Dear Comrade Leader Episode 154
Chapter 55. 23 million potential
“… … Have you ever seen these bastards like beggars? On this hair of mine, I just put a dry baby boy with no blood… … !”
“Go, sir… … Calm down a bit… … .”
“Am I really what I look like now?”
At the shouting of Park Yi-sam, the 14th President of the Republic of Korea, all members of the State Council turned their eyes and shrugged their shoulders.
Because there is no fool to plunge himself into falling sparks.
The heads of the mayor of Seoul and the prime minister were blown away by the public opinion and the president’s disapproval.
Moreover, the president’s anger was multiplied by the contents of the paper that had just been thrown on the floor.
“What? As a Korean, do you express your condolences? Are you willing to send relief money if you want? I thought it was good for reform and opening up, but in terms of evil, it’s just as bad as my naughty father! Even if I cross the truce line right now… … .”
“Go, sir… … This is all our fault.”
“What did the media report? The Korea Daily?”
When Park Yi-sam, who had barely managed to control his anger, wrapped his arms around his head and asked, the minister and his aides all sighed in unison and squeaked.
“that is… … I wrote this: ‘Same disaster, different number of deaths. North and South divided by portrait and banquet houses. Leaders of North and South Korea to be compared in times of crisis.”
“Gosh… … goosebumps Is that all?”
“And I wrote it like this. ‘The first civilian-born president who hastily resigned from strong military leadership, including Hanahoe, is ridiculed by the young capitalist leader of North Korea. Is it too early for Park Yi-sam’s work to be done?’”
“You damn bastards!”
The reason Park Yi-sam is acting like this is because of a statement of consolation expressed by Jeong Hwan, the general secretary of North Korea, about the recent major accident and the collapse of the Seongsu Bridge.
* * *
About two months ago, on a Friday morning in October, the middle of the Seongsu Bridge, which crossed the Han River and connected Seongsu-dong and Apgujeong-dong, suddenly fell, killing dozens of people and injuring them.
Besides, it is likely that middle school girls who were riding a city bus to school are victims of the disaster.
In addition, when the cause of the accident was revealed to be poor construction and the negligent response of the authorities, the collapse of the Seongsu Bridge went beyond a simple disaster and evolved into a political disaster of the Park Yi-sam administration.
“I, Park Yi-sam, fully aware of the responsibility for this incident, and in front of the people, hold the responsible persons responsible for this tragedy, regardless of their rank, to blame… … .”
“President! There are testimonies that complained about this situation, ‘It was because the previous government gave poor construction permits, not ours’. What do you think?”
“I never said anything like that! Do not spread rumors!”
The accident itself was a disaster, but the aftershock was even more serious.
In North Korea, the first stock exchange opened in Pyongyang on the day of the accident as if he had done anything foreshadowing, and suddenly he heard the saying, ‘After Park Yi-sam became president, the fortunes of the South and the North have changed.’
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No, it’s been since the days of the former president that the kiddo general secretary in the upper neighbourhood became the security guard, so why is it his fault?However, there was no way the facts were important to the conservatives who were sharpening their swords against Park Yi-sam due to the Hana purge and the introduction of the real-name financial system, and their trumpeter, the Goryeo Ilbo.
The year has already passed, but the Koryo Ilbo is still busy criticizing North Korea’s economic power as if it were due to the fact that North Korea’s economic power is rapidly increasing day by day, and that all kinds of human casualties occur in South Korea, as if there was something wrong with Park Yi-Sam.
In fact, the whole situation was so unfavorable to him, that this kind of disaster occurred right after it was confirmed that North Korea had overcome the flood damage by exceeding South Korea’s expectations (which was expected to cause serious damage).
Moreover, the young general secretary of North Korea, who was just over 30, made a consolation statement immediately after the collapse and made this announcement.
– As the same Korean people, we, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, express our deep condolences and regrets for the loss of lives of others. In the future, the leaders of other countries should pay more attention to the laws related to construction projects so that the cries of innocent people do not resonate in this Joseon land.
“… … That’s pretty bad. Yeah. The dates overlap. Even if it’s just a coincidence, this really has nothing to do with our people. That guy named General Secretary is lucky, but he never misses an opportunity. I have to admit that.”
Even Samcheok-dong could see that North Korea’s statement of consolation was not pure consolation, but a covert ridicule or show off.
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North Korea even sent 500,000 US dollars as consolation money to the victims of the Seongsu Bridge collapse.The timing was so exquisite that there were even rumors that North Korean agents in South Korea might have done some trickery on the bridge.
However, as the investigation began and after confrontation with the construction company in charge and city officials, it was revealed that there were no problems from design to management.
Although the name of the civilian government was that of the former government, the special move ‘All this is because of North Korea’ was sealed, and it was like pouring oil into the growing anxiety of the South Korean people about the rise of North Korea’s national power after the discovery of oil.
And the feelings of anxiety, resentment, anger and crisis were all concentrated on the current president, Park Yi-sam alone.
Would it be too harsh to say that this is the price of the three-party union that betrayed the comrades who fought for democracy?
However, there was still a hidden card left for Lee Sam Park.
“I’m going to show this young bastard a taste of mine someday and talk! Chief Ahn! Have you completely overcome the flood in the North? What useful information do you have? Didn’t you tell me a while ago that you plugged in one of our Humints properly?”
“Don’t worry, sir. Not long ago, we received intelligence that our top agents had infiltrated the core of Pyongyang. Now our wiretapping device is very firmly embedded next to North Korea No. 1. It seems that Heaven has not completely abandoned our Republic of Korea.”
“It went really well. Make sure you take good care of it! That’s the press and everything can be beaten, so we’re naked, but over there we’re wearing clothes. … .”
Park Se-hwang and Ahn Ki-sam reported the infiltration of Heuk Venus as if boasting, and Park Yi-sam was relieved.
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North Korea can collect as much internal information as possible just by looking at the newspapers, but South Korea has to suffer so much to know how the North Korean leadership works.There, the media can inflict a fatal blow on the regime, but it was really difficult for the regime to keep the line that it should not touch the media.
Although it is an unavoidable shortcoming of representative democracy that he had longed for and struggled so much, Park Yi-sam laughed bitterly at the irony that he even regretted the news guidelines when he became president.
* * *
On the other hand, on that day, just after the change of year, Jeong Hwan, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea in question, was also doing his best to dig out the secrets of the leaders of other countries.
This was different from South Korea in that it was a one-party dictatorship similar to North Korea.
“Congratulations. Mr. Jang. With this, the only thing left to do is to ascend to heaven like a flying dragon. Now, we, Joseon, have to follow suit, and we ask for your continued consideration in the future.”
“Heh heh heh, there is no need for Joseon to follow us, but General Secretary Kim is too modest. Aren’t ordinary North Koreans already living a better life than Chinese people? This is something that Jiang Zemin should learn from General Secretary Kim.”
“… … I have nothing to say about this.”
Jeonghwan chewed on his lips for an instant and muttered to himself, ‘You are an old man like a fox’.
As he said, as of last year, North Korea’s per capita national income has greatly surpassed that of China, which started reform and opening up several years earlier.
Of course, there is no question that North Korea with 23 million people is much easier to raise per capita national income than China with 1.3 billion people.
Of course, Jeonghwan knew that it wasn’t just pure praise.
“I know from reports that the preferential trade agreement with Korea and the Sinuiju Free Trade Zone made a great contribution to the development of Joseon. I hope that next year, let’s do well together with our socialist comrades.”
“I remember well the words of friendship and friendship that I heard in Shanghai last year. I also hope that in the future there will be only virtues and friendships in the Korea-China relationship.”
‘Never forget that China has a large stake in North Korea’s economic development’
‘Even if you don’t teach me like that, I know you well, so stop bullying me at the beginning of the new year’
… … The New Year’s phone call between the leaders of the DPRK and China, with the warm meaning of “
As soon as he put down the receiver, Jeonghwan frowned and asked the executives who were listening to all these conversations next to him.
“You are very persistent. Comrade Kim, what do our diplomats in the Allied Powers (UN) say? Now that economic sanctions have been lifted from Europe to France?”
“Yes. If I were to tell you the atmosphere, it seemed like he was trying his best to get out of the way… … That is the message of our diplomatic comrades. Civil rights groups are protesting, but… … .”
“Huh, there is no one in the world who doesn’t know right now that our Comrade Jiang Zemin is beating the Tibetan autonomous region comrades so hard… … Well anyway, as expected. So now the economic sanctions imposed on China have been completely withdrawn.”
Jeonghwan’s face, speaking as if declaring, was full of depth.
Because of this, the attractiveness of investment and employment from foreign capital that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a newcomer to the capitalist world, enjoyed over the past five years is greatly reduced.
Fortunately, as it was proven during the great flood a few months ago, the accumulated amount over the past 5 years is quite large, so there will be no situations where foreign investors have to catch their pants… … .
“It’s really sad that this population and territory are so small. The Chinese comrades hit thousands of their own people at Tiananmen Square like that, but the economic weight is so big that even Americans pretend not to see the Europeans who love human rights. I mean.”
“… … It’s not just a day or two that white capitalists of the old imperialism Europe (Europe) are hypocritically pounding and swearing. Our republic has no choice but to stick to our line and push forward.”
Kim Yong-geon, who is well aware of the absurdity of international politics and inter-state dynamics, at Jeonghwan’s ridicule, shook his head with a look of half anger and half bitterness.
In fact, it was a fundamental problem not only in international relations, but also in North Korea, which Jeong Hwan had been struggling with for a long time.
Being a latecomer in the market economy is a huge demerit, but the population and territory that help overcome the gap to some extent are relatively poor.
Although the territory of 120,000 square kilometers with a population of 23 million is not that small by international standards, China, with the world’s largest population and territorial power, is located next to it, so it must seem small.
However, this is not an era in which people can be called population and territory by invading and colonizing other countries as in the days of imperialism.
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No matter how much a person who knows the future like Jeonghwan is a national leader, it is not okay.‘Ha, here and there, the talk of unification in Korea has been constantly coming up for 70 years. No matter how much capital and natural resources support it, if the population is below a certain number, it is bound to tremble at the constant threat of a large power. I can’t sympathize with that feeling.’
“What should I do, I have to do well with what I have now. However, it is comforting to know that the fertility rate in this republic has been rising rapidly in recent years.”
“Everyone puts a lot of effort into making a living. As I have heard, there are rumors circulating that kindergartens and elementary schools are bursting in downtown Pyongyang these days and sending their sons and daughters to kindergarten is as difficult as passing the entrance exam.
Although it was a flattering word, Hyun Young-sook’s point was accurate.
As the problem of food, clothing and beverages has been resolved and basic health care and income levels have risen over the past five years, North Korea’s population has begun to explode, as has been the case in all other developing countries.
According to the results of the Central Statistical Office, the average fertility rate last year converges to 2.8 children per household, and all analysts agree that it is increasing with no sign of decreasing.
“Population is the national power. How much of the potential of growing children can be utilized for the development of this republic will determine the fate of this republic and the Workers’ Party in the future. In that sense, the education system of the Republic will also need a major overhaul.”
Junghwan, who had said this far, once again asked Hyungsook.
“Isn’t there a lot of English academies in Pyongyang these days? We should start by improving the quality of public education.”