Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 238
Eventually, they took Ri Kyung-soo, who was dumbfounded, to ‘Prison’.
In fact, the horse was a prison, but Ri Kyung-soo, who was guided to see where he was going, could not help but be surprised once again.
“this… … ?”
“Meals can be eaten three times a day, either in the room or in the dining room below. You can exercise or take a walk at any time within a set area and within a set time.
The cell to which Ri Kyung-soo was assigned, no, the ‘Room’ was a clean and comfortable room with a separate bedroom and bathroom in a living room with a wide view window overlooking the river.
It wasn’t a luxury item, but it was furnished with neat achromatic sofas and tables, refrigerators, air conditioners, the latest LCD TVs, a queen-size bed in the shower room, and even carpets on the floor.
Except for the windows that were blocked from opening, it was not a prison, but a room with no sense of incongruity even if it was a family condo somewhere in a resort area.
“Where is the torture chamber?”
“yes? Torture room?”
“A place where counter-revolutionaries like me are tortured. Or a labor training camp or a completely revolutionary zone… … There must be no such thing.”
“There is no such thing here. CCTV is installed in each room to prevent suicide, but… … There is only one channel for broadcasting, and there is only one newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, but since there is a library and a movie theater, I know that there will be no inconvenience in using it. Of course, only censored media comes out, but… … .”
“… … What kind of trick is this now? ah! Now I know.”
“yes?”
“You’re trying to turn me around. You know that if you treat me like this, I’ll turn away and become a party dog. If I didn’t turn away, or if I refused something the party asked for, that’s when you tortured me to death, right? Am I wrong?”
Ri Kyung-soo raised his eyes and growled at the thought that no matter how much he thought about it, the security guard who had guided him shook his head with a smile.
“There is no such thing as a masterpiece. And while you’re here, you don’t even try to change your thoughts or ideas.”
“Don’t be fooled by the lies you see inside!”
“… … You’ll find out as you go along, but as long as you don’t do something like an escape attempt, we won’t be dealing with you harshly. furthermore… … .”
“furthermore?”
“As you will see tomorrow morning, some of you may be familiar with this kwanliso, but if you talk to those comrades, you will know that we are not lying. It’s getting late, so can we have a seat? It’s time for bed.”
In the end, Ri Kyung-soo had to spend the night lying on a soft bed instead of the cold stone floor of the Kyohwaso as he had expected.
Unlike the body, the mind was still very uncomfortable, but it could not be denied that in a corner of my heart, a feeling of relief and security, and unexpected feelings about the subject of General Secretary Kim Jeong-hwan, arose without knowing it.
The notorious reputation of Kwanliso No. 23, which was widespread in university districts and Hakchongryun, has been proven (at least until now) to be false rumors.
But even more surprising things happened the very next day.
* * *
“Reflection? Now look at me and write a letter of reflection, right?”
“exactly. Mr. Ri Kyung-soo.”
“Huh, damn… … What the hell is a reflection on this?”
“This is a statement of remorse for the charges of comrades who disturbed the current social order of the republic, denied the achievements of the general secretary and the party, organized an illegal (illegal) group, and confuses the people by spreading false facts. That’s the only activity that comrades are recommended to do in this kwanliso.”
The next day after being transferred, Ri Kyung-soo was taken aback by the words of the director of this management office, who came to meet the ‘new customer’.
On the first day, I was reassured, and I was nervous inside that something like water torture would start from the morning of the very next day, but it was just a reflection.
The absurdity of the charges was also absurd, but what made Ri Kyung-soo unravel the most was the laxity of the method.
Wouldn’t it be enough to just make up a rough draft of such a statement of reflection and fill it with words you don’t like?
It was not that the intention to bring them to their knees by giving them mental humiliation in this way, instead of physical torture, was not unreadable, but the fact that the interrogation by the authorities, who had been so frightened, was so wide-ranging, beyond relief, I could even feel my heart pounding for no reason. It was.
“… … try my guess If I reject this, isn’t that the only time I’m being beaten with a heated iron on my back, plucking out my nails, hanging upside down and beating me?”
“Wrong. As I have already said, writing this reflection letter is recommended to the last, not compulsory. There will be no disadvantages or disadvantages in this prison for refusing to write an apology letter.”
Of course, Ri Kyung-soo flatly refused to write a statement of remorse, but unexpectedly, as the warden had said, this time, there was no torture, beating, or bloody threats that he was prepared for.
The head of the management nodded that he just knew, and sent him away, adding that he would be willing to accept submissions of reflective statements whenever he changed his mind.
In addition, in consideration of the amount, zeal, and sincerity of the letter of reflection, there will be a certain reward that will make life easier in the management center.
“A little reward?”
“As for that, ask the other inmates you will meet in person from today. I’m sure you’ve heard of it already, but there are probably a lot of things you’re familiar with.”
In fact, Ri Kyung-soo was able to confirm that the warden’s words were true even before the day was over.
The collective strike leadership, several fired reporters from the Rodong Sinmun, the Chosun Central Broadcasting System, professors from various universities in Pyongyang, and even the leaders of the former Security Council and the United Front Department.
Ri Kyung-soo was able to meet numerous dissidents regardless of faction and ideology in the public area within the Kwanliso.
Those who disappeared after protesting or expressing dissatisfaction with the Kim Jeong-hwan leadership system from the public, or those who were known to have disappeared, among them there were many people who in their hearts thought Ri Kyung-soo was a respectable senior and comrade in the struggle.
What they had in common was that, contrary to the expectations of Ri Kyung-soo that they would all be suffering like hell, they seemed to be living in a very relaxed and prosperous life in this kwanliso.
And another thing in common was that as soon as the manager left and Ri Kyung-soo appeared in the common area that day, they rushed in and demanded him to change with the same voice.
“Young comrade, how much hard work you have done, you worked hard, you worked hard. It’s all over now, so relax.”
“No, what are you talking about? Aren’t all comrades and professors imprisoned here against Kim Jung-hwan’s tyrannical dictatorship?”
They warmly welcomed Ri Kyung-soo, who was stunned, and comforted him by telling him how much hardship he had to endure, and that his young friend was truly amazing.
Read at noblemtl.com
Now that I saw that they had misunderstood General Secretary Kim Jeong-hwan, they persistently persuaded him that it was a place like a paradise where you can get anything you want as long as you don’t try to escape or show hostility to other inmates, guards, and management workers.And what Ri Kyung-su witnessed while staying with them for a few days was that these prisoners wrote a few sheets of paper and submitted them to the guards, a statement of reflection that he had refused to write.
There were people who wrote one page, and there were people who wrote more than a dozen or more pages, but there were very few who did not write at all.
Even among them was Kim Il-cheol, a professor of socialist economics, who was his gift during Kim’s university days and had a profound influence on his ideology today.
“What the hell is that small reward for enduring such humiliation?”
“It’s literally a small reward. Like adding a cable channel to a TV that lets you watch only certain channels, extending your workout time by one hour, or cooking your favorite food separately… … .”
“… … Has your professor comrade ever written something like this? Did you just fall for something like that?”
“Stay here and you will understand. It’s not really that hard.”
At the words of Ri Kyung-soo, professor Kim Il-cheol turned his head and began to confide in his experiences while avoiding the gaze of his former disciple.
When this kwanliso was initially established and the early prisoners were asked to write a statement of reflection, most of the prisoners, including Kim Il-cheol, snorted in antipathy.
It was full of deep sneers that Kim Jung-hwan was thinking very firmly no matter what he thought was wrong.
In the kwanliso, freedom of movement is not restricted except during curfew, so the prisoners will soon share their will, and, at least temporarily, professors, soldiers, and journalists alike will temporarily transcend factions and unite as one. collected
At first, this unity was so good that all the maintenance workers had to go home with only blank papers.
Then, soon after, when comrades were gathered together, people who shouted for the liberation of the Labor Party and the Republic to be overthrown with one voice and then returned to the private room where they were used only by themselves, gradually began to think like this.
These were people who had the same thoughts as Ri Kyung-soo before.
– There’s no way I’m going to turn away just because I’m using something like this, so I just had to pick it up with lies and spend some time here.
The first reward offered by the Kwanliso to the inmates who seemed to be shaken was the delivery of a letter to their families.
A prisoner who fell for the kwanliso’s suggestion that he would deliver a letter to his family if he wrote a letter of remorse, immediately began to rationalize himself as soon as he received a reply from his family saying, ‘Are you doing well, we’re going to die because we’re worried about you?’ it started.
It is said that if you write a few false reflective statements, you can receive the well-being of your loved ones.
Soon after, he secretly wrote a letter of remorse, avoiding the eyes of his comrades every day, and received letters from his family.
However, long tails would be trampled upon, and when he was finally discovered by some of the inmates he was close to, he protested to his colleagues who condemned him and promised to inform other comrades of your treachery.
– You mean you didn’t leave your family outside? I’m never apostate I just made up some lies because I was worried about my family. Does everyone here miss their family?
– Gee, but… … .
-If any of you are not worried about your family or bloodline, please come out! Instead of doing this, let’s get some news from your family with me. After all, it’s all lies, so who can blame us for that? No matter how important the struggle is, isn’t the celestial rhyme too important?
In other words, a small group within a group sharing a sense of complicity was created.
Soon after, some of the accomplices who hid this fact from other comrades began to enjoy some kind of preferential treatment by writing and submitting a statement of reflection only themselves.
And as the guilt of betraying their comrades over and over and over again faded, they began to ask for a few other perks as well as letters to their families.
Satellite television, more delicious food, and sometimes fine whiskey and cigarettes were offered.
But as always, as the number of people sharing secrets increases, it goes without saying that keeping the secret keeper becomes more difficult.
A small society created in a closed environment has harsh laws against traitors, and the management workers managed to separate the two groups in a situation where they went on the verge of mass lynching. It has long been branded as
There were also protests saying that you don’t have any family outside or do you not want to see them, but even so, the accusation that there is only a cowhide sofa in your cell is not convincing.
Soon the unity among the prisoners was broken and factions split.
The traitors had to sit separately from other groups even at mealtimes, and they couldn’t get along with sports and had to group themselves together.
But the most painful thing was the voices of conscience coming from within themselves.
When they were outside, they too had in their hearts the cause and pride of fighting against the great evil of Kim Jeong-hwan and the Workers’ Party of Korea for the sake of the people, as dissidents as no one else, but now they are just traitors and traitors.
Even more unbearable than the guilt itself was the fact that they had received a very small price for that worst betrayal, something they would have laughed at if someone from outside tried to bribe them with this.
Are you saying that you have betrayed the belief in liberal democracy that you have kept your whole life to receive only a few Marlboro cigarettes?
Did you throw away the days of struggle you shared with your comrades in order to receive a larger bed at best?
Read at noblemtl.com
No matter how hard he tried to deny that fact, there was still a small but clear material evidence, such as a statement of remorse, so he could not deny the voice of his conscience.Originally, all living things, whether physically or mentally, if they continuously suffer pain, try to find out the cause of the pain as soon as possible and eliminate it, or at least try to avoid the pain if that is not possible.
And when all these attempts fail, it is only then that they consider self-destruction or suicide.
Fortunately, there is a defense mechanism in humans, and we have the ability to forget, distort, or rationalize unfavorable or uncomfortable facts that can hurt our psyche.
The traitors, who stayed up for days and nights tormented by their betrayal, finally succeeded in reducing the psychological pain of guilt and creating a convincing explanation.
When I was outside, I was an elite who was well-learned and treated by everyone, so it was very quick to develop the following self-rationalization logic.
– As I’ve said many times, we never betrayed. After spending some time looking back at ourselves here at the Kwanliso, we realized our true feelings. We were not apostates, but were in favor of the one-man leadership of the party and the general secretary ‘from the beginning’. In other words, he didn’t change, he just came to know the inner truth. In fact, I have always been loyal to the party and general secretary.