Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 156
“Hmm, what do other comrades think other than the current manager?”
“… … I’m a military officer, so I don’t know much about the academic system, but in Frunze, where I studied, it was basically a minority orientation. Comrade Foreign Minister Kim said that differential education is against the socialist ideology, but… … From what I’ve seen, that’s not necessarily the case… … .”
Baek Seung-cheol, who was listed in the People’s Army, seemed to be euphemistically supporting Jang Song-thaek while coughing.
Hagiya was from a state-funded scholarship student who was handpicked by Kim Il-sung from North Korea and went to study in Frunze, so it might have been more surprising that he didn’t spread the theory of a small group.
“I am against the opinion of Comrade Jang Sung-taek.”
“… … That’s a bit surprising, comrade Choi. Wasn’t your comrade one of the most talented people in the Republic when you were in school?”
Choi Seung-il, president of Peony Holdings, was surprisingly supportive of holistic education.
It was hard to think of it as the opinion of a person who has emerged as a mathematical genius from an early age and has risen to the position of managing the highest dignified money chain, so everyone’s attention was focused on him for a moment.
“It is, but it is because I do not think that I received an unusual education as a child and became an exceptionally talented person. After all, if you have such a great talent that you can hit it from the bottom up, why not stand out without special training? furthermore… … .”
Choi Seung-il paused for a moment and muttered with a self-helpful cynicism on his dry face.
“… … A school is a place that teaches not only knowledge, but also how to perform tasks in association with others in society. The young elite, who lack such social skills, are elite horses and just bastards who do not know anything about the world. Isn’t the whole person education of Comrade Foreign Minister Kim not meant to be implemented out of concern for such things?”
“… … It sounds like a personal experience, doesn’t it?”
“Since I went to Kyohwaso, I have had a long period of self-criticism. At one time, there were a few elite and fussy comrades with me, but now I am the only survivor… … It was like a monkey falling from a tree. If I had known such a rationale earlier, I wouldn’t have had to suffer that death.”
“ah! Gi-rae, what a comrade experienced… … Of course, I’m sorry for the ‘a little hardship’, but that can’t be the reason that Foreign Minister Kim’s opinion is better than mine, can’t it, President Choi?”
As Jang Seong-taek frowned at Choi Seung-il’s words, which seemed to favor Kim Yong-geon, the cynicism hung around Choi Seung-il’s lips grew slightly.
“After a few years in the core of the Republic, the most important thing in life is that rather than solving one count faster, it is more like keeping an eye on your superiors and changing the ropes when appropriate. Looking at the conduct of comrade Jang Seong-taek, I think I learned one thing properly.”
“What… … what is it What does that mean now? If you don’t explain right now… … .”
“Stop it. Deputy chief Jang’s comrade. Fighting in a meeting is unsightly, isn’t it?”
Jang Seong-taek, who was about to attack Choi Seung-il at Jeong-hwan’s quiet warning, immediately shut his mouth.
The first time the supreme leader showed a sign of discomfort, the atmosphere at the table subsided for a moment.
Except for Yoo Hye-rim, who is now the general secretary’s personal assistant and has no official right to speak at the Politburo meeting, all that was left was Chairman Kim Young-nam, who is the oldest in the official rank after Jeong-hwan and the eldest.
“Then all that is left is Chairman Kim’s comrade. What do you think? Is it minority? Or is it holistic education?”
‘What is the real purpose of the general secretary… … No, why did you create this place in the first place?’
The last person left, Kim Young-nam, was deeply immersed in how to answer Jeong-hwan’s question.
From what he had seen so far, Jung-hwan was not the type of person who made decisions according to the opinions of others, even those of his subordinates.
The general secretary takes advice but makes the final decision alone, but now he is listening to the opinions of the Politburo members one by one to the point that it is annoying now.
In normal times, they were just people who listened to the opinion of the recipient and acted on the front line.
The story means that, of all the opinions so far, no member of the committee has said a word to the liking of supreme dignity.
‘For now, it is clear that I am not trying to favor Jang Seong-taek… … .’
Kim Young-nam, in spite of the years and skills he had accumulated in the bloody North Korean political world, in the very short moment between receiving a question from Jeong-hwan and answering it, pondered the scene he had just seen and inferred the master’s mind.
It’s Choi Seung-il. Since Kim Jong-il was under him, he was framed and suffered humiliation, so it was impossible for Jang Seong-taek, who was attached to the general secretary while enjoying power under that Kim Jong-il, to look pretty.
It must have been the reason why he secretly hurt Jang Seong-taek just before, but when he listened to Jung-hwan just before, his attitude was clearly on the side of Choi Seung-il.
Read at noblemtl.com
No matter how much Choi Seung-il is the president of Peony Holdings, the forefront of the capitalist republic, and an aide personally selected by the general secretary, it is a similar act in the official ranks of the party.Then, here, the highest dignity of the Republic, what the general secretary wants to hear is… … .
“… … In the future, I think the education of our republic should ultimately go in the direction of nurturing the elite.”
“Look! Comrade Chairman Kim also agrees with my words. After all, he is the oldest and most senior man… … .”
“… … However, as Foreign Minister Kim Yong-geon is right in saying that the individual strengths of the people should be respected, it would be good to reflect the supplementary measures that give a third opportunity to comrades who have failed in their studies for a few years with a small group of intentions.”
Kim Young-nam’s conclusion was as follows.
If we look at Jung-hwan’s character and policy direction we have seen so far, it is highly likely that he will pursue a minority education policy.
However, the reason why he did not accept Jang Sung-taek’s opinion from the beginning was most likely because he wanted to avoid raising his hand in public.
Kim Young-nam, like an old elder, has already noticed that Jeong-hwan wants to make the party and Jeong check each other.
And since Jang Seong-taek had already experienced being fired once, he had to empower Kim Yong-gun rather than Jang Seong-taek.
So, the general secretary must have agreed with Jang Seong-taek in his heart, but wanted someone with a keen eye to scratch his itch.
And I don’t know whether Kim Young-nam’s guess was right or wrong, but Jung-hwan showed interest and asked again.
“… … Specifically, what would you like to do? For example, how many opportunities to give to whom and how much of a college education.”
“Universities are the place of high-level education that selects the truly best brains, so it is necessary to prevent the proliferation of private universities like in South Korea. Anyone with mathematical ability is accepted without discrimination, but you raise the threshold so that no one can enter and leave.”
“Then, how would you like to organize the university below?”
“After all, high-level middle schools, which are institutions aimed at nurturing brain workers, still exist, so it was good to divide secondary and secondary education into practical technology and university entrance. Instead, how about adopting a part of the 6-3-3 system like Japan and South Korea and making them pass one more test when they graduate from middle school?”
Currently, secondary education in North Korea lasts for a total of six years, and it is not divided into three years of middle and high school like in South Korea, but only elementary and secondary schools and the decision to enter a university or a vocational school.
What Kim Young-nam was saying was to split it up and make it specialized.
Kim Young-nam, who has said this up to this point, pondered for a moment how to express his intentions in a concise way, and then he added a word with a smile with a unique, kind expression.
“Originally, only one or two top brains in charge of designing automobiles are needed, but there are not many workers who need to assemble or repair in the front line. Even considering the industrial structure the republic is aiming for in the future, it will be necessary to quickly and rapidly teach a lot of technicians to assist the elite.”
“Hmm… … .”
As Jeonghwan seemed to ponder for a moment, there was silence on the table.
Jang Seong-taek and Kim Yong-geon just kept their mouths shut and waited for Jung-hwan’s choice.
However, as much as Kim Young-nam, he could easily guess that he had scratched the itchy part of the master.
“I think comrade Kim Young-nam is in good shape. What do you all think?”
“… … .”
This time it was quiet.
As Jung-hwan expressed his consent for the first time since the start of the meeting, no one could object to Kim’s opinion.
When no one opened his mouth, Junghwan clapped his hands with a satisfied smile.
“Then let it be decided. We’ll organize the details and report back soon.”
* * *
To sum up in one word the education model of North Korea that was completed after some discussion after that, it was neither Jang Seong-taek’s ‘Cultivating 1 Genius and 99 Dummies’ nor Kim Yong-geon’s ‘Cultivating 100 Beomjaes’.
If we had to compare it to what Kim Young-nam said, it could be seen as ‘nurturing 5 car designers and 95 assemblers’.
-All elementary school students in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are obliged to enter middle school after graduating from elementary school (renamed from People’s School).
-After three years of secondary education, take the middle school graduation exam, and only the top 30% go on to a three-year vocational high school by field, and the remaining 70% go on to a four-year vocational technical high school that fosters engineers, nurses, lower-level civil servants, and office workers. do. Compulsory education is up to high school.
-At the specialized high school, students take a promotion test at the end of each academic year, and depending on their grades, retention, skipping, and early graduation are decided. Accumulation of retention may result in expulsion, and students learn calculus from the first year.
-After completing a 3-year high school course, students take the math ability test to enter a four-year university, which has over 30 schools in the Republic. However, even a graduate of a 4-year vocational high school can take a separate test and enter a 2-year college.
– In order to enter a specialized high school, it is necessary to have enrolled in a junior high school and to have graduated from a graduation exam. Even after graduating from a vocational high school, it is possible to go on to a four-year university by studying.
It is difficult to enter a four-year university, but it is also difficult to graduate.
“… … Still, the initial goal of getting private education has failed, comrade general secretary?”
“Hey, I think you misunderstood something, Lieutenant Yu.”
After receiving a report that private academies for admission to specialized high schools in Pyongyang city were already established after the reform of the education system, Yoo Hye-rim cautiously asked, and Jeong-hwan shook his head.
“I never said I was going to beat all private tutoring. They just said they would reform the education system. It is impossible to crack down on all private education and private tutoring in the first place.”
“… … Hey, there’s nothing more terrifying than a parent’s wish for their children to do well when they see what the South Korean comrades down there are doing. What I want to say is that I hope that there will be no such divergence of mind in our republic.”
“It’s not only the individual’s golden youth that goes to waste that is wasted, but it’s also the national competence, so you have to be careful about that. Everyone will be happy if they find their place early and are satisfied with their place… … It’s because our Korean people can tolerate hunger, but they can’t stand being hungry.”
Jeonghwan, who knew better than anyone else and even experienced the evils brought about by Korea’s overheated competition for college admissions and education focused on entrance exams for him, shook his head.
By all means, in this historical North Korea, I hoped that there would be no boarding schools for long-term college students or repeat students.
Competition, if properly induced under fair conditions, brings great improvement to individuals and the nation, but excessive competition can lead to catastrophic results beyond inefficiency.
However, around the time the reform of the education system was announced, the result of that mixed spirit of competition appeared before Jeonghwan’s eyes.
“Cho, Comrade General Secretary… … !”
“What’s going on?”
“Turn on the TV and watch the South Korean channel. It seems that South Korea’s Park Yi-sam has a strong goal because of the last incident.”
“… … !”
I turned on the TV in the secretary’s office and tuned the channel, and there was a breaking news broadcast relaying the announcement of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense.
And the moment he saw the subtitles at the bottom of the breaking news, Junghwan had no choice but to write his impression.
– The Ministry of Defense decided to resume training with the US Army in the summer of Team Spirit. Refusal to give detailed information about training objectives and hypothetical enemies.
* * *
“Sir, President Yu Min-jung has arrived.”
“… … I’ll take you inside.”
At that time, in the waiting room of the Blue House, President Park Yi-sam of the Republic of Korea was welcoming an uncomfortable visitor.
The visitor itself was also an uncomfortable person, but at this time, Park Yi-sam knew what he was going to say when he visited, so it was already inconvenient.
“It’s been a long time, President Yoo Min-jung. If you haven’t eaten yet, would you like to have a bowl of kalguksu with me?”
“Thank you, President. But before that, as the leader of the opposition party, I must first give you a piece of advice. This team spirit training… … Do you have to?”