Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 252
In November, when the presidential election was approaching, the ‘tone’ that suddenly hit the morning news was a shock.
-… … I don’t even think of anyone giving me the rice cakes, but that rotten scumbag who drinks kimchi soup from the beginning ↗ taught me ↗ that it can’t help but be funny! Also, congratulations to the engineers who worked hard for the successful launch of the Republic’s firestorm, medium-range ballistic rocket, and ‘Mt. ‘ and left a truly warm request↗.
A middle-aged woman wearing a traditional pink costume with her characteristic, intense ↗ tone was visually shocking, but what was even more shocking was the practicality of a medium-range missile named ‘Baekdusan-1’ with a range of 2,000 km. It was the appearance of a threat.
After the live broadcast of the historic shocking statement, most of the Korean people were astonished, but it was politicians and diplomats who were even more astonished.
Unlike the general public, who only thought about ‘what is this?’, they all had a ‘?’ Along with the question mark, the following question came to mind.
-Why is that Kim Jung-hwan suddenly like this?
The effect of ‘cold water’ that Junghwan sprayed was quick and clear.
As for how certain they were, regular broadcasts were stopped on all South Korean public broadcasting channels before noon that day, and a special current affairs program was played to call in experts in the field of politics and diplomacy, and that morning, North Korea’s ‘return to 20 years ago’ was discussed. It was clear enough to analyze.
And, of course, the impact of that regression on the presidential election of Park Geum-hye – Noh Yun-hyeon.
-Yes, the majority of experts say the real thing to note about this outbreak is that missiles are also missiles, but it’s worth paying attention to the way it was announced.
-Those who are currently in the studio to find out about that, a professor of political philosophy and a professor at a leading university in Korea, and an expert on North Korean studies, a non-fiction bestseller with 2 million copies each in Korea, ‘Kim Jung-hwan, Who Is He’, ‘The New North Korea, Until Now’ We have invited Dr. Moon Seong-hwan, the author of ’20 Years, 20 Years to Come’. Doctor, why did the news in North Korea suddenly change like this?
-Hello, I’m Seonghwan Moon. Yes, to answer that question, from the point of view of international relations, this missile is an outright offensive weapon. It was the same during the Cold War, and in general, the public testing or development of missiles is read as an armed provocation, unlike the testing and development of other conventional weapons. First of all, if you want to pose a threat to your rivals, whether it’s Russia or the United States, or a military threat, the first thing you do is missile or carrier training. Both are representative means of thoroughly aggressive military force projection.
-Is it for attack?
– Yes. It is for attack. However, in general, the stage that the relations between countries go through before they deteriorate to that point, that is, the deepening of the situation, which in English is called elevation. For example, right now, we have different opinions and conflicts among the presidential candidates on the issue of refugees from North Korea and Hakchongryun over there, right?
– Yes.
-Then, in general, that general secretary Kim Jung-hwan’s response that we expected here would put a disadvantage on Korean companies in North Korea or Pyongyang, ban Koreans from entering North Korea, or, as predicted by the Blue House and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the weakest response. Gori, separated family visas, etc. That’s it. But now in North Korea, to be precise, what did General Secretary Kim Jeong-hwan do after skipping all that?
-Shooting missiles, and the name of the woman in the hanbok… … .
-Yes, announcer Ri Chun-hee has returned to Chosun Central Broadcasting. This announcer Li Chun-hee said. By the way, it’s ‘hee’, not ‘hee’. Even though it may be a strange face to young people born in the 90s, this announcer Li Chun-hee was once a very iconic speaker, so to speak, a spokesman for supreme dignity in North Korea at a time when North Korea didn’t really speak the language.
– Oh, I’ve heard of it. Literally, Chosun Central Broadcasting said that it was Ri Chun-hi.
– Exactly. But the man who I thought was retired a long time ago has returned. In this 2007. And that statement only once. Are the other broadcasts on Chosun Central Broadcasting now available as usual?
The people in the studio looked at each other and shook their heads as if Dr. Moon Seong-hwan was right.
In fact, after the splendid return of Li Chun-hi at 7 am aired, the usual normal (?) North Korean announcers were in progress as they were with other broadcasts now.
When the anchors agreed, Dr. Moon Seong-hwan made a conclusion as if to see it.
-In other words, from my analysis, this morning’s broadcast that seems to have gone back to 20 years ago is a political declaration and a performance. In a word, it is a very creative and intelligent blackmail against the Republic of Korea by director Kim Jung-hwan, screenplay Kim Jeong-hwan, and director Kim Jeong-hwan.
-Creative and intelligent blackmail… … hey? In what way are you talking exactly? Dr. Moon?
-Yes, let me ask you a question like this, Anchor. When you think of North Korea, what immediately comes to mind?
With those words, the anchors in the studio pounded on the tabletop with the pen they were holding for a moment, and were lost in thought.
Then, one by one, answers began to emerge.
-Well, first of all, that Stallion SUV, Ssangwoo’s Korean branch also sells it, so I ride it too, and the cost-effectiveness is very good. The performance isn’t good, but… … .
– Yes, and again?
-Oh, it reminds me of Stallion, but I made a lot of money by selling oil to the shipbuilding and oil company. And Peony Holdings, a North Korean state-owned investment company. The amount of assets under management right now is the largest in Asia and the rate of return is world-class, so I heard that Korean financial companies are benchmarking them… … And again… … Oh, there’s a Union. And is it Solar One, a solar power complex built on Jeju Island over there? … .
-Yes, like you said, South Koreans’ perception of North Korea has undergone a huge change over the past 20 years. In the past, something unknown, but threatening and terrifying, a country inhabited by horned communists, and right after reform and opening up… … I thought it was scary, but now that I see it, you can’t buy more than us? Oh, we won. After that, we were hit in the head once in the Gulf War, and then in 1998… … .
-… … There was the foreign exchange crisis and the North-South great compromise. At that time, Koreans suffered a lot of pride. In fact, even now in cyberspace, there are a lot of keyboard battles between North and South Korean netizens with that, so-called keyboard battles… … .
-Yes. In other words, our perception of North Korea for at least the past 20 years is a country that is economically on par with ours and overtakes us in some areas. It was a country where we could work together in terms of things, but Kim Jung-hwan said, ‘If you don’t repatriate quickly and linger around, the situation may change 180 degrees from now on’.
-ah! I think you know, but please explain a little more specifically.
-Simply put, if you don’t listen to me, that is, if you don’t repatriate the exiles quickly, I’ll just go out like the old leaders, that is, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, because I can do anything, and it’s easier now than in the past, but it’s not in your mind that you don’t. It would be nice – this is it. What is this intimidation?
-ah… … I heard it and it is.
This time, not only the anchors but also the audience nodded their heads involuntarily.
Common sense, if not for such a reason, at this sensitive time, North Koreans suddenly miss Lee Chun-hee’s face so much, so there’s no way North Korea could do something like a ‘memory time’ special on Chosun Central Broadcasting.
-Besides, the fact that this tactic is very effective is that Kim Jeong-hwan, the general secretary, has a very calm and calm image unlike the previous leaders, so he has a communicative image, and he actually did. Diplomats from other countries such as the United States and our Blue House foreign affairs and security team also commented that Kim Jung-hwan, unlike his predecessors, was pragmatic and cold-hearted, but therefore more powerful, as a high-level dictatorship Technician.
-… … But when a person who was able to communicate well suddenly changes like this, he was aiming for a kind of shock effect, that is, it is scary when a good person gets angry, something like this.
– That’s it. Moreover, if this message was thoroughly calculated for the South Korean people, what was the greatest threat that North Korea could pose to our South Korean security posture before the old General Secretary Kim Jeong-hwan?
-I do not know… … ? Well. It’s the late 80’s… … Armed Swordsman… … I think it might be.
-Yes, but honestly, how many people are afraid of armed communes in Korea in the 21st century? At a time when the greatest threat was such an armed conspirator, the threat would not have worked. But what about advanced missiles? This works. The fact that the missile has a range of 2,000 km can destroy Seoul even if it is fired from Mt. Baekdu at the far end of North Korea. Now, North Korea should be able to develop and mass-produce missiles of that level.
-it… … That’s… … .
This time, the tone of the anchors was slightly different from before.
This time, he nodded his head and expressed affirmation as before, but if he had nodded his head as a sign of interest or understanding to Dr.
-yes… … If the words of Dr. are true, it is a matter of great concern. Then, Dr. Moon. Our government in this regard. So, how do you expect President Lee Hyun-chang and the Blue House to react?
– That’s another very difficult thing… … The Hakchongryon refugees, the root of all these problems now, are those who prayed for the overthrow of the country from the North Korean point of view. So, in Korean terms, they are the people who committed the crime of foreign exchange attraction. In fact, according to international law and custom, countries around the world in this case, when committing a felony punishable in any country, such as murder, or directly revolting against their own system, be it dictatorship or democracy, are determined to establish relations with that country. Unless you want to make things worse, it is right to repatriate them.
-ah… … Does that happen… … ?
– After all, it’s like the extradition treaty. Now Pakistan is also accused of hiding bin Laden, you know that relations with China are not good every day, right? Of course, this is also a case-by-case basis depending on the difference in national power, but the fact that our national power is so overwhelmingly superior to that of North Korea that we ignore such customs… … Unfortunately not.
At the words of Dr. Seong-Hwan Moon, who became increasingly ominous, the announcer’s expression, which had grown serious, became more and more gloomy.
And there, Dr. Moon Seong-hwan put a wedge so as to sound harsh.
-Crucially, I don’t know if there has ever been a precedent in which North Korea has failed to respond to our request for repatriation in a similar situation in the past, that is, when a South Korean criminal fled to North Korea… … The most representative economic criminals, that is, there were a lot of scammers who scammed in Korea during the currency crisis and ran away to the North with a fortune, weren’t there?
– Yes, it was. Even during the credit card crisis, people with bad credit, people who could not pay off their debts after using them, fled to the North.
– In that case, do you remember what you did in the book so far?
-I remember that most of them were caught and sent back to Korea… … Dr. Moon said… … So… … From an international point of view, South Korea is not in a very favorable position for North Korea’s tyranny… … .
-The special relationship between North Korea and South Korea, in fact, is because the Constitution still exists in which all North Koreans are legally South Koreans while recognizing each other as a state, but considering that the basis of diplomacy is reciprocity it seems
-However… … That Li Chun-hee announcer broadcast is clearly hostile to us… … .
-That’s true, but from the perspective of a foreigner, not a Korean, the broadcast is not a serious provocation… … It’s not scary to say a little harshly, but it’s a really funny show. If you think about it in a different way, it is, right? To be honest, the anchor would have thought it would be funny if this was someone else’s country.
-… … After all, it’s rare for foreigners to see someone who talks like that in the past 20 years. You don’t even know what it means to have that woman appear on a South Korean TV show.
– In overseas media, there are cases where that announcer Li Chun-hee is already appearing in the gossip column, not the politics column. She even named her the Pink Lady. In other words, for half, if not all, of the overseas public, this series of events is not seen as a serious bloody conflict in Palestine or Afghanistan, but as a joke. It is very fatal in a situation where diplomatic warfare is becoming a hypermedia war of opinion like these days. To use an analogy, why is it that Iljin beats him first at that school, then slowly smiles and says, ‘It’s just a joke, don’t take a joke seriously lol’.
Moon Seong-hwan, who had said this up to this point, took a deep breath as if he was frustrated.
– This is why I called this situation not just blackmail, but very intelligent blackmail. It’s obviously a taunt, but it’s just the right kind of taunt that’s timely and scratchy in nature. This is the reason why Kim Jung-hwan is still far from a madman, although he has used a completely different mad strategy from before. We are doing damage control that reduces the diplomatic burden.