Dear Comrade the Leader Episode 137
Chapter 48. intellectual property rights
Young people in all countries of the East and West are sensitive to fashion, and the same is true in North Korea, which is the world’s most closed country, no, it was a closed country.
“Is this for sure?”
“By the way, didn’t you come here after hearing rumors? That Ri Yong-hwan has never, ever in his life, ever gave a dog a dog to his grandchildren in his life.”
You look younger than me, but it’s hard to fortune for the rest of your life… … And today’s guest, a young man who appears to be a freshman at a university in Pyongyang, laughed inwardly, but did not express his feelings.
All his eyes and ears are now focused on the items he found at Ri Yong-hwan’s stall spread out in the corner of the famous Jangmadang, which is now here, somewhere in the Pyongyang district.
It was a Japanese-made cassette player, more specifically, a Walkman.
“This is the real one… … Made in Japan Wow, work… … .”
“Walkman, Walkman! Guest. These days, when did you change the republic under Comrade General Secretary, what are you talking about? These days, the security guard doesn’t say anything about it. Even if the money is a bit stagnant… … .”
Even that was not possible in a legal workplace due to the recent crackdown by the Anti-Corruption Investigation Bureau (which was getting stronger day by day), and it was a level of stabbing in order to avoid crackdowns or illegal contractors such as mercenaries.
However, that was the case with street vendors like Yong-hwan, and the only thing his customer was worried about was whether this Walkman was real or not.
“It’s true, really. I swore on my parents. Isn’t the label stuck here properly? You said you were a college student, so you knew better than me, didn’t you? really! no doubt! It’s a Japanese-made Sony Walkman!”
“Well… … .”
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Now, the young man, who seems to have come to Pyongyang from the Gat province, opened his eyes to the promise of Yong-hwan, who shouted with a high voice, and looked closely at the labels and cassette player brands.Even though he had come all the way from Hamnam to Pyongyang to enter college, he knew what a cassette player was.
As a test, I put the tape in and played it, and it seemed to be true that the music (a bountiful harvest came to the blueberry) also sounded cool.
There was a reason why the customer was so obsessed with whether the cassette player was real or not, but he, a country clown who lived in the countryside, had nothing to do without carrying a foreign mountain in order to show off his wives and wives well in Pyongyang. there was no
Pyongyang, at the forefront of the wave of marketization that rapidly hit the republic after the reform and opening up of Comrade Respectful General Secretary, and in Pyongyang, the leader of the latest fashion was by far the same university students as in the South.
A college student who wants to buy a Japanese-made Walkman for Yonghwan was also one of those who had just come from the countryside and tried to get along with alumni, that is, the children of the ‘party executives who lived a little’.
“Okay, I came here because I heard that you can get it at a (cheap) price, but it was definitely worth it at this price. here it is.”
“Thank you! See you again!”
Hearing Yong-hwan’s departure, who bowed like a mothball, the customer smirked and disappeared from the noisy Pyeongcheon market.
And as soon as he disappeared from view, Yonghwan straightened his bent back and spat on the floor.
“Zegi, what’s so suspicious about the young guy? He also came here to get a cheap price… … . He must be from a family with a lot of money to go to college, but his hands are small… … .”
He doesn’t have a good family situation, and above all else, he barely left middle school from his hometown and went to Pyongyang.
He sometimes stared blankly at his peers who were leaving school after business hours (class time) and was jealous of those who were born in a more blessed environment than himself, but he did not regret his choice.
In the future, money will be everything in this republic, not education, and Yonghwan, who was not yet twenty, knew well that to earn real money, he had to run a business rather than go to college.
‘One day, when I get out of that college, I’m going to run my toes here and there, go and go.’
Yonghwan, who had such a poison inside, cleared the seat and started preparing to close today’s business.
The reason I quit my delivery job until a few years ago was when I decided to start my own business after saving a few pennies or two.
Because I didn’t have enough money yet, I couldn’t officially open a business or register as a business with the party, so I had no choice but to set up a stall like this, but I knew what a ‘floating item’ was, picking up various things while working on a delivery job.
It was Yonghwan’s dream to start a business that would make a lot of money someday by doing business like this.
“Now, Girum, I should hurry up and go to the wholesaler. These days, both of you are jumping into this business, so you have to hurry up and get it right away when it comes from the factory.”
Yonghwan murmured like that, and hummed a hum, packed his bags and left.
When he left, only the paper cartons used to package electronic products such as the Walkman were scattered all over the place.
And on one of them was written:
-It’s a Somy
So’m’y.
Yes, what Yong-hwan was selling to wholesalers was a ‘fake’ manufactured and distributed at an electronics assembly plant that was starting to grow spontaneously in the republic around that time.
And not long after this happened, it also reached the ears of the secretary’s office and general secretary Jeonghwan.
* * *
“ha ha ha… … This is so… … Comrades, what do you think of this?”
“… … .”
After a long time, Junghwan burst out laughing and threw the So’m’y Walkman in question amongst the Politburo members with complicated expressions.
On the Politburo meeting table, aside from the Walkman in question, fakes were placed around the market in the Republic of Korea to present as ‘evidence’ at today’s meeting.
Its kind, diversity, and originality (?) had already guessed this phenomenon to some extent through the original history, and even Jeonghwan, who was somewhat accustomed to the name Made in China, couldn’t help but laugh.
Abidas sneakers. From Khanel perfume, Omuga watches to Calvin Clein jeans… … .
From electronic products to luxury goods such as clothes and perfumes to consumable foodstuffs such as sweets, their nationalities were diverse, including Japan, France, and the United States.
In front of the Politburo executives who were silent like Mangbu-seok, Jeonghwan muttered as he turned over the reports on counterfeits from North Korea (although they were purified by the word fake) distributed in the market.
“Hmm, a lot of Chinese products are also mixed in, but after reform and opening up, private companies in the republic have made their own… … No, it means that fakes are also being distributed more and more. Besides, it’s selling like crazy? If there is demand, there will be supply. Zhang’s comrade. What do you think of this phenomenon?”
“That, that… … I have nothing to say… … Comrade General Secretary… … . Our republic’s industrial power is still far below that of other capitalist countries… … .”
Jang Seong-taek’s blushing and squeezing words spoke of the plight of the Politburo members and party officials.
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No head of state in the world should be proud of the fact that companies in their own country are selling off the brands of companies in other countries crudely. At least if you’ve got your mind set on it.In addition, the general secretary, who hears the report, is a person who has been studying in Japan and has a mysterious talent of converting grains of sand into dollars.
I guessed that it wouldn’t be nice to see such a person produce fakes that mimic foreign brands in the republic, and see his people actively consume them.
All the children of previous households had foreign-made things publicly, and they were sold unknowingly even in the midst of a stifling republic, but the sudden ‘fake foreign-made craze’ in the republic, centering on Pyongyang, has come with many twists and turns besides reform and opening-up. it was all
A report from Hyun Young-sook, chairman of the Central Inspection Committee, recently showed such a situation.
-Hyun Young-sook, manager, comrade. Look at this, it is said that these days, this is spreading among college students, mainly in Pyongyang… … . It seems that this should be reflected in the next encyclopedia of the censorship committee.
-… … ? Comrade, now that the republic is also changing, I would have said that unless it directly adversely affects the people’s life or directly opposes the system of the General Secretary and the Workers’ Party of Korea… … what is this?
-The so-called fashion magazine. These days, this guy is so popular among female university students in Pyongyang. It is said that most of them are imported from Japan and sold… … . Every hair salon in downtown Pyongyang already has this guy on hand. I don’t know where and how to censor this… … .
The sudden increase in counterfeit production and distribution came from a place that Jeong Hwan did not foresee, namely, the equalization of university education.
Originally, in the old days, that is, in the days of General Kim Jong-il, all universities in Pyongyang such as Kim Univ, Kim Chaek University of Science and Engineering, Kim Won-gyun Pyongyang Music University of Arts, and Dance School had to pass a background check before admission was decided.
The student’s own ability is also a skill, but it was more important to what class the parents belonged to in North Korea.
These were the ‘Baekdu Mountain Stem,’ which established this republic after fighting the partisan struggle with President Kim Il-sung, the Nakdong River Stem, descendants of the bereaved families who fought in the War of Fatherland Liberation (6.25), and the Ryongnam Mountain Stem, an alumni of General Kim Jong-il. .
As a result, new students were forced to flock to Pyongyang, where the core classes of nature live.
However, the situation changed when Jeong-hwan took office as general secretary.
For a while, among Pyongyang citizens, who are sensitive to power transfer as they are from their background, it was a matter of interest for a while which branch would enter the core of power.
-Kim Il-sung University and all universities in the Republic will be based solely on meritocracy in the future. It doesn’t matter if you come from a bad background, so make sure that college students are selected only based on their academic achievements and test results. In addition, the procedure for joining the Labor Party is similarly determined only by party and ability.
General Kim Jong-il, who disappeared silently at some point (they said that he died in a coup d’état by the former security chief, but the general consensus was that the funeral and mourning period were too short for such a thing.) It was a thing.
The new general secretary said that he had escaped from Japan for a while, and that Foreign Minister Kim Yong-geon was an aide, so the prediction that the so-called ‘Mt.
And because they competed on an equal footing based on meritocracy, of course, students had no choice but to gather from all over the republic, not just Pyongyang.
In addition, Pyongyang’s ‘sophisticated’ (North Korean standards) cutting-edge lifestyle and fashion that I saw for the first time in my life rushed to the countryside using the transportation and communication networks that Jeong Hwan worked hard to restore after taking office.
And this trend of ‘Pyongyang style’, along with the aftermath of reform and opening up, aroused a desire to consume luxury goods that had never been seen before, centered on university districts.
However, it was not yet at the level where most of Pyongyang’s citizens, including college students and young women who had just arrived in Seoul, could shop at the ‘real’ Cartier or Prada stores that started to enter the center of Pyongyang’s Potonggang Street. It was such a fake that appeared as
According to the report, there are currently more than a dozen companies that specialize in producing fakes in the Republic, and these companies are being distributed to wholesalers and then to retailers.
It is a report that Jeonghwan heard at today’s meeting that there is a huge market specializing in counterfeit goods like Dongdaemun Street in Korea around the Pyongyang Pyeongcheon area, and there are people who sell goods there, and that there are thousands of citizens who sell stalls like Yonghwan. it was the gist
However, contrary to the predictions of party officials, including Jang Seong-taek, who had expected a bad order, Jeong-hwan was surprisingly calm.
“This is a good sign. Isn’t it?”
“… … Immediately carry out a campaign to promote the use of domestic products in the Republic, and in the long term, we will put more effort into improving light industry and fostering indigenous enterprises of the Republic to overcome this disgrace… … yes?”
“It’s a good sign. It means that the republic is now taking the first steps in fostering businesses.”
“Ji, are you serious?”
“Of course I am serious. Isn’t it natural? So, did Comrade Zhang know that these republican companies, which started from the bottom, could create world-class brands on their own?”
As Jeonghwan muttered while ripping through the So’m’y cassette player in question, most of the party executives looked at him blankly, as if relieved on the one hand and surprising on the other.
What was particularly impressive to Jeonghwan was that not only counterfeits of foreign luxury goods such as Gucci and Prada, but also counterfeits of consumer electronics like this cassette player were made not only in China but also in North Korea.
Unlike clothing, where only the design or trademark needs to be copied, electronic products, no matter how fake, must return without problems for at least a month after purchase to deceive consumers.
So, doesn’t this mean that North Korean civilian engineers can make a dead copy of a foreign cassette player?
Just looking at this Somy cassette player right now.
‘It’s pretty good for a fake.’
Most of the parts were imported, and of course the build quality and completeness were much lower than the real Japanese-made, as well as the Korean-made Mai Mai, but compared to the ones made in state-owned enterprises or factories controlled by the Central Party, the quality was good enough to look at.
‘What’s even more encouraging is that there are companies that manufacture and distribute these products according to the tastes of consumers. Of course, it is difficult to find their own technology or brand yet, but this is not how everyone starts.’
Moreover, the production and consumption of these counterfeits also proved that the average income level of the people of the republic had reached a certain trajectory.
These fakes are usually luxury goods, and being able to afford luxury goods does not mean that the problem of making a living has been solved to some extent.
‘Well, all Korean companies initially accumulated capital and technology like this and started their own brands. After three years of full-scale opening, this is pretty quick.’
However, I never meant to let this overflow of fakes go unnoticed.
“Then, Comrade General Secretary is willing to let the people copy these foreign products… … .”
“Of course not. It is a secondary problem for foreign companies to be hesitant to invest in the republic because of damage to foreign companies. avoid it.”
In other words, it means that the need to systematically and legally protect intellectual property rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has emerged.