Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 241
“… … !?!?”
This time, while using evil, Ri Kyung-soo was shocked again and had to keep his mouth shut.
Before, anger conquered fear, but this time astonishment conquered anger.
At first, Ri Kyung-soo thought Jung-hwan was mocking him.
“If you want to reassure me before I kill you… … .”
“Anyway, the prisoners here were going to be released as soon as possible. Since the conversion has already been completed, there is no need to pay more expensive rice while spending people’s taxes. And what would you do to someone who decided to kill me, as the general secretary, because I could benefit? You just have to kill me.”
If it was Lee Kyung-soo as usual, the general secretary, who said quite terrible things, would have given him goosebumps, but as soon as the general secretary turned around and said this, his head was filled with other thoughts.
I was thinking of the family I left right outside.
“I heard both of my parents are still alive and I have brothers and sisters, but don’t you want to see them?”
“… … !!! really… … Are you going to release me?”
“Of course, if you want to stay longer because you respect your wishes, you can stay. Well, even if I go out now, I can come back to my feet soon. I sincerely hope that it doesn’t happen even for you.”
“… … What does that mean?”
When Ri Kyung-soo tilted his head at the sound he didn’t understand, Jeonghwan waved his hand.
“If you don’t know, you can’t. So, I guess I’ll just have to go. The Silicon Valley side of the US is so busy these days that it’s been quite hard to find time to come here. When I try to meet with people in the western time zone of the United States, I don’t get enough sleep. … .”
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Now, as if Ri Kyung-soo had lost interest, the general secretary yawned and got up from his seat and headed for the door.When Jeong-hwan hurried to the door, leaving Ri Kyung-soo alone in the chair and contemplating the conversation he had just had with the general secretary, Ri Kyung-soo, who was suddenly in a hurry, forgot that he had just called him a tyrant and a dictator, and called out to Jeong-hwan.
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No matter which one you choose, and whatever kind of person Kim Jung-hwan is, how many more times will you get another chance to spend this long alone with this person in your life?“I, there… … !! Cho, Comrade General Secretary!”
“Something?”
“Well… … That’s… … Well… … uh… … .”
When Jeonghwan stopped and looked at himself, Kyungsoo Ri’s hair turned white again, just like when he first entered this room.
In the end, the question that came out of his mouth, which was sweating profusely, was the following:
“Why do you always show kindness to a reactionary like me? In the first place, there is no reason for a reactionary and general secretary like me to stand alone, right?”
“The first reason is that, as I said before, the fundamental limit of the Hakchongryun, who released one more of you, is clear no matter how hard they try… … As for the second reason… … Hmm… … .”
After stroking his forehead with his finger for a moment and contemplating something, the answer that Junghwan came up with was surprisingly really funny.
“My friend and I have the same name. It was a friend we broke up with a long time ago, but he had the same name as a comrade. Come to think of it, it’s similar to being an elite from a national university. Well, it’s a common name for North and South, so it’s not that strange. In any case, think carefully before making a decision. Then come on.”
* * *
“Goodbye, Comrade Ri Kyungsoo. Let’s make sure we don’t have any more issues with each other.”
After contemplating for several days after meeting with the general secretary, Ri Kyung-soo finally chose to leave the kwanliso.
And, surprisingly, as the general secretary said, the Kwanliso did not say anything, escorted him in the same way as when he brought him, and dropped him near Pyongyang Station.
After the eye patch was removed, Ri Kyung-soo could not believe the current situation for a moment, so he widened his eyes as if waking up from a dream and looked around the downtown Pyongyang intersection.
And soon he couldn’t help but be disappointed.
“haha… … This is really frustrating, but what the hell am I doing all this time… … .”
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Not a single thing has changed since he was arrested.Still, citizens were hurriedly heading here and there with their cellphones, which have now become a necessity of the people, in order to engage in a busy day’s livelihood.
Everywhere I looked, I felt a bit bitter at the thought that the sacrifice that I thought had risked my own life had not changed anything in the real world in general, but there was one thing that caught my eye at that time.
“This is… … Only me.”
It is a yellow background with red and clear letters reminiscent of blood, and is dragged to the police station with bloody text, ‘In commemoration of the sacrifice of the deceased Comrade Ri Kyung-su – The Workers’ Party of Korea, which operates and protects the murder organization Public Security Department, self-destruct!’ It was a poorly made flyer with a picture of a man.
Of course, the man was himself, Ri Kyung-soo, and the flyer seemed to have been made and distributed by his comrade, Hakchongryon.
However, for a person who reads a leaflet that printed the scene of the sacrifice he was prepared to die himself, Kyungsoo Ri’s impression of this leaflet was surprisingly plain.
‘Before, I didn’t know much when I made it with my own hands, but now that I look at it, I’ve made it too radical with the content separate. In an era where mobile phones and sneakers value design before price, the general public, especially young comrades, seem to be reluctant before even reading the details. … .’
I don’t know why, but things that I would not have seen if I had been living the days of struggle in Hakchongryon, or things I had seen with my eyes but not with the eyes of my heart, seemed to come into my sight when I took a step back.
Perhaps, after spending some time away from thoughts and struggles at the kwanliso for a while, it felt like some scales had fallen off my eyelids.
After meeting with comrades and unraveling the grievances, you should advise them to change the path of struggle a little more conciliatory, or at least one that is closely related to life, even conscious of the general public’s gaze.
Only then, Kyungsoo Ri thought that the organization called Hakchongryon would survive even a little longer, so he got into a nearby taxi and headed to the house where his family would be the first to wait.
“Oh man, fold it. It’s hard water! Have you been healthy all this time?”
“… … !!! you… … !!! you… … !!! What I’m seeing now is really… … !!!”
“That’s right, Omani, that’s really Kyungsoo.”
“Aigoo, Aigoo!!! Kyungsoo! Oh my gosh! How did you come back alive! Let’s touch our face once in a while! Are you hurt anywhere?”
The first reaction of the family was, of course, astonishing when their son, who was known to be dead, and whom they themselves were at least convinced would never see alive, returned.
It took a long time for Ri Kyung-soo to appease his father, mother, and brothers and sisters, who were weeping and holding onto him to see if it was true that his son had returned.
And it was not until that evening that Ri Kyung-soo was able to shake off the opposition and concerns of his family and get out to visit the people he was trying to visit next, the struggle comrades of the same Hakchon-ryon.
“Comrade Chairman! Comrades! It’s me! Kyung-soo Lee, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is back! Your comrade, Ri Kyung-soo, who went to Kwanliso No. 23, came back alive here!”
“… … !!! Water? Oh no, if it’s Kyungsoo… … no way… … !!”
“Wait! That’s right! Have you all been fine without meeting public officials? Haven’t you been able to get rid of hoepo or anything in a while? Why are you looking at other people like that?”
“… … .That’s right! Looking back, I’m right! Kyungsoo! It’s hard water! Come on, what are you doing without everyone getting together? Our comrade, Ri Kyungsoo, is back alive! Kyungsoo Comrade! Are you really okay? Maybe blood on the inside of your clothes, kid?”
Soon, the small, messy Hakchon-ryon headquarters with placards and wooden boards scattered everywhere, became a melting pot of excitement, tears, and excitement, and heated up loudly.
Soon, all the comrades who went out today and were absorbed in the demonstration returned, and soon they started exchanging greetings with each other with a drink.
“Girae, how is the struggle going after I got arrested? Am I not dead?”
“It’s going well! Since your photo was published in foreign media, the number of foreign media requests and interviews has increased several times in the past few months! It is not a dream to end the murderous dictatorship of this republic by exposing the human rights situation in the United States or abroad to non-governmental organizations in a little while!”
“… … .”
When the wine to confirm each other’s life and death and to celebrate the safe return went around, the chairman and his comrades were filled with excitement and confided as if boasting about their past.
But maybe it was because of the conversation I had with the general secretary at the kwanliso.
Ri Kyung-soo, who previously would have said, ‘Let’s fight harder and ignite the flames of struggle!’
“Wait, that’s… … It’s really good… … .”
“It’s all thanks to you, Comrade Ri Kyungsoo! Anyway, let’s talk about the management office! Were you really tortured there, squeezing the blood of the recoilers and biting off their flesh? How the hell did you get through it all and come back here like this?”
As soon as someone asked such a question, the noisy drinking party became quiet in an instant.
Just by looking at it, Ri Kyung-soo could see at a glance that they, the Hakchongryun comrades, had all been waiting for the question to come out.
All of a sudden, all eyes in the seat were focused on him, and Ri Kyung-soo was forced to fall into a conflict for a while.
‘Should I tell you everything that happened there? No, even if I told you, how many of these comrades would believe it?’
Despite receiving the curious gaze of the left, Ri Kyung-soo was engrossed in such anguish, and for a while he did not say anything and just muttered.
Before the fact that Kwanliso 23 was not the place he had imagined, he had no idea how they would react if he told them what he saw, heard, and felt there.
Leaving aside all other facts, if you say that you had a private conversation with the general secretary at the kwanliso, you would say, ‘I was tortured too much, so I turned around and released him.’ There was never anything strange about living in doubt.
In fact, it is something that even the person involved himself cannot believe even after seeing it in person.
“Why are you procrastinating without saying a word? Oops, if it’s hard to tell because you’ve been through something so harsh inside, Giger is our fault… … .”
“No, that’s not it. what I’m saying is… … Whoo… … .”
In the end, Ri Kyung-soo closed his eyes and decided to be honest about everything.
It is doubtful how much his comrades will believe what he said, but as time passes, it will gradually become clear that he has told the truth, as the other prisoners will be released soon anyway.
Besides, what Ri Kyung-soo really wanted to say was that there was a fundamental error in their Hakchongryon, and that the organization itself could no longer survive if the path of struggle was not changed.
In the end, even though he was not the same as the other people in the Kwanliso, his change had changed.
“Comrades, listen up, I really saw, heard, and felt many things at Kwanliso 23, but the first thing I want to talk about is… … I met the general secretary there. Got it?”
“… … What?”
“Girae, Aldi sounds like crazy. But what I’m saying is true. It wasn’t just that we met, either, but we had a one-on-one, one-on-one conversation with me, arguing that there was no hope for our struggle. Actually, I felt a lot about that… … Now, I think our school district needs to change a bit.”
“Did you talk directly with the general secretary, that is, Kim Jung-hwan? Comrade Kyungsoo, are you?”
“Because it is! In fact, when I met him, he was surprisingly able to talk to me. We, before entering the kwanliso, were like that too, but contrary to what we think, the general secretary is not just a vicious dictator. Talk slowly… … Of course, he wasn’t calm until the end, but if you sit down and talk calmly, I think that he is a man with his own convictions and devotion for the prosperity of this republic and people. … … Did you believe me?”
“… … .”
As soon as Ri Kyung-soo finished these words, the atmosphere at the table suddenly changed quietly but clearly.
There was a fact that Ri Kyung-soo, who was just having a conversation with the general secretary, forgot for a moment.
It was that he did not objectively consider how his appearance would be viewed by his comrades at the Hakchhongryon.
Since the flag of struggle was raised in Hakchongryon, Ri Kyung-soo and his comrades have been far from clean for the most part.
His neck rested from holding flags and shouting slogans all day, his shirts and pants were always tied at the bottom, his hair was always soaked in sweat and dust, and his eyes were almost always sharply blooded in his anxious eyes due to the bloody battle between the Public Security Department and the Patriotic Front. this was standing
However, Ri Kyung-soo, who had been strong (at least physically) enjoying sufficient exercise, nutritious meals and regular sleep at Kwanliso No. 23 for several months, gained a bit of weight, unlike his comrades who were all scruffy.
In fact, when Ri Kyung-soo was first taken to the infamous Kwanliso No. 23, no one in Hak Chong-ryeon expected that he would return, at least walking back on two legs without limbs.
However, when a former comrade, who had been speculated that he was dead or at least half paralyzed for several months, came back with a reddish complexion on his face and even flesh, most of them felt a sense of incongruity, even if they did not speak outwardly. And it was in the midst of feeling suspicious.
And their comrades, who had completely overturned their expectations and returned to the room, sat down and said, ‘The general secretary is a better person than I thought and is necessary for the republic,’ and ‘our Hakchongryon needs to change now.’ there was only one
Eventually, the conclusion was embodied in a gloomy voice that came out of the mouth of the chairperson who sat in the top seat.
“Comrade Kyungsoo… … you… … Are you apostate? Is that right?”