Dear Comrade the Leader Episode 163
Chapter 58. dot com bubble
At the time when Jeonghwan was thinking such useless thoughts, Antonov, who was heading to the door, suddenly turned around and asked, thinking about chewing, tearing, and tasting these precious materials.
“I would be grateful if you listened to me thinking that I already crossed the line once… … If this happens repeatedly, the Chinese will one day notice. Even this time, if you decide that one day they will show you bitter taste, what will you do then?”
“Someday, that day will come. But not for the time being.”
“… … why?”
To Antonov, who tilted his head, Jeonghwan assured him in a confident tone.
“They say, China needs this republic.”
“… … You sound pretty confident? Why are you betting like that? I don’t mean to offend you, but China is 30 times bigger and 50 times more crowded than this country, right? If such a great country is by your side, even if you are afraid, I don’t think it’s particularly bad.”
Antonov, who had rarely seen Junghwan so convinced, seemed a little surprised, but spoke of common sense, but Junghwan was firm.
“Originally, international relations do not necessarily mean that the big and strong side has a one-sided advantage. Just look at the relationship between the US and Israel, right?”
It is a concept that has already spread to the general public who are not interested in international politics in the world 10 or 15 years from now.
To China, North Korea is one of the few ideological and political allies, a gateway to the East Sea, and a shield that serves as the primary defense in case US forces stationed in South Korea advance north to the continent.
Broadly speaking, it is a stopper that blocks the entry of maritime forces, including the United States and Japan, and a security guard at the back door that relieves the burden of facing the border directly with the United States’ ally, the Republic of Korea.
Therefore, to the Chinese rulers, the existence of North Korea was much more valuable than the actual economic and military capabilities it possessed.
In particular, at a time when North Korea is showing signs of shifting to a pro-US state to some extent, even if not as much as in Korea or Japan, unless North Korea touches China’s core interests to a certain extent, Chinese factors, including Jiang Zemin, will not be able to easily touch them. It was Jeonghwan’s decision.
“Of course, the Chinese will not endure indefinitely as there is a limit to their patience. However, since they are in a stole position, it will be difficult to say anything about this case. You can’t report to the security guard that the thief stole your belongings, right?”
Jeonghwan shrugged his shoulders as he said that, and Antonov, who was nodding his head, asked again as if he had suddenly remembered.
“’What about this case?’ Then, in the future, to the United States, to Israel… … And are you talking about continuing to take technology through China?”
“It’s only here, but yes. Such a great drinker… … No, because informants are rare.”
“… … Are you really okay? So what if, like I said before, the Chinese people’s patience comes to a limit? No, before China, Americans wouldn’t be stupid, so if a fighter was made in-house in this country, they wouldn’t know that their technology was put into it. Then then… … .”
“… … .”
When Jeonghwan did not answer and quietly looked at Antonov, there was silence in the secretary’s room.
In the silence, Antonov smiled bitterly and scratched his forehead.
“Yeah, that’s not my concern. You crossed the line. I will apologize, Comrade General Secretary.”
“… … .”
“The engine will have prototypes soon. There have been many problems since then… … Anyway, thanks again. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that I would treat you like Chen Xue-sun. Then I’ll just go ahead and care about what I’m going to do. As long as you keep your promise, I will do my best, trust me.”
When Antonov said that, he opened the door to the secretary’s office and hid himself, and Jeonghwan leaned his chin in thought.
It wasn’t that Jeonghwan didn’t worry about what Antonov pointed out.
If the tail is long, it will be trampled on, and given the importance and sensitivity of the stolen technology, the day will come when diplomatic pressure will be applied at the government level, be it the US or China.
However, considering what will happen soon ‘about now’ in the original history, it would be difficult for the US to pressure Israel in this regard, so it was expected that there would be no problems for the time being.
‘But still, catastrophe will happen someday.’
So, until then, we will have to build up our strength, both economically and militarily, to counter China’s anger.
And what Hyerim Yoo, who came in at a crossroads with Antonov, reported to Jeonghwan with a curious expression, proved Junghwan’s previous prediction to be true.
“I think it’s the first time I’ve seen a comrade like that. What happened?”
“It’s no big deal. Rather, from the look on the face of Major Yu, it looks like there is something urgent going on. Do you have anything to report quickly?”
In fact, as with many things so far, Jung-hwan had already guessed what Hye-rim Yoo was going to report.
However, Yoo Hye-rim, who was not aware of it, remembered the purpose of her coming to the secretary’s office and then corrected her posture and delivered surprising news.
“Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an assassin. The perpetrator was arrested at the scene… … .”
“With this, peace in the Middle East has crossed the waters for the time being. Will his successor be Benjamin Netanyahu? One more reason for the United States to withdraw from the Middle East, which is good for our republic. Anyway, with this… … .”
See, Comrade Antonov, what did I say?
While Junghwan thought like this in his heart, Hyerim Yoo ended the words instead.
“… … Yes. The Bush administration has officially expressed its condolences, and Israel’s technology hijacking problem seems to be completely buried. Because we can’t scatter ashes on the portraits of our allies.”
“Heaven helps us. Still, I tell Comrade Ri Jong-su to be extra careful with the management of the intelligence service. Even if we can’t protest officially, China has so many ways to threaten our republic informally. It would be unreasonable to hope that he would never be found out, but it would be better to be found out as late as possible.”
* * *
1995 was coming to an end.
The year-end department store in Pyongyang was bustling with people, reflecting the wave of Western culture and consumer-oriented winds since the legendary Michael Jackson performance.
The consumption desire of the people, whose income level has risen sharply in a short period of time, was also expressed in high-end clothing, expensive food, and automobiles.
One recent change is that the demand for advanced electronic devices has increased significantly.
Of course, as the party’s strategy, computers were widely distributed around the city’s universities.
It could be meaningful in that electronic devices other than computers, and people of all ages, voluntarily, became interested in information technology.
It was also thanks to the unintentional advertisements of foreigners, including South Korean businessmen, who came and went in and out of Pyongyang, walking around with mobile phones or using fax machines.
And as if reflecting these people’s interests, on the first day of 1996, with five years left in the 21st century, Jeonghwan’s New Year’s address was related to IT.
– Respected people. I have to say that the future of this republic depends solely on information technology.
In the new year, the Workers’ Party of Korea introduced a change to promote national competitiveness in this era and to keep pace with the times and the needs of the people.
The change was quite shocking not only to the people of North Korea, but also to South Korea and most of the people around the world, who had previously known that the Workers’ Party of Korea, a closed and outdated state toward North Korea, as a group leading such a country, was an old-fashioned and ideologically engrossed group. .
It was the opening of the website of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Internet.
Welcome to the Workers’ Party of Korea! (www.workspartyofkorea.com)
These letters were engraved on the main gate of the website in eight languages, and as the first visitor, Jeong Hwan, the general secretary, directly stamped his feet on the bulletin board of the guestbook.
Of course, it could not be denied that it was an event with strong publicity, such as blocking access in some countries, including South Korea, or deleting dissident posts by the IT department of the Propaganda and Agitation Department in charge of managing the bulletin board.
At least, the effect of calling attention to the North Korean people at least once thinking about the ‘IT’ mentioned by the general secretary was great.
“I heard that things like this are outrageous even in the United States these days. Everyone, regardless of individual or business… … They make an internet website and make a lot of money.”
“Yeah, there was a big bubble, but sooner or later, when the bubble bursts, only the real strong will survive. So, our republic must keep its eyes wide open so that it does not fall behind in the flow. That is the reason why I accept this.”
* * *
One day, just after the start of 1996, Jeong-hwan shook the paper he was looking at while nodding his head to Hye-rim Yoo, who was talking about the dot-com bubble that is booming in the United States in the secretary’s office.
Hyerim Yoo knew what the paper was.
It was a paid analysis data of American financial companies that you can pay and receive monthly fees.
This was because these materials, including American newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, were sent to the clerk’s office almost every day and every month, so he would put them on a cart at regular intervals and bring them to Jeonghwan.
But actually, what Hyerim Yoo was curious about was not what kind of paper the general secretary was reading.
“Well… … But do you have anything good to do? Comrade general secretary? I don’t know why you have such a smile on your face… … .”
“👑👑. huh? Ah, that’s right, Lieutenant Yu.”
Seeing Jeonghwan, who is neither angry nor smiling, smiling helplessly, Hyerim Yu couldn’t help but tilt her head.
Of course, I never thought that ordinary people like myself would always be able to understand the deep insides of Comrade General Secretary… … .
“It’s also because of this. look at this I read this paper whenever I am depressed.”
“… … yes?”
“The more I look at it, the more I laugh. More effective than any other humor collection. ha ha ha… … .”
With an expression that she did not understand the English language, Yoo Hye-rim, who received the document presented by Jeong-hwan, slowly read the paper with graphs and numbers on it.
On that paper it was written:
Prospects for Silicon Valley’s Emerging Dotcom Companies in the New Year 1996
… … (omitted) Although the company has achieved rapid growth in recent years and has made remarkable achievements in the unexplored area of Internet book sales,
Regarding the credit rating of this company’s corporate bonds, we have to conclude that it is extremely unstable.
The most unstable is the cash flow, but it has to be said that there is a very high possibility that it will not be able to cope with a certain level of changes in the corporate environment that will occur within one year because business diversification is not taking place and services are not centered on customers.
For the above reasons, the head office has no choice but to draw a negative conclusion on the business outlook of the company, Amazon.com, where Jeffrey Bezos is the CEO, and the investment in the company is withheld or withdrawn. I can’t help but advise you to do it.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Company Analysis Team 1
“Now then, shall our Republic Peony Holdings prove that this analysis is wrong?
-The author’s words-
The events in episode 163 are not currently happening, but for the sake of directing, they are being described now. We ask for the understanding of our readers.