977, and none of them was named by a president. I can’t find any evidence that Clinton ever had any kind of boat named Chelsea.

The Christina Onassis KGB story is another one that I did not know; it is puzzling that this story takes such a long walk just to brush up against that old bit of 1970s tabloid gossip.

• “Brutus”

At one point Clinton is contemplating the “women problems” that plagued his campaign: “One Arkansas opponent claimed in court that he’d had affairs with 5 women; then a certain nightclub singer 프루투스 revealed in the weekly magazine 명배우 that they’d carried on a 12-year affair from 1977 to 1989.”

It's passages like this where I really earn the big bucks as a translator. I was able to figure out that 명배우 was Star, and the second part clearly refers to Gennifer Flowers, but I couldn’t figure out why he was calling her 프루투스. Finally it hit me – Brutus! It's a Shakespearean reference, with weird North Korean spelling. I'd like to see Google Translate figure that one out!

Anyway, it's interesting that apparently NK readers are expected to have enough familiarity with Shakespeare and/or Roman history to immediately associate this name with backstabbing, without any further context or clues. 

• Mount Vernon Country Club

The chapter says Clinton took Mitterand on his yacht to go golfing at Mount Vernon. I can’t figure out if the two ever golfed together; but Clinton never visited the Mount Vernon historic site as president.

Clinton's press conference with Mitterand in March 1993 can be viewed here. 

• USS Augusta

Thinking on historical precedents, Clinton recalls:

    When Truman ordered the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, immediately after signing the order he boarded the USS Augusta bound for Europe for the Potsdam Conference. He wanted to distance himself, so that when the news of the devastation came three days later, it would seem far away and unconnected to him.

This timeline is a little twisted. Truman was on the USS Augusta when the first bomb was dropped, but he was heading home from Europe, the Potsdam Conference having already ended the week before. The timing of Potsdam is pretty important and a well-trod subject among WWII historians. Also notable, there was no “order” signed by Truman authorizing final use of the bomb; after Trinity he had simply authorized Stimson to use it at the first tactical opportunity. Truman had drafted a press release announcing the bombing before setting sail, which may be what the author is referring to.

Depiction of Hillary Clinton

This chapter provides another revealing exchange between Bill and Hillary, as she helps him dodge the South Korean foreign minister:

      Watching Hillary, Clinton thought to himself that she was his real chief aide. She could handle anything. They met at Yale, in the university library. Back then she was a mousy girl always sitting in the far corner with a stack of books, and he almost didn’t spot her. But she turned out to be infinitely talented, clever, and calculating.

During last year’s election campaign, he’d faced many attacks. The worst concerned his dodging of the Vietnam draft. Second was his active opposition of the Vietnam War while on scholarship at Oxford, when he protested at the US Embassy. Then there were the women problems…

Just when even Clinton, with all his clever words, was floundering, Hillary stepped up like the lawyer she was and skillfully washed away all the stains of his impropriety.

It’s a fact that behind every great politician are trustworthy aides. If you look at the great men of history, Lincoln had Seward and Grant, and Churchill and Roosevelt had their core aides. But no other U.S. president had an aide as selfless, absolute, and wise (사심없고 절대적이며 현명한) as Hillary. Clinton himself had confessed that without Hillary's help, he would never have become president.

This novel's depictions of Hillary are generally positive, if a little bit manipulating. She is shown as having more respect for NK than her husband, seems to have read more on the subject and is generally the angel on his shoulder telling him to be careful. This contrasts to the later depiction of her in the novel 2009 as an "old woman" who is disrespected by her state department underlings. Her long presence in US politics makes her a relatively familiar character in NK fiction and therefore a useful subject for analysis of North Korean changing views of women in positions of power.

Eternal Life (#3): Kim Il Sung and Jimmy Carter on a boat

This entry continues my summary of select chapters of Eternal Life. 

Eternal Life is the final novel of the Immortal History series, which chronicles Kim Il Sung's life from his days as a guerrilla fighter through the country's founding, war and reconstruction, and on through his later years.  It was published in 1997 and co-authored by Baek Bo Hŭm (who later contributed the short story "Green Land" to the first anthology of stories about Kim Jong Un) and Song Sang Wŏn. The novel covers the events of the last seven months of KIS' life, including his 1994 summit meeting with former US President Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter and Kim Il Sung in 1994

Devoted readers of this blog might recall that this same summit was also the subject of the short story "Enchantment" (매혹), covered in one of this blog's earliest entries. That story took the point of view of First Lady Rosalynn Carter. This novel was written earlier, and the summit chapters alternate between the perspectives of KIS and President Carter.

In Chapter 18, the Carter delegation is treated to a surprise boat ride on the Taedonggang River through the city. President Carter and KIS continue their negotiations and reach an astounding level of agreement.

The original Korean text is available here. 

Chapter Summary

The global news media waited with bated breath for news of the summit. After the first summit meeting, CNN announced that KIS agreed to hold off on expelling the inspectors if the US would provide a LWR, and everyone was waiting for the US response. CNN’s main office in Atlanta had postponed its evening news program twice, and The New York Times had delayed its evening print run. All the correspondents deployed to Pyongyang were tuned to Chosun Central TV, awaiting word.

While the media waited, a ferocious debate was playing out across board tables and conference calls. The pro-dialogue moderates, led by Clinton, debated the hardliners, led by Senate Republican leader and future presidential candidate Bob Dole. The debate revolved around 3 main points: 1) Is it better to spend $80 billion and just go to war with NK, or spend a tiny fraction of that to provide a light-water reactor; 2) If they do provide the LWR, how will they contain SK’s objections at being completely ignored; 3) How can they prevent the US from losing face by appearing to accede to Pyongyang’s demands.

The debate raged on into the early morning hours.

Just past 5am that morning, Jimmy Carter got Washington’s response: they would withdraw the UN sanctions resolution and hold  a 3rd round of talks to discuss the LWR. 

But in return, NK had to make important “concessions.”

That morning, Carter's delegation arrived prepared to play hardball; but they were surprised when the driver took them to the river instead of Kumsusan Hall. The change of plans was swiftly explained by Mun Sŏn Gyu, who was waiting to greet them. “Premier Kim Il Sung heard that you like boats, Mr. Carter, so He decided to take you out to the West Sea Battery on this pleasure boat.” 

Hearing this, the Carters looked delighted. “If we’re on a boat, he’ll have to sit still!” Rosalynn exclaimed, eyes sparkling at her husband.

Taedong River view with Juche Tower and 
May 1 stadium

KIS was waiting on the dock in front of his luxury river cruiser, the Moranbong. “Mr. Carter, why don’t we take a pleasure cruise to the West Sea. Along the way, we can say what we need to say.”

So they boarded and enjoyed a leisurely cruise through the city; KIS played tour guide, pointing out famous sights like the Okryugwan restaurant, KIS' childhood home on Mangyongdae hill, and Pyongyang's Arc de Triomphe.

A scrum of foreign reporters followed on a separate boat. At one point KIS suggested, “Before we get down to the main discussion, why don’t we give your media something to shoot?” Carter agreed, and they let the other boat pull alongside to take photos.

Then, observing people fishing on the riverbank, KIS asked Mun to slow the boat down. At Carter’s puzzled look, he said:

   “Mr. Carter, do you like to fish?”

   “I do.”

   “Then it seems we have a common interest.” Glancing at the fishers on the riverbank, He continued, “As a fellow fisherman I’m sure you understand, there is nothing more annoying than a passing motorboat kicking up a wake. It wouldn’t do for us to earn their ire while holding our very productive summit.”

    Carter looked at the fishermen again with new eyes, amazed that the premier could spare a thought for them despite being at the center of the world’s attention on this historic day… Thinking back on his own time as president, his face reddened in shame, thinking “I was a ruler and an administrator. As president I governed over people, but the premier supports his people.”

Finally, with a pointed look from Dr. Creekmore, Carter quit stalling and got down to business.

 

With great fanfare, Carter revealed that the administration was willing to open a third round of talks with North Korea on providing a light-water reactor. They also discussed possible paths to reunification and troop withdrawals from the NLL, before the subject turned to the UN sanctions resolution. 

   [Carter] “I want to pass on the rest of the message from the administration. Premier, the US has decided to withdraw its sanctions resolution against your country at the UN.”

   Carter watched closely for the leader’s response.

   But Premier Kim Il Sung just regarded him silently.

   “This withdrawal,” Carter went on, thinking He had misunderstood, “was communicated to me directly from the White House. They asked me to inform you personally.”

   Premier Kim Il Sung just looked bored, gazing absently out the window. Finally He spoke. “I thank you for passing on this important news. But it’s just a nice change.”

   “What!?”

    “The truth is we’re not afraid of sanctions. We’ve survived under sanctions all this time; we’ve never been without them. We’ve faced sanctions from you, and from Japan, and others. We’ve been under sanctions so long that we don’t really think about them any more.”

   Carter was speechless as Premier Kim Il Sung went on. “In other words, whether you cancel the sanctions or not, we’re fine either way. This confrontation is your fault, not ours. You wouldn’t trust us, so we can’t trust you. You’re always trying to make us poor, but that doesn’t mean we are poor. No matter how much you try to pressure us, we’ll get on just fine. Please pass that along to President Clinton and your colleagues.”

Following this exchange, the subject turned to North-South relations. Carter delivered a message from ROK President Kim Young-sam, expressing willingness to hold an immediate North-South leadership summit to discuss matters of concern, including unification.

KIS responded immediately in the affirmative. Again Carter was perplexed; he had expected heavy resistance. “Premier, I’m sure you feel a lot of anger toward the South Koreans; are you really willing to meet with them?” KIS replied their nationalist mission must supercede any ill feelings. Carter was overjoyed, but he felt a twinge of misgiving at the thought of "a mere political hack" like Kim Young-sam going up against a great statesman like KIS.

The river cruise concluded on a high note with a banquet featuring hot Kŭmchŏngju liquor. KIS delivered a heartfelt speech on Koreans' universal desire for unification and invited Carter to tour the newly uncovered tomb of Tangun "on your next visit." 

Foreign perspective

In addition to illustrating KIS' skilled statesmanship and clarifying policy stances, this chapter also takes advantage of the occasion of a foreign visitor to portray North Korea through an experienced world traveler's eyes. The text at times reads like a travelogue highlighting the famous sights of Pyongyang as the Moranbong cruises past them.

As the two leaders chat aboard Kim’s riverboat, the subject turns to the nature of the North Korean people.

   Carter suddenly became contemplative. “I’ve traveled all around the world, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a leader who serves his people as sincerely, or a people who revere their leader as much as they do here.”

   “Thank you. It’s long been the way of our people to view loyalty and filial duty as virtues... We are a wise and sagacious people. It’s said that the Jews are the world’s most gifted people, but Koreans are actually even more gifted (재간있다). They say the Jews are special because they produced Jesus, who sacrificed himself for them. But it was because of Judas, a Jew, that Jesus was betrayed and nailed to the cross to die. So it seems that the Jews are a gifted people, but prone to betrayal. Our people have wisdom but also value loyalty (신의) as much as life itself.” 

In this passage, we see the North Korean people through Carter's eyes. KIS uses another race, the Jews, as a reference point to point out that Koreans are equally intelligent but superior in loyalty. It is telling that Carter is presented as a reliable witness to the virtues of the Korean people precisely because he has “traveled all around the world” and thus presumably has the global experience to compare Koreans against other races.

Carter's perspective also works to illuminate the contrast of North and South Korea. At one point, KIS presents his stance on reunification:

    “Our policy is to pursue unification as one people, one country, two systems and two governments. In other words, the separate governments of North and South will remain in place, with a common chairperson placed over them. That way we will stop fighting, and there will be no more unfortunate problems between us and the US. How about it? Will you lend your support to peace on the peninsula? Think how that would raise your profile as a master negotiator.”  

    “Great.” Carter felt pleased... “Premier, can I ask you something? ... Right now, the thing that worries South Koreans the most is that your side is insisting on unification without foreign interference, but they worry that if the US military withdraws you will attack them.”

    “As I’m sure you know, we have proposed a troop draw-down to 100,000 on both sides of the peninsula, along with US withdrawal. But the South Koreans don’t talk with you of our intentions.”

   “Really?” Carter looked thoughtful.

   “See here. It’s because you’ve been dealing only with them that these misunderstandings occur. But so far I haven’t complained about this unfair treatment. After all, it’s not Chinese or Japanese you are dealing with, but Koreans of the same blood as us."

   Thinking back, since his arrival, Carter hadn’t heard anyone say one bad word about the South... But what of the other side? Any time South Koreans so much as met an American they went crazy slandering the North. Carter had listened to them of course, but their calumny was so extreme that it was just embarrassing. It was frankly disappointing to see how far they had fallen from the spirit of national solidary compared to the Northerners. 

Here Carter again seems to serve as a reliable worldly witness to the superiority of North Korea. His perspective is a powerful tool because he is motivated to side with the South, yet he can't help but be swayed by the superior Northern manners.

Hidden Forces in US Politics

Toward the end of their ride, Carter discusses the current political dynamics in the US.

   “Our country now has a president with a Senate majority for the first time in many years. This means our current president can consider new approaches that would never have been possible for Bush or Reagan.”

   “That’s good.”

   “But unfortunately, the president faces many political obstacles, both domestic and foreign. Of course, his election victory means that the political forces supporting him are on the rise. Among them are many people who are very sensitive to ecological and technological issues; they are strongly opposed to the spread of nuclear weapons. On the other hand, there are people who feel differently, too many for the president to ignore. Our relations with Europe are more complicated now too, meaning he has to deliberate with them on foreign policy more than in the past. In my view, these and other factors limit his ability to compromise on the Korea issue. But I can give you my personal guarantee that President Clinton is making a good faith effort to ensure that all these issues get resolved fairly.”

   After thinking quietly for a moment, Comrade Kim Il Sung replied solemnly, “I believe you.”

   What He was referring to was not Clinton or his administration, but the deeper forces directing the superpower from behind the scenes, the forces that had no choice but to wave the white flag before our Republic. And His belief was based on faith in the might of our Republic that no force on earth could hold back. 

This passage illustrates a recurrent theme in NK fictional depictions of summit diplomacy. Anyone who meets KIS in person is immediately won over by him; but this presents a problem when the diplomat is a foreign leader with actual power. If KIS' summit diplomacy is such a resounding success, why didn't the whole conflict end after the Carter summit? Here is where mysterious "deeper forces" step in to block further progress. 

It would seem that North Korean fiction writers are big believers in the "deep state."

Links 

Dr Creekmore's book, A Moment of Crisis, tells the story of this summit from the US viewpoint. C-SPAN has video of Creekmore and Carter reminiscing about the trip while promoting the book in 2006. 

"Emergency Measure": The Scholarly Soldier-Bookworms of the Korean People's Army

"Emergency Measure" (비상작전) is a story by Kim Ryong Yŏn that appeared in Chosŏn Munhak in February 2006 and was reprinted in Chŏngnyŏn Munhak in August 2012. The story chronicles the Leader's generosity in ensuring that his soldiers are well supplied with high-quality reading material, at a time when his advisors are absorbed by the dire external threat of war.

This story gives good insights into the Party's views on literary fiction (both foreign and domestic), the ideal of the literate citizen soldier, and the function of the small libraries (covered in the previous entry) attached to various offices throughout the country. It also glancingly mentions joint military exercises, material shortages and book printing. There is a nice parallel between the US-ROK OPLAN for military readiness and KJI’s own “emergency plan” to send good books to the soldiers.

The Plot

KJI travels to a front-line military outpost with two trusted advisors, a Central Committee member in charge of propaganda named Pak Yŏng Hun and Politburo Deputy Director (총정치국 부국장) Ryu Sŏng Min. They are curious why he has brought them along, but assume that it has something to do with the grave security threat the country is facing.

    It's a time of extraordinary military tension. The US is pulling out all the stops to realize its expanded "Plan 5027-04" for war. It's different from previous plans in adapting new technology and speedier deployment for a quick decisive war. It focuses on capturing Pyongyang. They're redeploying the F-117 stealth fighters from Iraq and moving missile-equipped Aegis destroyers and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers into Korean waters. War is imminent. 

To their surprise, KJI seems more interested in a minor kerfuffle over a book. Pak is confused, so KJI fills him in on the story: 

At the army outpost they are about to visit, a platoon leader named Choi Yu Jin had been fostering an “our outpost-our school” program (우리 초소―우리 학교) with the local middle school. One day when he had taken his platoon to construct a fitness training course at the school, he saw that the literature teacher Kim Suk had a copy of the old Soviet classic Zoya and Shura. A voracious reader, Choi immediately wanted the book so badly that he boldly approached the young female teacher.

   “I’ve heard of this book, but I never actually saw a copy before. I heard that Zoya is a hero like our Cho Ok Hee [a partisan fighter in the Korean War], and Shura of course is a brave soldier who sacrifices for his fatherland… Might I borrow it? Not only for myself, but to share with my soldiers and broaden their horizons.”

Teacher Kim was conflicted, explaining she’d like to help but she was barely able to borrow it from the county library herself; “There’s just this one copy and it’s really old.” But Choi seemed so dejected that she took pity on him and said he could have it if he promised to return it in 3 days.  

Having so promised, Choi took the book home to read; but the next day, it mysteriously disappeared from his desk drawer. He searched everywhere; he couldn’t sleep or eat; the brigade political division got involved; his sterling record was in peril.

Fortunately, the book thief finally came forward. Another platoon commander had filched the book, fully intending to return it, but then misplaced it. He, too, had been searching for days to no avail and felt terrible.

KJI assigns to Pak the "homework" of deciding how best to handle this case.

North Korean-style newspaper display rack (신문걸개)

Arriving at the base, they tour the library. KJI flips through the rack displaying the latest KPA newspaper; he asks which articles the soldiers read, and learns that they most eagerly follow the serialized novels. They recently enjoyed the novel Green Mountains (푸른 산악).

Then KJI quizzes the base librarian on his stock. The librarian looks distraught as he explains that several of the books KJI asks for are missing or not stocked. KJI interrupts, saying he understands the difficulty, and then makes a speech about his father's love of books and their revolutionary value. 

On the ride back to Pyongyang, KJI asks Pak if he’s solved his “homework.” Pak replies, 

“It’s because we didn’t do our job properly that there are so few books. Following you on this trip, my eyes have been opened. We must strive to print more books to send out, especially the novels that the soldiers are so longing for. After all, the officer wouldn’t have caused such a problem if there had been plenty of books in the brigade library to begin with.”

KJI says that this is the correct answer to his “homework.”

Pak remarks that he had expected this trip would be about concocting some “emergency measure” to deal with the current security crisis, not some minor trouble with books. But KJI says producing more books is precisely the “emergency measure” he had in mind. He orders Pak to make up a list of good books and work to print them ASAP. Ryu’s job is to select the best foreign novels, in terms of ideology and artistry (사상예술적으로 우수한 작품), for printing.

Some days later, KJI reviews the plans that Ryu and Pak have drawn up; he concludes that they are far too miserly and lack ambition. "I too value practicality," he says, "But there’s a difference between being practical and penny-pinching." Again, he declares that printing books for the soldiers is just the "emergency plan" they need to combat the enemy's moves.

Working together, they put forth a new plan to print all the books the soldiers want – both domestic and foreign. Pak is astounded when KJI insists on using the best quality vellum paper and binding: “We must spare no expense for our soldiers.” KJI himself selects the cover art for Zoya and Shura, and the new edition swiftly goes to print.

Reviewing the freshly printed editions, KJI takes Pak aside and asks if he can have 3-4 extra copies of each book. Pak and Ryu are puzzled until he explains that the copies are a gift to Choi Yu Jin and Kim Suk; one for each, plus a library copy.

The next day cheers rang through the countryside as books were delivered to various outposts. The joyful shouts rolled over the DMZ, dispersing the clouds of war and drowning out the enemy’s guns. KJI concludes:
“These aren’t just books; they are artillery, and tanks, and planes, and warships. They are the General’s own special warheads that can crush the strongest enemy in a single blow.”

Book Shortages

This story is relatively forthright in exposing the shortages associated with recent economic problems, particularly in publishing materials. In the car with Pak and Ryu, KJI recounts:

    “Once I visited the home of General Staff Chief Choi (Choi Kwang?). His father, a veteran of the anti-Japanese struggle, had just passed away, so I found time to pay my respects… I noticed the bookshelf had been completely cleared out. His youngest son, a political officer deployed at the front, had come a couple days earlier and taken them all, heh heh. Saying his brigade wanted books. After all, since the Arduous March began we haven’t been able to print as many.” 

   He paused, too pained to go on... It was true the Arduous March had caused a shortage in both Korean and foreign novels. Though foreign literature was being translated and published in new collections, the lack of paper made it hard to keep up with the people’s voracious demand. This current trouble reflected the reality that the publishing divisions were far too busy working on new translations to care about reissuing old books like the Soviet classic Zoya and Shura. 

KIS reportedly favored delivering propaganda via
poetry and novels; KJI carried on this work but put
more emphasis on film.

The story also mentions that KIS had always said that novels were far more precious than gold, and KJI was constantly inquiring about library usage at every factory, office and army unit he visited.

When the brigade librarian begins apologizing profusely for not having certain books, KJI interrupts:

   “Comrade, thank you. Don’t worry about the missing books. This is just as I expected. I’m not ignorant of the problems with our book stocks. We want this library to have enough copies to lend any book to any soldier at any time. Both our Korean books and foreign books. 

   There should be many, many books.

   I’ve said it before, revolutionary novels have an extremely valuable effect in forming people’s world view.

   The Great Leader said novels, plays and films play a very important role in revolution, and that the biggest influence in His revolutionary struggle were the novels He read in middle school. The Great Leader told me many times of how He learned of the perils of capitalism, class inequality and other social vices through such books as Gorky’s Mother, Serafimovich’s The Iron Flood, Jiang Gwangci’s On the Amnok River, and Lu Xun’s short stories; those books were what elevated His class consciousness and led Him on the path to revolution. 

   People never forget the characters they meet through revolutionary novels.”

A good read (in Korean) on KIS' abiding interest in libraries: http://hub.zum.com/ohmynews/52910

Zoya and Shura

 Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya
Src: Wikipedia

These historical figures, Zoya in particular, seem to be well-known to older Russians, though my sources were less aware of the novel than the general historical incident.

Apparently Zoya was a young Russian pyromaniac recruited by the Red Army to burn facilities used by the invading Nazis and generally raise hell along their supply lines. She was captured and hanged by the Germans, but not before giving a rousing speech to the onlooking countryfolk and inspiring them to defend the Motherland. Her brother Shura became a soldier and died somewhat later in similarly heroic fashion; then their mother wrote a book about them.

The Korean Workers Party seems to have taken an abiding interest in the novelization of this story; this is not the first time I have seen it referenced favorably in a KWP publication. The official KJI biography "Benevolent Sun of Love" (은혜로운 사랑의 태양) repeats the story that KJI ordered a reprint of the book after noting its absence during a 2005 visit to a certain brigade library, claiming it had been particularly beloved by his father.

Given the KWP's well-documented aversion to most foreign literature, even that of friendly socialist countries, the ostentatious praise for this novel is even more remarkable and suggests that one of the Leaders may indeed have taken a direct role in approving it.

In an interesting coincidence, Shura was the nickname of KJI's younger brother who drowned in front of him at age 4. Both boys were born in Russia and initially given Russian names.


Government Spending 

This story is a good example of a common motif on issues of government spending. The officials are all stingy with funds until KJI gets involved; then they are awed and shamed by his generosity. 

When Pak and Ryu present their initial, overly conservative plan for printing, KJI chides them for being too cautious and calculating in their work (타산을 앞세우며 소극적으로 일하는). Pak responds: 

[Pak] “General! I was just thinking that we shouldn’t overdo it [with books] while people are still struggling just to live. And I thought we should focus on our Korean novels first before foreign ones, so for now – just five –”
[KJI] “We need to get these books out right now. It’s a fact that lately some people have been ignoring foreign things, saying they’re practicing Juche. That’s wrong. Of course, loving our own things is all well and good, but it’s also vital to understand Korea’s place in the wider world (자기것을 귀중히 여기고 사랑하는것은 좋지만 세계속에 조선이
있다는것을 알아야 합니다). Only by knowing the world can we truly take pride in our own things.”
[Pak] “General! You are wise.”

There is no self-awareness in such stories of what would seem obvious to us – that Kim spends money because he can. There is no hint of discomfort or resentment that KJI can afford to be generous, while officials have to be responsible and count every penny. Kim is like the fun grandpa who blows into town twice a year and buys the kids all the candy and junk food they can eat and takes them to the movies, while teasing the parents for being so strict.


Though the officials are reluctant to spend money on books, it’s unclear if this is because they lack funds or are diverting them to less-worthy causes. In this way, an imaginative reader could perhaps interpret the story as much more subversive than it was likely intended.