Dear Comrade

Dear Comrade Leader, Episode 343

As Hyun Young-sook predicted, as soon as he heard that things were not going to be easy and that he had to stand in front of more people, Kim Jong-un, who had just been on the rise, fell asleep in an instant.

As a serious reclusive loner, it was possible for him to leave Japan and come to the Republic of Korea thanks to his anger and tremendous courage against malicious commenters, but more strange places and people, especially the cameras and reporters who instilled in him childhood trauma. Standing in front was dead and waking up was impossible.

And as Kim Jong-un lost his mind as he intended, Hyun Young-sook got up from his seat and placed his hand on Jeong-eun’s, who was shrugging, and softly laid his voice like an elementary school teacher soothing a child who was frustrated because he couldn’t get what he wanted.

“More than anything else, it is former secretary Kim Jong-il that punishes all those small people who do not recognize the insight of the phoenix and meddle with the generosity of a sparrow… … No, wouldn’t that be a bit too much for someone who became the son of ‘General’? If the general, who was famous for his generous generosity that embraced the people during his lifetime, was still alive, this would probably have happened and he would have just laughed. So, why don’t Comrade Jeong Eun follow his example?”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. And because of the phone violation, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to my hometown mountain stream, so don’t be upset over something like that, and think carefully about the role that the Republic expects from Comrade Jeong Eun as a proud man of the former secretary Kim. How about?”

Hyun Young-sook’s meaning was ‘don’t bother people who are busy with such trifles, and since you’ve come home after a long time, why don’t you think about getting a pension and looking for a job?’ As if realizing that, he raised his head and looked around, to be more precise, out the window of the secretary’s office.

And, coincidentally, the view window of the secretary’s office on the 9th floor of this company was the best position to observe the wealth and prosperity of the Republic in 2020, and above all, the changes at a glance.

There is no better location than this secretary’s office in Pyongyang to observe the skyscrapers and skylines around the Potong River, wide roads, parks and art galleries, and citizens taking a leisurely stroll there.

And that scene, which can be said to be the crystal that someone who was the previous owner of this room before Hyun Young-sook had built up for the rest of his life, changed Kim Jong-un at that moment.

‘Come to think of it, getting out of the room would be this easy… … . Why have I been doing something so easy? … .’

When you think about it, it was so easy.

It was just a matter of opening the door and taking one step.

He didn’t know that the sunlight outside his room in the dimly lit Setagaya home, which he thought was the only fortress that protected him from the world, was so bright.

I wasn’t conscious of it until just a moment ago, but I didn’t know that there was such a different world and such a wide world right across the sea.

The anger (against the malicious commenters towards Insil X) became a catalyst, breaking the wall between the inside and outside of the room, which was thought to be the biggest and hardest wall in the world, and kicking Jung-eun out of the dark room.

And the rest of the world, the real world, not the Internet space, wasn’t as bad or hostile as he feared.

“How are you? Jung-eun, comrade? After a long wandering, are you willing to answer the call of your country?”

“… … I will. It seems very late, but even now… … You can do anything.”

“That’s a great idea. Do you have any thoughts on anything? As a general secretary, I want to do whatever I can to encourage Comrade Jeong Eun for a new start in the country.”

Hyun Young-sook felt a little puzzled at the appearance of Kim Jong-un who seemed to have changed in that short period of time, but when he asked that question, Kim Jong-un opened his mouth for a moment and fell into thought.

He had a great determination, but when he tried to do something, there was nothing he could do.

I’ve given up on studying with my head since I dropped out of college 15 years ago, and my physical condition doesn’t keep up with me when I work with my body.

Then, among the things you like and are good at, you can sit down and do… … ?

“… … Anime, no, no, I want to start a streaming business specializing in animation.”

“Anime?”

“Yeah, it’s not like it’s illegal, but by buying the copyright in Japan and streaming it exclusively in the Republic. There are many kids who like animation in the Republic, and at first, Nippon… … No, I started by importing Japanese animation, and later, when I gain experience and some money, I make my own… … Kitajousen… … Hmmm, North Korean animators are always good at it.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that, but it sounds like a pretty good idea. Hey, it’s the spring and autumn warring States era of OTT platforms. like. I will actively support you.”

Jeong-eun said it without much thought, and Hyun Young-suk was also unaware of it, but unexpectedly, Jung-eun’s first business plan in her life was quite good.

After Jeonghwan’s retirement in 2018, as the winds of democracy and freedom of expression began to blow in earnest, foreign creations, which had been taboo or regulated by censorship authorities, were entering the media art industry at an accelerated pace.

Of course, before that, everyone was watching from the bottom of the water due to the web hard site down (Korean-made with the same language and had already followed a similar path), but in 2020 North Korea was at a crossroads where the animation market, which had been mostly in demand in the dark, was in full swing. .

Hyun Young-sook thought that if someone like Jeong-eun who lived in Japan for a long time and is fluent in Japanese even got support from the authorities to set up a streaming company, it would be worth competing with Korean companies that had already entered the market ahead of time.

And then, in Hyun Young-sook’s mind, another Baekdu bloodline that had been forgotten for a while while dealing with the Kim Jong-un problem in front of him came to mind.

“Oh, come to think of it, Jung-eun’s sister… … So, where are you and what are you doing now?”

“As I said before, I’m probably doing what I always do.”

“If you always do… … .”

“His Kankoku… … No, you’re chasing South Korean idols. What kind of bulletproof youth group is that? … .”

‘Oh, come to think of it, the corona has also subsided, and I remember hearing the report that the Pyongyang tour would resume.’

Seeing Jung-eun quivering just thinking about it, Hyun Young-sook recalled the part about Kim Yeo-jeong in the report of Ko Yong-hee’s family during their stay in Japan.

If Kim Jong-un dropped out of school and became a hikikomori, his younger sister, Yeo-jeong Kim, would have invested her excess money and time in so-called virtue, or chasing after handsome male idols.

– Aww! Jeongguk’s brother, take a look at this!

Starting from middle and high school days, the target was American idols in the mid-1990s, Japanese idols in the late 90s, and Shintobul again Korean idols after the early and mid-2000s. Idol fan activities in Joseon, China, and Japan were the current daily life of Jung Eun’s younger sister, Kim Yeo-jeong.

For reference, the Korean idols I’m currently immersed in were idols called the BTS, but unlike other idols, who previously had limited overseas activities to China and Japan at most, their concerts for each continent, playing globally in the United States, Europe, and South America, He was so enthusiastic that he even followed him to the fan meeting, so it was certain that he would not be able to get out of it for a while.

Thanks to this, he was receiving pitiful gazes from his unproductive older brother Kim Jong-un in a slightly different way who claimed that he was a K-pop and idol, and that ‘Kankoku culture is plagiarism and cheapness of Japanese culture’ didn’t even care.

Of course, unlike my brother who doesn’t even come out of the room, he lives a life of being too active (?), so the other family members, including his mother Ko Yong-hee, who were deeply concerned that she might follow in his footsteps, sighed, saying, ‘It’s better that way’. That is.

According to one theory, one of the so-called ‘big hands’ is Kim Yeo-jeong, an unidentified heavy fan who sends a gold bar (!) to idols on their birthdays.

The reason why they came to Korea from Japan, where concerts and other performance events cannot be held, was most likely because performance cultural events such as idol concerts were being resumed to some extent in Korea and North Korea, which had some success in initial suppression of the coronavirus with strong quarantine policies.

Perhaps by now, they have arrived at the concert hall and are busy collecting goods or preparing to cheer.

‘This is true, looking at this, it seems that the general secretary-nim has been proven to be a mutant once again.’

After grasping the current status of all the Baekdu bloodlines, Hyun Young-sook had to make a bittersweet yet complicated expression on her face.

The first son is a guitarist in an indie band, the second son is a reclusive loner, and runs an anime streaming site right after graduation, and the third daughter is a heavy idol fan.

Happiness in life does not depend on social achievement, wealth, or status. Considering that the correct answer is to pursue happiness by doing what each person likes, their lives, living their lives without worrying about making a living or supporting their family, are not for some people. It could have been the object of envy.

However, the image that Kim Jong-il, ‘a great man of the nation and a general of the nation born with the spirit of the Baekdu mountain range, wanted for his sons and daughters must have been far from what they are now.

Even Hyun Young-suk, who served and propagated in the immediate vicinity of the Kim family, and who knows better than anyone that most of them are far from what the people actually see, sees this kind of journey with Jeong-eun, which is difficult to brag to others. I even felt a little bit of disappointment.

‘Is the regular shelf life of Mt. Baekdu cut off at the general secretary’s office? … ?’

No, looking at it that way, how would you explain the former Kim Il-sung or Kim Jong-il?

She had abandoned her expectations of pedigree while seeing the evil of the two, and it was probably because of her uncle, Jeong-hwan, that she still had small expectations for the ‘baekdu bloodline’ Kim Jong-un.

Even if the mothers are different, they are of one bloodline, so it is a public and personal expectation that it would be good to have hope for the second coming of an iron man like Jeonghwan, if only a little, even one-thousandth of what Junghwan once showed.

To tell the truth, even Hyun Young-suk, who well understands Jeong-hwan’s belief that the dark shadow of the Kim family’s state privatization should never again be cast on this republic, harbored such expectations, at least in a small way.

The situation would have been very different if Jung-eun had shown such an image even just a little bit, but fortunately and unfortunately at the same time, she confirmed once again that there is no such thing as a ‘baekdu bloodline with superior genes’. it was just

-You are of Baekdu blood, current manager, how could there be such an unscientific and absurd thing? Even if it is, it is my specification to pass on such unknown things to my children. Now that I see, the current manager also has a cute side when I see him sometimes.

“Hmm, anyway, then I’ll just leave. Current general secretary. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day today.”

“Oh, no. After a while, in many ways… … I am glad that I had a meaningful time.”

“Oh, and the current general secretary… … Well… … I should have told you this… … Well… … I think it’s difficult to meet again in the future… … .”

After the interview, Jeong-eun hesitated for a moment and stuttered to Hyun Young-sook, who got up from her seat and sent him off to the door.

At Hyun Young-sook, who tilted her head, Jeong-eun hesitated for a while, then gathered up the courage to open her mouth.

Once I had the courage to get out of the room, the second was not as difficult as the first.

“I, I… … Say a lot to me today… … And above all, thank you for giving me the opportunity to get out of the room.”

“Huh?”

“Sah, actually, I felt it a while ago… … If it weren’t for today, I think I might have been locked up in my room for the rest of my life. But once I got out… … . I think it’s better than I thought.”

“… … .”

Hyun Young-sook smiled meaningfully as she looked at Jeong-eun who stuttered but had the courage to say that.

Did I say that history is full of strange repetitions, paradoxes and ironies?

The smile on her lips was as lively as a girl, unsuitable for her age, and her eyes seemed to recall somewhere and someone from the past.

“The first step after breaking down the original wall is the most difficult. But once you take that first step, you’ll find that the world outside isn’t as bad or hostile as you’d imagined. The wall that I thought was protecting my comrade was actually just an obstacle to isolate my comrade from the world. Thirty years ago, this republic and I had a hard time realizing that thanks to someone. Welcome back to your homeland, Comrade Kim Jong-un.”

Gaiden, He’s Back (Wan)