[The North Korean Visit]
“Wait? You’re saying you won’t sign the agreement at all?” YS asked, looking slightly puzzled. It was a reaction that was, in a way, understandable. People who knew nothing about mountains or had no interest in them could feel absolutely no inspiration from Mount Kumgang. It was perfectly natural. However, Mount Kumgang had been famous for its spectacular scenery since ancient times, frequently mentioned even in ancient Chinese historical records. That was why it was truly the optimal location for a travel destination. It wasn’t for nothing that the North Korea of the original history invited a conglomerate chairman whose hometown was Tongchon, Gangwon Province, in 1989. From North Korea’s perspective, they believed that specific entrepreneur had the most potential.
However, in Yoon-gi’s timeline, he was the only entrepreneur capable of making an agreement regarding Mount Kumgang. As YK was the number one conglomerate in the business world, there were naturally other groups in second place, but the gap between YK and the second-tier groups was currently extreme. This wasn’t even a trade secret; it was information anyone living in South Korea knew, so North Korea had no choice when it came to promoting Mount Kumgang tourism. It had to be YK.
“Is it absolutely necessary?” At Yoon-gi’s words, YS looked a bit disappointed. “Well… it’s not that it’s absolutely necessary, but I thought maybe there would be people who would like it if we signed a tourism agreement. And it never hurts to have a good atmosphere with North Korea.”
Yoon-gi listened to YS and then looked at N. “What do you think, Mr. President?”
“Hmm… well… to be honest, we have to assume there is no possibility that North Korea will truly engage in exchange with us.”
Having been active as a soldier or a member of the National Assembly during the regimes of P and JD, N knew North Korea’s options very well. The ‘external enemy’ was an absolute necessity for a dictatorship. P and JD would frequently create a war-like atmosphere with North Korea to instill fear in the public. [The North could invade at any moment, and you’re looking for labor rights like they do in communism? You red bastard!]
If this was the situation in South Korea, with the United States watching with wide-open eyes, what would it be like in North Korea, a perfect dictatorship? Furthermore, North Korea had branded South Korea as a cowardly nation that couldn’t even lodge a proper protest no matter how much they were hit. Naturally, they wouldn’t miss the chance to exploit that.
“As you said, Mr. President, North Korea is looking to use us, not engage in genuine exchange. So, there is no need to meet their demands.”
“But I heard you set the reunion of separated families as a condition…”
At YS’s words, Yoon-gi flashed a mischievous smile. “It’s only right to get what we can, isn’t it?”
“But wasn’t your visit to the North negotiated with the Soviet Union? You don’t intend to cancel the visit, do you?”
“No, I have to go. If it were a promise made solely with North Korea, that would be one thing, but since I made a promise to the Soviet Union, I must keep it.”
“But Kim Il-sung will surely demand a Mount Kumgang tourism agreement on the spot.”
“I’ll have to refuse.”
YS looked even more puzzled. “Then wouldn’t your personal safety be at risk?”
“The Soviet Union is guaranteeing it.”
“No, if it’s North Korea…”
Yoon-gi naturally cut YS off. “No, North Korea will never be able to pull any dog-like tricks.”
“Hmm?”
“During JD’s prime, did he cause any significant damage to YK?”
“Ah… I see what you mean.”
The North Korean leadership outwardly professed communism, but they had absolutely no interest in the welfare of the people. What the North Korean leadership wanted was solely their own well-being and success. This could be confirmed from the very nature of the North Korean system. They clearly claimed to be communist, but there existed a ‘class’ system in North Korea that shouldn’t exist in communism. The North Korean version of the caste system, divided into the core class, the wavering class, and the hostile class. Just looking at this, one could see that communism was merely an excuse to maintain their regime.
And in this situation, North Korea would kill or harm Yoon-gi, who was visiting? That would mean they were willing to endure an invasion by the US-Soviet allied forces, so it was something that could never happen. Of course, there might be a 0.001 percent ‘what if.’ But a person who couldn’t push forward with work because they were afraid of that would never be able to do anything in the first place. At that probability, it was the same as the probability of dying while just sitting at home.
“Anyway, please proceed well with the inter-Korean family reunions, Mr. President and Prime Minister. It’s just that we got what we could get to screw North Korea over.”
Regardless, the inter-Korean family reunion was a very good justification that N and YS could package as a political achievement. Although it was revealed through the newspapers that it was ‘Yoon-gi’s achievement,’ it was also true that there were still some scraps of credit left.
“Yes, leave that to us. We will do our best.”
“Ahem! Mr. President, you have already served as president, so shouldn’t I be the one to step forward on this?”
“Haha, Prime Minister, you aren’t even president yet, and you’re already so greedy?”
Watching N and YS bickering happily, Yoon-gi took a sip of his coffee.
The inter-Korean family reunion began, turning the entire country into a sea of tears. People in both South and North Korea welcomed the reunion. Because this was a time when there were still people who had been separated by the war. Therefore, not only TV but also newspapers prepared and aired special programs related to the family reunions. However, Yoon-gi deliberately left for the United States during this time. For a very rational reason.
Yoon-gi’s prediction was spot on. North Korean figures vaguely asked where Yoon-gi was, and upon hearing that he had left for the United States, they looked very disappointed. If Yoon-gi had visited the reunion site, something would surely have had to be set in motion. But thanks to being in the United States, Yoon-gi was able to maintain his initiative. And the inter-Korean family reunion ended successfully. During the short period of a few days, the separated families shared their pent-up feelings, and although they wailed at the fact that they didn’t know when they would meet again, they parted ways promising the next time.
And finally. Yoon-gi set foot on North Korean soil.
“You don’t have to worry about safety at all.” The person attached to Yoon-gi’s side was none other than Slava. Gorbachev had his aide, Slava, accompany Yoon-gi to further guarantee his safety.
“Just in case, please make sure to take at least two bodyguards with you wherever you go. This includes the restroom as well.”
“Of course.”
From the beginning, the Soviet Union was a country that knew well how far North Korea could go in its madness. The same was true for China. Immediately during the Korean War, Kim Il-sung gave orders based on his own arbitrary judgment, causing tremendous damage to the North Korea-China allied forces. At that time, it was a fairly famous anecdote that a Chinese official slapped Kim Il-sung’s cheek, asking if he was in his right mind. That was why Gorbachev sent Slava. If North Korea did something strange? The possibility of Slava slapping Kim Jong-il’s cheek wasn’t entirely zero. Of course, that was assuming Kim Jong-il did something crazy enough to cause a war.
Choi Deok-bae could move at a considerable speed, even if he hadn’t had contact with a person before. That was why Yoon-gi asked curiously at Choi Deok-bae’s words after he had looked around for about a minute.
‘Why?’
Choi Deok-bae had been reading quite a variety of books thanks to the reading machine Yoon-gi had Andrew make. If he had acquired modern knowledge through the TV or newspapers someone else was watching before meeting Yoon-gi, it meant that for the past few years, he had been acquiring the knowledge he wanted on his own. Furthermore, Choi Deok-bae was a being with a brain sharp enough to pass the civil service exam. Since this naturally meant he liked knowledge itself, he was experiencing the accumulation of knowledge in quite a variety of fields. That was how he learned about the problems with current North Korean farming.
‘Corn? And they’re cutting down mountains for it? They’re insane.’
There were two big problems that could be seen just by looking. One was that what they planted was ‘corn.’ Corn was a crop that consumed a tremendous amount of the soil’s nutrients. Therefore, to grow corn, high-quality fertilizer was absolutely necessary, and in some cases, a ‘fallow period’ was needed to let the soil recover its nutrients by not farming for a certain period. But there was no way North Korea had such things. That was why North Korea’s corn harvest had already been on a downward trend since entering the 80s.
The second big problem was none other than cutting down mountains. Trees must be on the mountain for groundwater to be preserved. But what if there were no trees? Groundwater wouldn’t be preserved, so a drought would occur immediately even if it didn’t rain for a little while. Furthermore, rain was also a problem. Even if it rained a little too much, landslides would occur, and because the mountain couldn’t absorb the rain, floods would occur. These floods and landslides naturally wiped out the rice paddies and fields on the ground, not the mountains, so this was also a cause of famine.
However, in a dictatorship, one must follow the dictator’s words alone. [If you cut down the mountain and plant corn there, the harvest will increase, right?] There was no one anywhere in North Korea who could stop such opinions of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. No matter how scientific the reasons for opposition were, the moment you went against their mood, it was ‘purged.’ That was why there were many cornfields in North Korea made by cutting down mountains, and Choi Deok-bae couldn’t help but click his tongue at the sight.
‘Come to think of it, how was it in the Joseon Dynasty?’
‘Did the people eat well?’
Choi Deok-bae made an absurd expression, then sighed and shook his head. ‘Ah, that’s certainly true.’
From the time of King Taejo Yi Seong-gye to King Jeongjo, the population of Joseon increased by more than three times. The population, which was a little over 5 million, became over 18 million. This was absolutely impossible unless the people were eating really well. Although there were the Imjin War, the Manchu War, and the Great Famine of Gyeongsin, it meant that they overcame all of that and the population became nearly 20 million. Choi Deok-bae, who knew that Joseon was a country where the people lived very peacefully when viewed by world standards, gave a bitter smile.
‘Don’t worry. I will fix everything one by one.’
‘No. Grandfather’s best choice was saving his son. That’s why I was born.’
Because Yoon-gi told him that what he thought was his worst choice was his best choice, Choi Deok-bae was truly grateful to Yoon-gi. But for some reason, the words didn’t come out well, so he just wiped his nose with his finger and slipped behind Yoon-gi.
“Welcome. The Standing Committee member will be here soon.”
The words of the North Korean figure. Since the Standing Committee member meant Kim Jong-il, Yoon-gi sat in the conference room as guided and waited for Kim Jong-il quietly with Slava. And a moment later, Kim Jong-il appeared. The moment Kim Jong-il saw Yoon-gi, he frowned, albeit for a very, very brief moment. Because Kim Jong-il had a physical appearance complex.