Kim Half-thatch woke up in a cold sweat as he had every night since he had been dethroned. The nightmare was always the same.
A pale horse walked toward him, carrying his grandfather. In his hand was a blood-red sword. The horse's skin was on fire. Then the rider morphed into his father. In his hand was a glass full of red wine. The flames disappeared, only to reveal an animal with sickeningly protruding ribs. The horse was mere skin and bone. Finally the rider became him. In his hand was the severed head, dripping blood, of a former pop-singer girlfriend. The horse's skin disappeared entirely, with the horse consisting only of a skeleton Then the skeleton collapsed. As the bones fell to the ground, they were transformed into wood. As he fell following the wooden bones, they formed themselves into a structure and he found himself lying on top of it. A glistening liquid was poured on the wooden bones by apparitions garbed in white robes. A match was lit and the structure set ablaze. As the flames licked at his corpulent body, ghosts from the past started to appear. First came the millions killed in the Korean War. They swirled around him, accusing him of murdering them in the name of some cult of personality nonsense. They accused him of being responsible for making the decision to invade the South in a vanity-inspired attempt to reunify the peninsula under his sadistic leadership. He tried to cry out -- "But it was my grandfather who did that!" -- but he could not speak. The apparitions marched back and forth across his body, simulating the times that the cities were occupied and then re-occupied by the opposing forces. Next came the millions of people who died of starvation in the 1990s. These ghosts were composed largely of children, mere waifs, who wailed that they died because he built a skyscraper that reached to the sky, with the money for this building being diverted from money needed for basic foodstuffs. He wanted to cry out -- "But that was my grandfather and father's doing!" -- but he was unable to utter a sound. The apparitions threw balls of fire at him, with the fireballs shrieking the words "Sunshine Policy" as they raced toward him. Last came the ghosts of people who died in the many labor camps, starved to death because the food intended for them was diverted by the military and elites for black market activities, or were executed simply for trying to escape from their East Asian purgatory. Their mouths were filled with grass because that was all they could find to eat. Kim thought to himself that his grandfather created those camps and dreamed up the philosophy of treating people as badly as Japan, the occupier of Korea for decades, did during WWII, with his father continuing those policies. He wondered why the ghosts did not accuse him of killing them because he shared responsibility for that horror by not reversing the policies he inherited. Then the fire beneath him became fireworks, with rockets flying into the air and exploding in every conceivable color. At this point, he was launched into space. He rocketed into the air, but gravity started slowing him down. Just as he reached the apex of his trajectory, he exploded into a million pieces. This is when he always woke up. He went into the kitchen of the apartment to get a glass of water. This was not the accommodation to which he had become accustomed, the park filled with large mansions, water slides, and every imaginable luxury, in the forest north of Pyongyang. This was a plain apartment with no luxuries whatsoever. And all they gave him to eat was rice, nothing like the lobster, crab, and French wine which was always served in his father's, and then his house. He went back to sleep. * * * * * The handmade sign was wired to the bars: "Do not feed the animal!" "Didn't this used to be the monkey enclosure?" asked one child of her friend. "Yes, but the monkeys disappeared a long time ago. I think the Kim family ate all of the animals in the zoo," answered her friend. "It's funny how he is too tall for the cage. He cannot even stand up completely," continued the first. "Hooh, hooh, hooh, hooh!" they both shouted as they slumped over and brought their arms up and down, simulating how a monkey walks. Two painfully thin adults stood behind the children. One of them asked, "Did you bring it?" "Yes, of course," said the other as she produced a small snake from her bag. "Here's your lunch, Brobdingnagian," she said in broken English as she threw the snake between the bars. Brobdingnagian grabbed the snake, bit its head off, and wolfed the body down. He had not eaten in days and did not know when he would see another meal. "How long do you think it will be before he gets the runs from the parasites in uncooked wild snakes?" asked the first adult. "Everyone I know developed diarrhea within hours. Now this animal will know how we were forced to live in the camps," replied the second adult. "I'm an American citizen!" he cried. "I deserve better! Where's my friend, the Radiant Marshal? He'll get me out of here, I'm sure," pleaded Brobdingnagian. The children and adults laughed. * * * * * Major Suk and Sergeant Ju watched with satisfaction at the other side of the Amnok river as the Chinese tanks and trucks continued their departure. "My orders were clear: China was not to cross the bridge under any circumstances. If necessary, the bridge was to be disabled via explosives. China's action would be a bridge too far," said Major Suk. "China would then have rapidly moved east to secure the port of Najin, a true ice-free port unlike Russia's Vladivostok just to the north and one essential for China's international commerce, dividing the country once again." "Major, it appears that China took the hint that it would not be allowed to interfere," offered Sergeant Ju. "Sergeant, the Chinese forces will never know that hand-held surface-to-ground missiles had been moved to the border as a precautionary measure. If China had attempted to occupy North Korea with helicopter-based troops to prevent South Korea and especially the USA from moving north of the DMZ, there would have been a bloodbath, with most of the blood being Chinese," touted Major Suk. * * * * * Lieutenant Kok Mu-hwan was going to sit outside all day today. He had been captured in the Korean War. At first, he was held in a POW camp with all of the other UN troops, but then for reasons he did not know, he was transferred to a different camp along with other South Koreans and some Americans. He spent a few years in this camp before being transferred again. No one told him, but it was obvious that the new camp was in the Soviet Union. He was interrogated daily, but mainly he was being worked to death. Rations were minimal and disgusting, often containing live insects. His fellow prisoners died in large numbers. That's the problem when a war ends in a cease fire, he thought, with the evil side not being occupied. He tried to keep track of time, but his captors were adept at transferring him from time to time to a different cell, and they almost always found his notes. He estimated that he stayed in the Soviet camps for five years. Then he was transferred again, back to North Korea. None of the Americans were transferred with him, though he honestly wasn't sure if that was because the Soviets had killed all of them through torture and neglect, something they appeared to specialize in. Not long after his transfer back to North Korea, he was assigned a temporary wife. One day his captors marched him into a squalid room and pushed a North Korean woman into the room. The guards sneered at him, said, "Make us another slave," and closed the door behind them. He was much luckier than his fellow captives, as his companion, Ong Su-bin, was fairly good looking. She was a member of the songbun-hostile class -- North Koreans were divided by the founder of the country into three classes, core, wavering, and hostile -- which meant that she essentially had no rights whatsoever. Songbun-core people, 25% of the population, were the Kim family sycophants who occupied Pyongyang. Songbun-wavering people, 55% of the population, could go either way, but sometimes ended up in prison camps. Songbun-hostile people, 20% of the population, were the lowest of the low, with entire extended families often being sent to prison camps because of an alleged crime that one family member committed. She was in the prison camps because her cousin defected to South Korea. He was lucky in another respect; she did not become pregnant right away, so they could continue having sex. When she finally became pregnant, they were permanently separated. Lieutenant Kok sometimes saw her in the mess hall, but he never had time to speak with her. She had a boy named Min-kyu. She only lived for six months after the birth of Min-kyu. Lieutenant Kok was never told the official cause of death, but he was sure she had been raped by one or more of the guards and then killed to prevent her from telling anyone of the assault. Pretty young women like her often died for no apparent reason in the camps. Sometimes Lieutenant Kok could steal a few minutes to be with his son, but mostly Min-kyu was an orphan in the camp. Lieutenant Kok sometimes saw him scrounging for food with the other orphans, picking stray grains and corn kernels out of animal manure. Just before he became a teenager, he was taken by the guards, never to be seen again. Lieutenant Kok was never told what happened to him. He hoped Min-kyu was living the good life somewhere, but that was unlikely. So he continued to work every day until he could work no more. A few days ago, he no longer had the strength to work, and so his captors discontinued his meager rations. He was very weak now and was sure he would not last much longer. He would sit outside today as much as he could, think of the good times he had with Su-bin and Min-kyu, and wait for the end. * * * * * As Kyung Hi-lee left the shower area of the refugee tent, she saw a sign reading, "Attention: all parents who were forced to leave their children in China, please register here." She had never forgotten about her two children, one boy and one girl, who she was forced to leave behind when Chinese policemen arrested her. She had left North Korea because she was starving and ended up marrying a Chinese farmer who was cruel to her. She did not know if the policemen found her because she made a mistake or because her husband wanted to trade her in for someone better looking. She quickly walked to the registration desk to start the process. * * * * * Lieutenant Ryu Ji-hoom was the daughter of Korean Christian missionaries who had worked in China. They were an integral part of the Korean Underground Railway, bringing North Koreans to South Korea or the USA. Both had served a year in a Chinese prison and were then permanently banned from China, preventing them from personally taking part in any more rescues. They had to settle for fund-raising and coordination based in Seoul. They could not understand the attitude of previous presidents who operated under the "Sunshine Policy" -- a policy of giving large amounts of money and aid without conditions -- which was promoted as the way towards peace, but in reality was quite the opposite. The two administrations often refused to accept North Korean refugees at their consulates, causing many Koreans to dub the ten years of the two presidents as the "lost decade" in terms of Korean human rights. The current president was a member of the conservative party and immediately changed the policy, ordering his diplomats to accept all North Korean refugees. * * * * * Captain Sobong Ye-jun was a legend in the South Korean military for the way he led his troops onto a ship which had been hijacked by Somali pirates and retook the ship, with no casualties to his men or the hostages. The Somalis had not done as well, he was not sorry to say, with all but three dying on the ship in a hail of gunfire. He believed in leading from the front and suffered a bullet wound to his ear as a result, essentially ending his commando career because he could no longer determine the direction of sounds. Up until a few days ago, he had been working in a planning position, fighting from a desk. He was told to report to Colonel Jang for an assignment. He eagerly looked forward to another shot at glory. * * * * * Lieutenant Ryu and Lieutenant Choi's names were announced by Colonel Jang. Both of them walked to his desk and stood in front of it. "Lieutenant Ryu, Lieutenant Choi, you will work together on this mission. Neither one of you will be in charge; you will come to a consensus on all decisions. Northerners and Southerners need to learn to work together and this is as good as any place to start. You will travel to an unofficial orphanage in China -- by unofficial, I mean it is someone's house where they look after abandoned children -- and find the two children of Kyung Hi-lee. Where is she? Kyung Hi-lee, come here, please. Of course, you will all travel in civilian clothes like ordinary businesswomen," explained Colonel Jang. * * * * * Lieutenant Song wasn't accustomed to making breakfast for four people. Actually she rarely made breakfast at all because she always just grabbed a quick bite and went to work. She needed something from the fridge, so she turned around, opened the door, retrieved the item, and closed the door, only to jump back a little in mild shock as she did so. Standing in front of her were two little girls with nylon stockings over their heads, making them look like junior bank robbers. "I see you are teaching them something besides English," she called out to the next room. A man's head appeared just to the side of the door jamb. His head was also covered in a nylon stocking. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men ... or little girls?" rhetorically asked Talvela. Lieutenant Song shook her head from side to side. She bent down to the girls and said "I cannot tell which of you is Tan-na and which is Kan-na." The two girls giggled and ran back to the room where Talvela was waiting. Strange noises erupted from the room as the three of them continued playing their game. "Those had better not be my new stockings!" * * * * * "Captain Sobong Ye-jun, please come here," requested Colonel Jang. "You will be in command of this group of commandos, a mix of Northerners and Southerners. You will travel to China as civilians and rescue a group of perhaps a dozen women who were tricked into working as prostitutes. You will not be assigned firearms because if you are found with them, you could be accused of being spies. You will be given pepper spray bottles to use if you find it necessary to silently incapacitate someone. Your team is quite experienced in Hapkido and Taekwondo and you are welcome to use these talents. After you rescue the women, you will give them new passports and identities so that they can leave China without mishap. The process for obtaining new passports will be explained on the bus," he explained. "Colonel, if we run into trouble, is it possible for us to divert to a South Korean embassy," asked Captain Sobong. "Only in a true emergency. China has turned the entrances for all Western and Asian embassies and consulates into gauntlets, with barbed wire and other impediments. There are multiple passport checks manned by Chinese policemen. I think it will be safer if you return here in one of our buses. Think about the cover story for the women; perhaps they could be entertainers. It is not so important if the Chinese border police suspect that the women are former prostitutes because their passports will check out. China has always had a policy of one hand winking at the other hand, so I suspect that everything will go well as long as we do not splash the truth onto their faces," concluded Colonel Jang. "Good luck and good hunting." * * * * * Lieutenant Nam Tae-yeon had not been the best student in South Korea. She had the worst scores in her officer training classes. She now regretted going that route because her talents and chosen profession were clearly disparate. Now she was not at all sure she was in her assigned town in the North. She found the road signs a bit confusing. She finally parked her government SUV and walked to the center of town. If this wasn't her assigned town, she thought, she'd at least make the best of it. At first she thought it was only a pile of trash. But as she got closer, she was that it was actually two girls sitting close together. Their clothes were dirty, tattered, and full of holes. Their faces and hands were dirty, with some spots darker than others. "Hello, my name is Lieutenant Nam Tae-yeon. I am curious as to what you girls are doing." "We are finding lice and removing them from each other. It is not so easy for us to do it ourselves, but it is easy to do it to each other," answered the first girl. "How old are you?" asked Lieutenant Nam. "I am ten and my friend is nine," replied the second girl. "Where are your parents?" asked Lieutenant Nam. "We are both orphans. Our parents were executed by the government," replied the second girl. "Come with me, please. I will take you to have a good meal," implored Lieutenant Nam. The first girl looked at her friend. "Do you think we should go with her?" "It couldn't be any worse than what we are doing here," replied the second girl. * * * * * Their destination was in sight, an apartment block which looked like all of the other ones, gray and dull. They knew the flat number. All of their mouths were dry in anticipation, especially that of Kyung. A man walked up to them. "Excuse me, my name is Zhao Yun-fat. I was told that you are businesswomen looking for opportunities," offered Zhao. "Yes, it is true. However, we must be careful when discussing our line of business. Competition is fierce and we intend to be the first ones to release our products," countered Lieutenant Ryu. "Our city offers much in the way of opportunity and hard-working people. Please, I insist, you must come with me for lunch with our mayor. We have much to offer Korean businesspeople," concluded Zhao. "It would be impolite to refuse," said Lieutenant Choi. The three women looked at each other with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. They would have to wait a little longer. * * * * * "Colonel Jang, please give me an assignment to rescue children in China. My job is in intelligence, keeping track of Chinese military units. I speak fluent Mandarin and have traveled to China many times. I know I was not in the group of officers which executed the coup against the selfish Kim family, but I am perfect for the job," pleaded Captain Roh Sok-yong. "Yes, we can always use Mandarin speakers," replied Colonel Jang with a smile. "We will use you in your current capacity, in intelligence. Since you will be by yourself, you are not authorized to do anything other than observation. You will contact me when you discover a situation which requires intervention. Is that clear?" "Yes, Colonel, thank you!" * * * * * "Major, take a look at this car," implored Sergeant Ju, indicating a car which was waiting to enter North Korea from China. Major Suk walked over to the late-model Hyundai. "Why does it have cameras on the roof?" asked Sergeant Ju. "I was warned about this. It's a Google Maps car. Google thinks it's entitled to take imagery of the country and display it, accompanied by Google ads, so Google can make a killing via people wanting to vicariously visit North Korea," answered Major Suk. Major Suk walked to the driver's side of the car. "You will not be allowed to enter the country. Turn around and go back," ordered Major Suk. Copyright 2020 Pete Prunskunas - All rights reserved.
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April 2024
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