＜ Chapter 32. Year of the Republic (1) ＞
Chapter 32. end of the republic (1)
Minutes of the “6th Plenary Meeting on Export Promotion for Acquisition of Foreign Currency and Modernization of State-owned Enterprises and Redevelopment of the Motherland River” hosted by the Politburo of the Party Central Committee last month.
– As a result of the second geological exploration of British Petroleum and Chevron, an American and British company operating in the Republic, rare earth ore veins weighing more than 1,200 tons were found in Musan County, North Hamgyong Province. Objectivity and fairness are guaranteed as a result of independent investigations and appraisals from both sides, and rare minerals such as europium, terbium, and dysprosium are abundant. If mined and sold, it is expected to bring about US$20 billion worth of economic profit to the republic over the next 15 years.
– Hearing about the results of this report, the Chairman of the North-South Economic Cooperation Advisory Committee and the Chairman of the Hyundai Group, Jeong Moon-young, said, ‘Production of the next major products (under development by Hyundai Electronics) including LCD monitors and semiconductors that will secure a large position in the global home appliance market for the next 20 years. It will be of great help in securing raw materials and reducing costs,’ and officially suggested to the Politburo to develop the ore. American and British companies are also showing great interest in development through joint ventures with modern heavy industry.
– Our respected supreme leader, General Secretary Kim Jeong-hwan, said, ‘There is a risk that rare earth mining will cause great harm to the environment of the motherland’s strong mountains, so thoroughly weigh the population of the region, the benefits that the republic will gain from development, and the sustainability and profitability of the mines. and instruct.
[Contents marked in parentheses as follows should be inspected so that they do not leak to anyone other than the staff directly under the secretary’s office]
As a result of the implementation of the instructions, the village that will be directly affected by the development is a small village inhabited by about 700 citizens, and Comrade Jang Seong-taek, head of the Organization and Guidance Department, said, ‘The local people should be compensated in large quantities and moved to other places. You can transfer About 5 million Korean Won per household seems to be appropriate.’
– As a result of the 65-minute discussion, this meeting gathered opinions in favor of the development of the official name ‘Musan Rare Earth Mine in North Hamgyong Province’ for the following three reasons.
一. The area was neglected by local citizens due to poor crop production due to the cold climate and soil problems.
二. U.S. and British companies proposed technology transfer to a joint venture between Hyundai Heavy Industries and Shipbuilding Mine Corporation for the development of the Musan mine in North Hamgyong Province.
three. Moon-Young Jung proposed to establish the next modern electronic LCD and semiconductor research center in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province, due to the distance from the raw material production area. [Censorship] Our dear supreme leader, Comrade Kim Jeong-hwan, said, ‘The southern government will secretly take measures so that Republican engineers, including college students from the School of Materials Science and Engineering, carefully selected from Kimchaek University of Technology, can practice and acquire skills at the institute.’ teach that
– A special lesson left after the meeting by Comrade Kim Jeong-hwan, our dear supreme leader,
一. Issue a land compensation of 20 million won per household in Chosun Won and a relocation permit ticket that allows residents to move to any area in the republic, including Pyongyang.
二. The chairperson of the provincial party committee and the mayor comrades in the area where the citizens are migrating should do all they can to settle and harmonize the immigrant citizens, and depending on the future results, there will be a reward or a revolutionary education disposition in the secretary’s office.
three. All party officials should spare no effort until the last minute of the end of the year for the ‘Four-Year Plan to Achieve $10 Billion in Exports’.
[Censorship hereafter] ４. ‘I’m sorry, then, do you think it’s appropriate for the comrades to leave the Korean language, the Korean language, and continue to mix the Soviet language, which is a ruined country, into propaganda texts?’ (A comment at the end of the meeting whether it is appropriate to specify foreign words from the United States, such as ‘dollar’, ‘guideline’, and ‘fork crane’ in the party’s official propaganda slogan)
[Censorship hereafter] ‘This won’t work, I can’t take the English test for party executives…’
[Censorship below] ‘The new millennium is near, how long will you keep saying that? From now on, even if this republic runs to death, it is difficult to catch up with South Korea… If you keep hanging on to catch up with such old-fashioned accusations, this republic will also follow in the footsteps of the Soviet Union and enter the coffin, comrades.’
[Censorship hereafter] ‘Comrade Hyun Young-suk, head of the propaganda and propaganda department, make a new standard for the use of foreign words in the party’s propaganda phrase and report it to the clerk’s office. I’m going to have a meal with my mother at the newly opened American restaurant after a long time. Then come on.’
Secretary of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea
Long live our dear supreme leader and supreme dignity of the Republic, Comrade Kim Jeong-hwan!!
And the fate of the Ri Yong-hwan family and the 712 households below were decided by a decision made somewhere in Pyongyang, far away from their imagination.
This year, 16-year-old Ri Yong-hwan was from Musan County, North Hamgyong Province.
A slightly lengthy explanation was needed to understand why he, from North Hamgyong Province, known as one of the gang villages in North Korea, left his hometown and is now staring blankly across the street at Mangyongdae Station in Pyongyang.
“Abadi, where are we going?”
“Yonghui, we are going to Pyongyang. good job? Now, if we go to Pyongyang, we can live strong. Your brother Yonghwan might even be able to go to college… It’s all thanks to Comrade General Secretary…”
“Yongseon, hold my hand, Omani. You must not fall…”
A few months ago, the 16-year-old boy, Ri Yong-hwan, who was going to the train station a few kilometers from the village with Ahn Hae (wife) packing up the household goods, was just quietly calming his anxious heart as he saw his father, Ri Yong-myeong, who comforted his wife.
Although it was still cold in North Hamgyong, the day they moved from the house they had been close to was colder than usual, so their family fastened their footwraps tightly and looked around the door of the house and set out on the road.
To be honest, Ri Yong-myung was not the most anxious when he received a notice from the party that he had to leave the village he had been living in since his great-great-great-great-grandfather, but what can we do?
However, what is really fortunate is that, as in the days of General Kim Jong-il, if you leave the party, you do not have to leave the party empty-handed, but rather a large amount (it was 20 million won!) that they have never heard of in their lives as compensation.
Ri Yong-myung’s old father was shocked by the words of the party’s threat that there would be harm if he didn’t leave as a large mineral factory from abroad soon opened in his beloved hometown. was restless.
– The party asks us to choose where we want to live, honey, this is a chance we will never have again in our lifetime. Let’s choose Pyongyang with this money.
– Would it be okay? In Pyongyang, if you close your eyes, you will cut your nose… I still feel like my heart is tightening to death when I hear the amount the party gives me. Maybe someone will steal it…
– Now that Yonghwan is a few years older, the time to go to the military is near. Even if I hear that the military is getting better than before, if Yonghwan wants to become a party official or a general in the future, he should go to Pyongyang and think about it.
Yonghwan woke up in the middle of the night secretly and overheard his father and mother talking (actually, the whole family slept in one room in a small house, so there was nothing to eavesdrop on) I promised myself
And when Yonghwan’s grandfather died not long afterward, Ri Yong-myeong finally decided to leave Hambuk and go to Pyongyang with his wife, son, and daughter.
“To Pyongyang! This train is bound for Pyongyang! Comrades! Hurry up and take your seats!”
“Twitch, this isn’t a chicken coop and it’s inconvenient, so I won’t…. Do I have to stay up all night like this to get to the base in Pyongyang? Egg, I wish I had sat on the train dedicated to the Cabal Committee executives once while I was alive.”
“Dongmurae, do you think the world is going to be dark these days? Do you know that only executives ride on the executive train these days? If the conductors and stationmaster comrades collect a little money (bribes) in US dollars, it’s just…”
“Now that I see, the only people who don’t know about the world are comrades! Didn’t you see the sign in front of the station? From now on, even in Korean Won, the fare table is differentiated into 1st class, 2nd class, and People’s class. Besides, that has the same meaning as the 3rd place for the people…. uh, if only he had his money…”
‘money.’
Sitting in the rattling, cramped third-class seat, Yonghwan Ri muttered those words to himself as he listened to the conversations of the surrounding passengers.
Even though he had dropped out of middle school due to family circumstances, he had never heard of a bad goal and a dull body.
In North Hamgyong’s hometown, there was no gap between the rich and the poor because they were all equally poor, but I heard the words ‘the republic is changing’ and knew it as I heard the murmurs of military officers who said they had been to Pyongyang from time to time.
However, it was when Ri Yong-hwan, who was still only a teenager, began to feel the meaning of money in earnest, he began to settle in Pyongyang after a long train journey.
Yonghwan never forgot the shock he felt when he first got off at Pyongyang Station and saw a huge billboard that caught his eye.
Of course, I didn’t know what commercial advertisement was at the time, and I didn’t even know that the advertisement was so famous that it was recorded in history later.
“Yonghee, Dad, Omani, take a look at that, there is a huge billboard!”
“Looking at all the dirty things, I think it was probably built by the party!”
“Yes, by the way, did you not know which department of the party had this Abadi established? you read some Yonghwan-ah, ko… ko… um… It seems that there is also a party department called ‘Coca-Cola’ in Pyongyang.”
Fortunately, thanks to the land compensation provided by the party, the Ri Yong-myung family’s settlement in Pyongyang itself was not difficult.
He got a decent one-story house in the outskirts of Pyongyang, and with the same grace as Ha Hae of the party and general secretary, he obtained a family register in Pyongyang that he could not have imagined before.
But money can’t last forever, so they had to work to make a living.
His father, Yong-myung Ri, did not have any special skills, so he used his stamina from working in an iron mine in Musan in the past to get a job as a laborer at a large-scale construction site in the center of Pyongyang.
“Ttt, I’m picky when I go to and from South Korea… They do this without lifting their fingers.
“I thought it was a false rumor because people in South Korea are going in and out of Pyongyang these days, but I guess it’s true.”
“Ah, but what the hell is the ‘Modern Electronics Pyongyang Governor’ doing? If I hadn’t paid him a lot of wages, I would have beaten him sooner.”
The building, which is said to be frequented by engineers who speak a lot of Seoul dialect, has over 30 floors, and as the wages increase and the seasons get colder, there is a shortage of workers.
Although the rationing system still existed to some extent, they were not eligible for the benefits, who received a large amount of property of 20 million won from the party. He started making money by doing chores.
And the eldest son, Yong-hwan, did not go to school but got a job and jumped into the front line of life.
Yong-hwan, who is dexterous and learns quickly despite his educational background, chose to become a delivery man at a restaurant, a promising occupation for children from poor families who had no money at the time.
In the years since the reform and opening up, although the average income level has risen and social freedom has also increased proportionally, the delivery service of restaurants has increased significantly, although it was centered on wealthy families in Pyongyang with telephone lines.
And Yong-hwan, who realized this fact, paid a large sum of money to buy a used bicycle brought in by chaps through Nampo at the time, and then ran all day for money.
“Enjoy it! Comrades.”
“Ah, you came so quickly. Here is the money.”
Even on that day in question, I broke my leg. Yonghwan, who was pedaling through downtown Pyongyang, set out to solve delivery orders from the Mangyongdae area, where many party officials and foreign customers live.
As usual, when he gave the bowl and confirmed the order and was about to count the money, Yonghwan realized that the piece of paper he had received was strange and his eyes widened.
“Thank you… Wait! What the hell is this? Isn’t that Joseon money?”
“Well… oh my, this comrade must have come to Pyongyang for the first time. That’s US dollars and dollars. The most powerful money in the world. First body?”
“Dollars… So this is… American money, right? Is this the strongest in this world?”
“Yes. The first is US Dollars! Next is the Japanese Yen! Below that is the Chosun Won. After the reform and opening of the new general secretary, it seems that the things that can be bought with the Won have increased a little, but… CLEL… Young comrade, working at that age is a big deal. Come here.”
“Oh, no.”
Yonghwan shoved a few US dollar bills into his pocket and hurriedly drove to the entrance of Mangyongdae Station.
Anyway, this was the last order after lunchtime when orders were in full swing.
As he was resting his tired legs while fiddling with dollars that he saw for the first time in his life, something strange happened across the street.
“…What’s that over there, you’re standing in that crowd?”
What caught his eyes was the procession of people in a long line that made him want to see him for the first time in his life.
In North Hamgyong, where he lived, it was not difficult to see people lined up in a long line to receive something (in fact, it was rare to give something enough to stand in line).
However, this is not North Hamgyong Province, which lacks everything, but Pyongyang, the object of envy of the people of the 20 million republic, the pride of the republic, and where anything can be obtained.
It’s just that it’s not possible to live in the country, and even the end of the farmer’s banquet saying, ‘In the Republic, chicks cry in blood because they want to go to Pyongyang’… What do you mean by waiting?
“…what is it? You’re the one giving out money at the end of the line?”
The curiosity of adolescence at its peak had the power to make people forget about fatigue.
As if possessed by something, Yonghwan crossed the road and arrived at the other side of the road, heading towards the front of the line that was so long that he could not see the end.
And what he saw at the end of the line was a one-story house he had never seen before, with huge curly letters hanging on the roof.
Unlike the gloomy Republic Abat, as if anxious to be seen, the roof was covered with red and yellow paint and topped with orange bricks.
The large, yellow, curly letters like earthworms that came up from the soil on a rainy day were actually the letter ‘M’, but Yonghwan, who had never learned English, had no way of knowing.
All he knew was that through the crack in the slightly opened door of the red and yellow Western-style house, a sweet, oily smell he had never smelled before tickled his nose.
As Yonghwan drew closer and closer to the seductive smell, he saw the flashing yellow letters from the roof of a Western-style house and a piece of paper stuck to the window as if it had been written in haste.
McDonald’s
Temporarily opening the first Pyongyang store
– US Dollar Only. Until December 31, 1991, as our policy, only payments in US dollars are accepted .
