＜ Chapter 34. Welcome to Pyongyang, Yonggang International Airport. ＞
Chapter 34. Welcome to Pyongyang, Yonggang International Airport.
Surprise swept the entire hall.
The international students hardened like stones with their awkward and humble expressions, and some middle-aged executives who had water in their mouths spit them out as they were choked by the uncomfortable air.
First of all, aside from the fact that the supreme leader spoke to his university comrades like ‘juniors’, did he say ‘our republic is backward in the countryside’ to college students who are likely to be potential reactionaries who have returned from living in the Western world for a long time? ? now?
But, ignoring the shock of others, Jeonghwan did not stop talking.
“I understand. Some of my juniors may know this, but this insensitive senior, while he was spending his youth at Kimdae, was called by the former general and headed to Japan, the country of scumbags on that island. And do you know what I discovered in Japan, which was at its peak at the time?”
“……”
“Don’t tell lies. Anyway, even if other people are like that, it won’t work for my younger comrades who have been breathing heavily outside the republic for the past three years. It was just that the best country in the world, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which I’ve been piercing my ears since I was a baby, was so, incomparably shabby compared to Japan, the country of those wicked island bastards.
‘Strictly speaking, a senior would be Kim Jung-hwan, the original owner of this body, not me, but anyway, I’m from a national university, right?’
If I had a little time, I would have achieved the grand slam (?) of attending both Kim Il-sung University and Seoul National University.
The audience, including the Confucian scholars, was unaware of this supreme leader’s heart murmur, but they listened intently to the leader’s words.
At least it’s definitely not something you’re doing to make a stereotypical welcome speech.
“As I said before, our republic is so backward and insignificant compared to Japan. Not only Japan, but compared to the cutting-edge UK, the market economy system, where my comrades have been studying so far, there is no company that can present to the international community the accumulated technology, capital, and infrastructure. So it’s not unreasonable that the faces of the comrades look like that. How many people would laugh at the idea of living in a palace until recently and suddenly going to a chogat house?”
In response to Jeonghwan’s naked, but poignant point of view, shame came to mind without knowing it on the faces of the international students.
Although he could not express it outwardly, literally most of the international students at the ceremony were feeling very disappointed at the state of the art capitalism, London, England, and returning home after a long time to be so backward and backward.
In addition (though this was also at Jeonghwan’s order), many of them were elites, such as McKinsey Consulting and Goldman Sachs, who had internships for about a year at investment banks or strategy consulting firms in the UK or even around the world. .
It is not difficult for Jeong Hwan to imagine what he must have felt when he had seen and heard the splendor and luxuries of the capitalist world at the forefront and when he got off at Sunan International Airport, full of old party officials dressed in outdated people’s clothes. could
“The present Republic is like this airfield. The facilities are old, the chairs have holes, the windows are broken and the floor is covered with dust. However! While the comrades were studying capitalism in London, the republic also changed. It was reform and opening up. Perhaps you know that there are comrades who have already heard about it?”
At Jeonghwan’s sudden change of enthusiasm, the party officials and the international students looked at each other’s faces.
The words of the young leader, who had been filled with lamentation and humiliation for his country that had fallen behind, began to change radically.
“Juniors, our republic has changed just as our comrades have changed, but that change is not enough, and we have only come the first ten miles on the road to a prosperous and prosperous nation. And the journey is far too far for this senior to be able to take it alone. I’ve been really feeling it over the last few years.”
“…………”
“At this point, I should welcome and congratulate my juniors who have come a long way, but unfortunately, as a leader, it has become a place to only confide in the deep worries and complaints of this senior. But this is one thing I can assure you. At this meeting today, with my juniors and other cadres, meeting talented people who will lead the Republic, the Party, and above all, the people to a prosperous future, at least one penny of their worries has been relieved! Look at that construction site out there, that I’m pointing at now. What do you see?”
With those words, Jeonghwan raised his finger and pointed to the control tower far away from Sunan International Airport.
After confirming that all eyes were focused on the tip of his finger, the scene where the truck and the Poklein were busily passing by, Jeonghwan continued speaking.
“This is the first step in reform and opening up. The construction site where this Pyongyang International Airport will be reborn as Sunan International Airport. Although it will take a long time, it will be reborn as a state-of-the-art international airport befitting the majesty of this republic, a more advanced and convenient London Heathrow Airport than the London Heathrow Airport where comrades left, the pride of the people and the pride of Pyongyang. Just like this Joseon itself! And on that day, I promise that there will be juniors and comrades in this position who will create and enjoy that glory together in the backbone of the party! …Welcome back to our homeland Kangsan once again. More than.”
“Long live Comrade General Secretary!”
“Long live the Workers’ Party of Korea! Long live the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea!”
Manse rang out from all sides of the reception hall.
This time, not only the party officials, but also the international students who sat in their seats with trembling expressions were shouting hurrah.
They were pushed by someone and not as they were told, but in fact, now more than anyone else, they were singing Jeonghwan’s hurray with the most voluntary and passionate enthusiasm.
Among them, there were college students who were so moved that they dyed their faces red, rolled their feet, and shed tears.
After the speech, Jung-hwan handed the microphone to Hyun Young-sook and asked for a word.
“Now, there are some pictures suitable for broadcasting. Edit what I said appropriately. I just need to keep my voice low and put in the scene where those comrades are calling for hurray.”
“…Really, every time I see him, I can’t help but admire his talent. Comrade general secretary. I think it would be better for the general secretary to concurrently serve as the chief executive officer of public agitation and ideological education.”
“Are you sedated? I just reminded them of something they had forgotten for a while. They are the most elite workers who will lead this capitalist Joseon in the future.”
Junghwan shrugged and said so.
In order to rapidly develop backward developing countries, as always, leaders who can see the future as well as the present, and elites who will become the hands and feet of such leaders in various fields are needed to maintain and improve the system.
And to those elites, who could be stricken with irresponsibility and hatred for their own country if they did it wrong, Jung Hwan did not force unconditional loyalty and patriotism like the previous leaders, but honestly acknowledged the current situation and sent a message to overcome it with him in the future. will convey
If we had left them here, or forced self-criticism and oaths of allegiance as before, these international students would never have truly followed Jeonghwan, even if they pretended to obey in front of them.
It was highly likely that he would have turned into a helpless welfare bureaucrat who was desperate for the backward and stifling reality of his country, and at best turned into a helpless welfare bureaucrat who returned smuggled magazines from England, or, worse, into a corrupt bureaucrat who only took care of himself by exploiting the people in the process of reform and opening up. .
However, through his short speech just before, Jeong Hwan instilled responsibility in them and instilled in them the perception that they were the vanguard of the development and opening of the country.
Of course, with some basic psychological tactics added to it.
‘The basic tactic of instigating public incitement is to form a private relationship with a propaganda target and not a public one, but to create a bond by emphasizing it…., where did the general secretary learn such a thing?’
That psychological tactic was the sense of privilege he had just instilled in the international students, the chosen elite of North Korea.
In North Korea, the leader and his family are no different than a modern-day tyrant, or a sage god who exists above the clouds beyond that.
The fact that the Baekdu lineage from Kim Jong-il to Jeong-hwan came from Kim Dae is quite well known in the Republic, but there could be no such thing as Kim Dae who thought they were the same age as them, seniors and juniors.
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No matter how many years Jeong Hwan had been away from North Korea for a few years immediately after his inauguration, the international students in this position had no difference in the perception that ‘the Kim dynasty is the master of this republic’. When he emphasized the fact that they were just their alumni, the sense of distance between them and Jeonghwan was greatly reduced in just a few seconds.It is understandable that people who like power, as well as people who hate it, want to make good friends with people with power around them.
The fact that the supreme leader, whom other people can only fear, was themselves and their seniors and juniors, and that he had secretly guaranteed their future career, instilled pride and confidence in the future in the minds of the young North Korean elite.
‘Because it’s so effective, it’s like forming a line anywhere in the world, making friends, and managing your personal network. Still, since he came from Kim University, Kim Chaek University of Technology, etc., it would not be easy to have a sense of superiority compared to other people, but we must do well to manage it so that it does not develop into elitism or electoral ideology.’
While Jeonghwan was regaining his bitter taste inside, Jang Seong-taek, who had been watching the enthusiastic international students, approached Junghwan and offered praises.
“You are truly wonderful. Comrade general secretary. By the way, the Organizational Leadership Department had not heard of a plan to renovate Sunan International Airport, but suddenly such a thing happened…”
“Oh, Manager Jang is right. There’s no such thing as a refurbishment plan. Not yet.”
“……yes? But just recently, obviously…”
“It’s just a landing gear modernization project, and it has nothing to do with the entire airport project. What I said to those comrades just before was made with immediate thought. Well, from now on, it’s enough to make it a reality.”
Of course, Junghwan didn’t really instruct the remodeling of Sunan International Airport and the development of a new airport without any plans, and he was always thinking about renovating the existing airport or building a new airport altogether.
Around that time, North Korea was either a business person from all over the world, including the United States, looking for new investment and cheap labor, or a journalist who came to see the news that the door was opened from a communist hereditary dictatorship to the world. It was a car with an incomparable increase in airport demand compared to before, even for tourists with a unique taste to stop by.
And since Sunan International Airport, the only international airport in North Korea that should be a gateway to accommodate them and transport them to various places, was the only international route to China before opening, it lacked the ability to handle the rapidly increasing number of passengers. .
The problem was that Sunan International Airport was located in the mountains for expansion work such as making a new runway (actually, this was the case in most of the northern part of the Korean peninsula), so a huge difficulty was expected.
Upon hearing the report that the expansion of Sunan Airport was too difficult, Jeong-hwan immediately made a decision.
– From now on, let’s start the plan to fix the Pyeongan-do Oncheon-gun airfield and build a new airport. Right now, the Sunan International Airport needs to be reworked as soon as possible by carrying out the expansion project, but in the long run, as the economy of the republic develops, the number of visitors will increase. If you’re going to see and copy, you’ll have to copy the best. For example here.
With that said, what Jeong Hwan gave to the ‘Oncheon International Airport Promotion Headquarters’ (which was hastily formed by officials from the Ministry of Finance and Accounting) was a booklet containing the history and process of Singapore’s Changi International Airport development.
– I must have established diplomatic ties a while ago, so call the people in charge at the time and ask for advice, apply it to the situation of the Republic, and make it so that it is not left behind wherever you put it. The operating entity is made independent from the military and made into a public corporation like an investment corporation. Oh, and change the name. Still, it is an international airport that will be the face and gateway of the republic, but a hot spring is something. Not even a bathroom.
It was more of a buzzword than an instruction, but in the Republic, the law must also look at the yawn of the leader, so the promotion headquarters named the new international airport ‘Yonggang International Airport’ after the name of the new international airport, Ryonggang-gun, where Oncheon-gun belonged in the past. set to
The construction period was 5 years, which was a fairly short period for building a large-scale international airport, but the ground had already been laid and the runway had already been built, so it was necessary to build only what was needed to transform a military airport into a civilian airport like a passenger terminal. .
Soon, the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Korean People’s Army Air Force, which had previously been in charge of airlines, became independent as ‘Yonggang International Airport Corporation’ and immediately mobilized various military equipment (using experience in airport construction in the Middle East) and got the help of modern construction to plan a new airport. rushed in
And the London School of Economics and Economics students, who were not the catalyst for the construction of this international airport, soon after returning home, they chose their own career paths.
Of course, many of them were impressed by Jeong-hwan’s speech and chose to walk the path of a Central Party official from their party position, but their paths varied so that students who chose to become journalists working at Pyongyang TV, or researchers at Kimchaek University of Technology There was also a student who decided to become a financier at Oni Holdings.
And there were others who chose to pursue a more unusual (?) path, the so-called venture entrepreneurs .