George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 81

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“Are you crazy! What are we going to do about this!”

Most media portray people wringing their hands in panic because their brains refuse to solve the problem. However, that almost never happened here in North Korea.

“You son of a bitch! Why did you have to provoke us!”

Instead of panicking, the will to try anything to prolong their tough lives took precedence. When a gun is frequently pointed at your head in real life, everyone, regardless of age or gender, develops nerves as tough as steel.

‘Somehow! I have to somehow refill the missing items!’

This wasn’t just a regular checkup; it was an emergency inspection, and the situation was so unprecedented that it could shake the country. This time, there was no way to get by with some mediocre bribe.

No, if they had any bribes, they had to use them to refill the missing supplies and replace them with items that met the regulations!

“Damn it. Why is this official document so long!”

The twenty-page document in his hand could be summarized as follows:

「Korean People’s Army 2002 New Year’s Emergency Equipment Inspection!

Under the wise leadership of the Party Central Committee, the great leader, the father of the people, the General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, General Kim Jong-il, has ordered an equipment inspection!

Combat power comes from the spiritual armament of the Juche [self-reliance] ideology, but equipment that supports it can multiply it. The General has urged us not to leave out even the slightest piece of equipment!」

After this document was issued, a truly ironic thing happened. Military officers used their own money to fill the warehouses with food according to regulations and even sold the pillars of their houses to pile up guns and bullets in the armories. Since the establishment of the unrecognized state of North Korea, this was the largest economic activity ever.

On the surface, it was an ‘equipment inspection,’ but in reality, it was an inspection that only looked at the stock of dynamite. Those who had good connections with the higher-ups or were quick-witted realized that the main focus of this emergency inspection was dynamite and emptied all the dynamite stocks from the weapons factories.

However, only 30% of the items coming out of those weapons factories were weapons. The other 70% had been converted into agricultural tools or construction site equipment for the past twenty years, so the stock was severely insufficient. No matter how quick-witted you were, you couldn’t get dynamite.

In any case, let’s make it clear that even if you knew that the main focus of this emergency investigation was dynamite, there was nothing you could do about it.

The problem was that the only unit in the entire Korean peninsula that hadn’t traded dynamite for *yeot* [Korean taffy] was the Pyongyang unit. Would you believe that there were units that actually traded it for *yeot*?

The dynamite had already disappeared, having been magically transformed into fertilizer, and now they were in a situation where they had to somehow make a dynamite shape out of that soil.

And there were people who were actually doing that. The fear of being tortured to the point of not being able to die even if they wanted to turned into ingenuity, and all sorts of forgery masters and aspiring talents who had been hiding in the shadows came out into the light.

There were many different methods, and here are some of the most representative ones:

First, they used high-quality soil to bake ceramics, colored newspaper to make it look as similar as possible, and then wrapped it around the ceramics to shape it. Those who were skilled in forging all sorts of certificates used their masterful calligraphy to engrave the manufacturing unit. After that, they twisted in a fuse, but the reason they connected a proper fuse instead of a string was to have an excuse even if it misfired.

Another method was to make real dynamite. They used dynamite materials stolen or bought from factories and used the gunpowder from shells to create real dynamite.

Finally, there was the method of using the black market. Most of it had gone on a permanent journey to the Third World, but quite a lot of it was still buried in North Korea. Among them, there were those who, with the logic of ‘Isn’t it enough if it’s dynamite?’ packed foreign-made dynamite into the warehouse.

Even then, if the quantity was insufficient, they filled half of the boxes with soil or other junk and put high-quality dynamite on top.

However, this was only the story of ‘those who were quick-witted.’ So, how did those who weren’t quick-witted behave? It was as follows:

“Wipe it! Tighten it!”

They just wiped and tightened the existing things as much as possible to make them look good. Even if they weren’t quick-witted, they knew why this situation had occurred, so they went through several times the usual inspection to ensure there were no loopholes, meticulously checking the missing and existing parts and filling them in as much as possible.

Nevertheless, they gathered scrap metal, believing that they could make up for the missing parts with grit, and made it look presentable. Of course, the source of that scrap metal was from the houses around the military unit.

“Oh no! That can’t be! What should we do!”

They took everything made of metal from the farms, including hoes, spades, and agricultural machinery, and used them. They even stole fertilizer piled up in the warehouse to sell it and raise funds.

The fertilizer made for national self-reliance became ammunition to open the path to the desire for life, and the machinery and metals taken from the agricultural machinery sent for the rice-planting battle were transformed into state-of-the-art military equipment, such as the Type 58 automatic rifle and grenades, by the hands of the people’s soldiers of the General, which North Korea boasts of.

North Korea became an experimental site for how far humans can draw out their abilities when they want to live.

“Nice to meet you. I am Choi Yong-pal, the chief of the inspection team from the inspection department. I hope you don’t repay the General’s grace with enmity.”

And Choi Yong-pal, the person who created this survival experiment site, was also just a lab rat. Choi Yong-pal could only survive by catching as many people as possible.

However, Choi Yong-pal was in a slightly better situation. At least in this inspection, he had absolute power to suppress everything. Although it was only a one-night power, power was power.

He could turn those he had ignored into machines that only bowed their heads all day long, and when he reached out his hand, he received thick bundles of dollars. It was the power to make them worry that his journey might be unpleasant and automatically put precious metals in his back pocket. That was the power, the power that the word Kim Jong-il had in North Korea.

“Please accept this as a token of our sincerity.”

As expected, the sound of Choi Yong-pal’s pockets getting heavier was heard discreetly again today.

“Oh ho! Just because you show this sincerity doesn’t mean the inspection will be lax.”

Choi Yong-pal was openly expressing ‘sincerity.’ However, Choi Yong-pal could be said to be the most conscientious, as it was common to not even say these words and take money out of his wallet as if it were his own. If that wasn’t enough, they would often try to tear down the military officer’s entire family.

Furthermore, the statement that he would not let it go was genuine. Choi Yong-pal’s life was on the line right now, so why should he let it go? However, apart from Choi Yong-pal’s unique inspection aesthetics created by his survival instincts, the other party usually thought, ‘Ah, is the bribe not enough?’ so offerings piled up in Choi Yong-pal’s house to the point where the floor was about to collapse.

“But I can give you some convenience.”

For example, if something that should be on the list is missing, or if there are some empty things in the warehouse, or the state of the barracks that is beyond repair, or the state of the soldiers’ uniforms that have become rags because they have been torn and patched up here and there while farming.

“I see. For example, if my pocket gets a little heavier, it seems like you only need to look at one thing during the inspection….”

As if he had been waiting for it, he brought out a wooden box. Inside the box, there was a mixture of luxury goods such as overseas famous brand cigars and electronic devices, as well as gold items such as rings and earrings. It was clear that the entire unit had emptied even the pillars of their houses and put them in little by little.

However, after receiving and eating all sorts of things, it didn’t catch the eye of Choi Yong-pal, whose standards had risen as high as Cheonji [Heaven Lake] of Baekdu Mountain [Mount Paektu].

“It’s far from enough to repay the grace of General Kim Jong-il, but it’s a pretty good weight to change my mind. Comrade Battalion Commander.”

His words were polite, but his smile didn’t lie. He was smiling so confidently and shamelessly that his gums were visible, and the battalion commander who was watching it had his stomach twisted and his blood pressure rose for a moment, but it immediately went down when he remembered that this person was the judge who would determine his life or death.

“Our unit is constantly serving in a combat-ready posture for the great leader, General Kim Jong-il, day and night. I hope that the inspection will be fair and impartial without discrimination.”

“I know well that Comrade Battalion Commander’s heart is for the Republic, so don’t worry.”

In this way, Choi Yong-pal and the battalion commander had conversations over and over again. The content of the conversation was to please let it go, and every time, new bribes popped out from somewhere. The conversation started in the morning and continued until lunchtime, and it ended after he was treated to a meat dish.

“Then I will have the soldiers put these in the inspector’s car.”

However, the single wooden box had become seventeen boxes, and they couldn’t all fit in the trunk, so they decided to mobilize a military vehicle. The appearance was unsightly, but when he thought about the value contained in the boxes, he couldn’t stop smiling.

“Then I will start the inspection.”

The inspection started at 2 p.m. according to Choi Yong-pal’s will, who had even enjoyed dessert. Looking at the battalion commander’s tense face, Choi Yong-pal snickered inwardly. Didn’t the old sage say that crisis is an opportunity? Choi Yong-pal was just faithfully following those words.

‘Before this is over, I have to leave this country no matter what.’

If he could take care of himself, he didn’t care what happened to the offerings he had collected in North Korea. Still, he was more or less aware of the fact that if he didn’t have money, he wouldn’t be treated like a human being, so he was planning to exchange all his assets into foreign currency and go to South Korea.

Going through the Chinese embassy in Korea was crazy, so he was planning to defect using a small boat.

‘No matter how much wealth you accumulate in North Korea, it’s useless in front of power. I’m even scraping together offerings from others like this, aren’t I?’

“I’ll only look at the dynamite as promised.”

“Dynamite, you say?”

Choi Yong-pal noticed that the battalion commander’s expression was strangely distorted, but he didn’t show it.

“I will guide you to the armory.”

When they arrived at the armory, it was quite well-formed. The ammunition boxes were neatly arranged, and so were the boxes containing explosives. However, the condition of the armory didn’t look very good, which was due to the high humidity of the underground.

‘That’s none of my business.’

Choi Yong-pal’s purpose was only dynamite from beginning to end.

“This is our dynamite.”

“Let’s see.”

Comparing it with the list and matching the quantity, it seemed to be roughly correct. However, the condition was extremely poor, which was a chronic problem caused by the factory’s quality degradation, not a problem of maintenance.

‘Unexpected?’

The condition wasn’t good, but that was all. They didn’t fake it like other units, and they didn’t play tricks.

“Tell me honestly. Didn’t you refill it recently?”

The battalion commander groaned a few times and then opened his mouth. He judged that the bribe was doing its job sufficiently.

“That’s right. The stock was empty because the upper-level units ripped off us so much.”

The act of all sorts of supplies being taken out by the upper-level units’ intentions, regardless of the unit commander’s will, was happening everywhere in the Korean peninsula.

“Do you have a ledger?”

The battalion commander showed it not with words but with actions. Whether he knew this would happen or guessed it by intuition, he brought the ledger in advance, so Choi Yong-pal could immediately compare the ledger with the actual calculation.

“One box is missing?”

“That’s-.”

“Don’t lie. Should I report it to General Kim Jong-il?”

The battalion commander closed his eyes tightly, not knowing what to do, but soon became despondent and his mouth became light. Now that he had even shown the ledger, why couldn’t he say this?

“I delivered it to the person who said he came from above.”

“Who is that?”

“His name is Ri Chun-sik, and he said he was from the State Security Department, but I don’t know the details of his affiliation. However, he only said that he was also moving according to orders….”

“Ri Chun-sik?”

‘Ri Chun-sik! He was selling the name of a man who died half a year ago!’

This was the third time he had heard this name. Now it seemed like he was gradually getting a grasp of it. All he could tell from the inspections so far was that someone was using the name of Ri Chun-sik, who was an agent of the investigation department, to gather dynamite.

“Seeing your friendly cooperation with the inspection, I will not report this separately.”

“Thank you! Thank you! Comrade! I will treat you separately later!”

‘Huh, it’s a good thing I came.’

The other inspection department agents had no mercy in their actions. Choi Yong-pal was passing it over lightly like this because he had ambitions of defecting in the middle, but this inspection was an inspection where bribes didn’t work.

If you were caught with dynamite, even if it was in another place, you would have to confess all the innocent crimes you were being harshly tortured for in the concentration camp.

“Have a good trip!”

The battalion commander saluting in the rearview mirror was reflected. However, despite the battalion commander’s efforts, nothing came into Choi Yong-pal’s eyes. He was only fixated on the name Ri Chun-sik. Although he was planning to defect in the middle, he wanted to know the answer to the incident that had forever changed his life.

‘Ri Chun-sik, Ri Chun-sik. How could this name be sold so much without being caught?’

He’s already taken advantage of three people. This was too strange.

“Could it be?”

What if Ri Chun-sik himself was alive and not dead?

What if it was really Ri Chun-sik himself?