Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 265
“… … Comrade general secretary. I heard the decision you made regarding President Young-bak Lee. Are you telling the truth?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Yu, why are you worried?”
“No, that’s… … .”
After Lee Young-bak, who has moved several times, and Jang Seong-taek, who tapped him on the shoulder saying, ‘I hope you succeeded!’
She always respected Jeonghwan’s decision unconditionally, but she had to ask about this decision at least once.
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No wonder he is the chief secretary of the Pyongyang City Party Committee.In North Korea, where the party position is a public office, there is no separate mayor or other head of local government, and the secretary (secretary) of the Party local committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in the province or city is in charge of local administration. .
In general, these city and provincial party committees are high-ranking positions, but they are not so important that Hye-rim Yoo, who is respected by many senior officials of the central committee (although the official position is only a personal assistant to the general secretary), repeatedly asks the supreme leader like Heaven.
Unless the area is Pyongyang.
“Of course, I know that President Lee is a good, resourceful corporate worker and has proven himself as a faithful party member for the past 20 years, but… … . However, in addition to the position of responsible secretary, the meaning of entrusting you with the performance of these four major tasks is… … Doesn’t that mean that its status and substantive authority are greatly strengthened compared to its predecessors? It is quite comparable to the generals of the General Staff of the People’s Army or the cadres of the Central Committee… … .”
“I will.”
“The capital of the revolution, the entire city of Pyongyang, the heart of this republic, could literally be said and done, but no matter how much it was, I would like to say a person from South Korea… … . I heard rumors from behind the boss… … Of course, if you look at it, it was recommended for that reason, but no matter how… … .”
“Because I need someone to curse for me.”
“… … ?”
As Jeonghwan put down his coffee cup, Yoo Hyerim’s eyes widened.
At the moment when she was about to ask a question again, Jeonghwan raised his hand to block his words and answered right away.
“Think about it, Lieutenant Yu. Did we really not know until now in this Workers’ Party of Korea that President Lee’s promise, the so-called secret that it can be wiped out and built strong within 5 years if given the right authority?”
“… … That’s not it.”
“People, to be precise, the citizens of Pyongyang City, did not postpone it until now because they were afraid of the eyes. Even the crazy Kim Jong-Il in the old days killed all those who opposed it indiscriminately, but Pyongyang took care of it as much as Pyongyang did. Even now, even when emerging economic elites, corporate workers, and donors, such as the Thames River, have emerged as the mainstream within the party, you know well that their voices are not small at all, right?”
People often say that ‘a dictatorship country seems to be developing rapidly because it doesn’t care about people’s feelings at all’.
It’s half right and half wrong, and even the leaders of dictatorships take great care in managing the top 20% of their supporters.
It is because of the structure that controls the remaining 80% using the top 20%, which can be said to be the core support group, the waist of the regime. In Pyongyang, the top 20% of the problem, the so-called old core classes Most of them were still living in almost the same condition.
As for why a significant number of them still remain in Pyongyang even after 20 years of reform and opening-up, the Kim Jong-il-era immigration permit system was maintained for quite a long time after the regime change in order to prevent the mass migration to Pyongyang, which was a problem that was expected very easily at the beginning of the opening. The biggest reason was because
It was literally possible only in dictatorship countries, but thanks to this, the Republic of Korea is achieving a surprisingly balanced regional development and suppressing the rise in land prices in the capital area, considering its explosive growth rate.
Instead, it got another side effect, namely, the difficulty of redevelopment for political reasons.
“… … However, Chairman Yoo is well aware that these days, the ‘development homework’ that has been delayed and delayed for so long has piled up and has reached a point where it can no longer be postponed. What is the population of Pyongyang right now?”
“Including the metropolitan area… … 8.5 million. It continues to grow even today.”
“Yes, but 20 years after reform and opening up, there are still only 7 subway lines in Pyongyang. The metropolitan railroad has barely opened its first shovel. The urban railroad is just one example, but this problem is now affecting the national infrastructure competitiveness beyond the transportation convenience of the capital.
Here, if we divide the population currently living in Pyongyang by class for a moment, it is almost 3:4:3 with some exceptions or intersections between classes.
Thirty percent of the newly affluent class living in Pyongyang, such as the Thames River and Lee Young-bak, who benefited from the regime change, and 30 percent of the old core class, who were not economically wealthy, but were still politically loyal.
And in the early 2000s, after easing restrictions on residence, the middle class moved to 40 percent to find work or buy a house in downtown Pyongyang.
The problem is that among them, 30% of the old core class had a hard time adapting to the capitalist market economy of the new republic for mental and physical reasons.
By analogy, ‘relics from the previous era’ were the majority, and, of course, economically, they belonged to the lower ranks in Pyongyang.
Families of low-level executives who have served in the party for the rest of their lives and received public rental apartments as pensions after retirement.
Children of the North Korean People’s Army who were injured and disabled while serving in the harsh environment, and were awarded Pyongyang Citizenship Cards as compensation.
Even ex-military officers and security guards who have been loyal to the Kim Jong-il regime and have acquired new housing such as a white house apartment in exchange for a transition to the Kim Jong-hwan regime or a quiet retirement.
Of course, it is not that the area where they live in Pyongyang has not been developed at all over the past 20 years, and the party has been providing economic consideration as much as possible with the sale right, but, like all redevelopment projects, there are no noises or complaints about compensation. cases were almost non-existent.
As a result, the large-scale redevelopment of the residential areas of these and the former core classes is nothing more than putting a bell on the neck of a cat within the party. was doing
“… … As you can see, if this urban redevelopment exceeds a certain scale, no matter how careful we are, complaints and accidents cannot occur. However, if only the residents’ positions are given the highest priority, the new remodeling of Pyongyang, the capital of a new capitalist republic, will not move even after half a century. In the end, someone has to step up and stone him and get his hands dirty.”
“So that… … You are saying that it is the president of Lee Young-bak.”
“Yes, it is a battle between the old core classes, such as the Baekdusan Mountain, Nakdonggang River, Yongnamsan Mountain, etc., and the new core class, the Thames River. … … Well, the winner has already been decided.”
Junghwan muttered bitterly and drank the remaining coffee until he could see the bottom of the cup.
The coffee taste was bitter today.
Even though I used to eat twice as much sugar as usual.
* * *
A few weeks after the meeting in the secretary’s office, a new department called ‘Renewable Development’ was formed in the Cabinet.
Among the four major tasks, this department, whose main task is planned urban development in Pyongyang, is headed by a manager-level executive. Surprisingly, Lee Young-bak, president of Das Heavy Industries, a South Korean South Korean who had been known politically outside the party, took over the position. shocking inside and out.
Of course, to avoid conflicts of interest, all stocks and assets of Das Heavy Industries were entrusted to a blank trust operated by the state. Their shock was further increased.
Aside from coming from South Korea, the fact that a businessman who had no clear ties to the party took up such an important position in one day delivered two great messages to everyone.
-The Central Party drew a big sword to overcome this economic crisis early!
-And in the vanguard, the public and private economic elites like the Thames River took the lead. Huh, wouldn’t the name change from the Workers’ Party of Korea to the Chosun Capitalist Party in just 10 more years?
In fact, if someone were to tell us about the times of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 2009, when the economic crisis of 2008 was swept away, people would unanimously describe this era as the ‘age of gold coins’.
As the logic of market economy and development supremacy, which has been going on for over 20 years, became more active in the face of the economic crisis, the values of materialism and gold universalism became the dominant values both within the party and among the people.
Of course, it has been a while since money has become the tacit value of society for the past 20 years of economic development.
Until now, almost all of the people had no problem with at least eating and living as long as they tried, and as the era in which they could dream of a better tomorrow, owning a house and a car than today, is rapidly coming to an end, and various social phenomena have begun to take place in North Korea.
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-Keep down, a baseball stick costs 1 million won. do you know who i am Wherever we go, the guy who works for the subcontractor of Bukmyung Group’s subcontractor said he would join the union, Jiraleun! You should also be grateful that a poor bastard who drives a truck gets paid monthly… … !!! Don’t struggle! Don’t you have to get it right to be worth the money?
-Everyone, what is ‘sir’? It is a name I will always miss. It is our heart. It is a name that we have longed for, wept, and thirsted for for many years. ‘You’ is money! That’s what I’m talking about capitalism’s paradise on earth.
Temporary workers and voluntary retirement began to be introduced in earnest.
Insurance fraud and voice phishing damage cases were discovered in large numbers, and 3rd and 4th subcontractors appeared to reduce costs for large companies.
As the old saying goes, “there is a lot of heart in the barn,” and as in Korea after the financial crisis, the side effects of the market economy began to appear in various places and extraordinary capitalism reached its peak.
The world will come when money made for people will stand on top of people.
Amazing and stuffy things that cannot be put into words have happened all over North Korea in this dire period, but if there was one incident that left the people’s mind the most intense, it would almost undoubtedly be number one. there was this one
Interestingly, this incident took place outside of North Korean territory, technically, in a first-class cabin of an aircraft called a hotel in the sky.
That too (although Geojin is now privatized) at Koryo Air, the national airline of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“Hey, these Ganna bitches who are full of tofu! I told you to open a bag of peanuts and bring it, didn’t you? Giving a whole bag without asking is a service attitude I learned from somewhere! I do not know the ten tenets of hospitality in the company!”
“Lee, Hyuna Lim, Vice President, Comrade. Obviously, according to our Koryo Air service rules, we are giving the whole bag… … .”
“Doo much Hey, did you forget the instruction that my comrade told me not to play in a first-class room with foreign guests because I don’t look like me? In this global era, who’s the old comrade Taryeong in the private enterprise? Do you guys think the vice president’s words sound so absurd? Are you ignoring me now that I’m a woman? Turn the plane right now! I can’t hear you telling me to turn the plane!!!”