Lieutenant Ryu, Lieutenant Choi, and Kyung paused outside the door of the apartment.
"I have dreamed of this day for so long. What if my children no longer recognize me? What if I no longer recognize them?" she cried. "Not a chance. A mother always recognizes her children and vice versa. Just make sure you bend down before they reach you or they might knock you over because they are so happy to see you," said Lieutenant Ryu. Kyung slowly opened the door and walked inside. Almost immediately her two children screamed and ran towards her. She tried to bend down, but it was to no avail; Sung-hoon and Eun-hee knocked her on her butt. She sat there both crying and laughing. While the three became reacquainted, Sin Yu-jin, the apartment owner, walked over to the two lieutenants. "We expected you here earlier. What happened?" she asked. "Oh, you would not believe it. The mayor wanted to have lunch with us to convince us that this city is suitable for opening our 'business.' And they kept bringing food and drink. It was a little embarrassing, to be honest," answered Lieutenant Ryu. "Two of your colleagues arrived earlier and took the other two children. Even though I love these children and will miss them dearly, I am very happy that they are going home. They would end up illiterate because they would be unable to obtain a hukou, what China calls a person's identification, needed to attend school and obtain medical care," said Sin. All this time, Lieutenant Choi was watching the last boy, Nae Hak-chul. He just sat dejectedly and watched the reunion of his friends. "Do you know anything regarding the whereabouts of his mother?" she asked. "Only that she was arrested. His father is a Chinese businessman who dumped him here right after his wife was arrested. I met him only once and I disliked him immediately," answered Sin. "I will call Colonel Jang and ask him." Lieutenant Ryu called him via satellite phone. "Colonel Jang, do you know anything about a boy named Nae Hak-chul?" "Let me think." He searched though his photographic memory, pattern-matching names, dates, and locations. "I am fairly certain his mother was executed. His mother and Kyung were arrested on the same day and for whatever reason, Nae was executed and Kyung was only imprisoned. I am sorry, but the records tend to only contain dates and names, not reasons," concluded Colonel Jang. "Thank you, Colonel," said Lieutenant Ryu before she hung up. "Why do you do this? I mean, why do you risk your life to rescue children you do not know?" Lieutenant Choi asked Sin. "We are Christians," answered Sin. "What is a Christian?" interrupted Lieutenant Choi. "Yes, you would not know about that. Oh, boy, what a long story! There was this man named Jesus who lived around 2000 years ago. From all accounts, he was quite charismatic, with people following him in droves. He was a pacifist. He eschewed wealthy people and spent his time tending to the sick, the downtrodden, and prostitutes. The leadership at the time could see that he was stirring up trouble with his radical ideas of salvation after death and income inequality. He was eventually executed in a particularly grisly manner, crucified on a wooden cross with his hands and feet nailed to the cross. Christians believe that he was not just a man, but the actual son of God. We refer to him as Christ for that reason. We use a cross as a symbol to remember him," explained Sin. "Do Christians believe that Jesus will return?" asked Lieutenant Choi. "Yes, we do, though there is no general agreement as to when that might be," continued Sin. "When Jesus returns, wouldn't a cross be the last thing he would want to see?" asked Lieutenant Choi. Both Sin and Lieutenant Ryu laughed. "I never thought of it that way," interjected Lieutenant Ryu. "Do believers in other religions rescue children in this manner?" asked Lieutenant Choi. "Um, no, many do not. And curiously, South Koreans generally do not adopt children, whether from the North or South," explained Sin. “Bloodlines and all that.” "Muslims, on the other hand, never rescue children anywhere in the world, as far as I know. There could not be a bigger contrast between Christianity and Islam. As I said, Jesus was a pacifist and allowed himself to be executed. He gave all of his money to the poor. His followers, especially early Christians, died rather than deny their faith. There are plenty of stories of how Christians allowed themselves to be eaten by wild beasts rather than renounce their faith. Muhammad, the man who created Islam, was quite the opposite. He preached that Islam should be spread by the sword. His followers invaded Spain and Portugal shortly after his death, occupying those countries for almost a thousand years. Today, Muslim men force their women to wear long robes, often covering the entire faces of women. There was a case in Saudi Arabia about ten years ago where schoolgirls were not allowed to exit a burning building because they were not wearing their long robes, with many of them dying," concluded Sin. "Islam sounds like a belief system for losers, for violent control-freak men and submissive women lacking self-confidence. I will work hard to ensure that our new government is not another totalitarian one: no dictatorship by personality cult, chaibol, or religious nuts. No man will force me to wear a sack and walk behind him. I have had enough of tyrants," declared Lieutenant Choi. "Koreans are not 'rice-Christians'; that was the term used to describe pre-Mao Chinese people when they professed to believe in Christianity, as everyone knew that they were doing it only to obtain more rice. South Korea is the second-most Christian Asian country after the Philippines. And possession of a Bible in North Korea was a capital offense, hence why you never heard of Christianity," added Sin. "I have a spare Bible I could give you. It details the life of Jesus and much, much more," offered Sin. "Yes, I would like that," said Lieutenant Choi. She looked over at Hak-chul. "We will take him to North Korea with us. I will pretend to be his mother. It is the Christian thing to do," she declared. Both Sin and Lieutenant Ryu smiled. "Hak-chul, please come here," said Sin. Hak-chul walked to where Sin was standing. "These two women will take you back to North Korea. Lieutenant Choi will pretend to be your mother until you actually leave China. Do you think you can pretend that she is your mother for a day or two?" asked Sin. Hak-chul nodded shyly. * * * * * "Thanks for buying us lunch. I cannot remember the last time I ate an actual meal," said the oldest girl to Lieutenant Nam. The other children nodded their agreement. "Where do you children sleep at night?" asked Lieutenant Nam. "Many of us sleep in caves just outside the town," explained the boy with one leg. "My friend and I sleep under some abandoned work materials at the outskirts of town. The caves are too far for me to walk." "In caves? Are other children there now?" queried Lieutenant Nam. "Probably not because we need to beg for food during the day," answered the oldest boy. "The caves hold teenagers too, but I don't know what they do during the day." "After lunch we will visit the caves, okay?" implored Lieutenant Nam. * * * * * Lieutenant Kok was sitting in the sun when he heard voices. At first he ignored them. But then he realized that they sounded different than the voices of his captors or fellow prisoners. They sounded young -- and South Korean. He stood up in the hope that they might see him. * * * * * Lieutenant Ryu, Lieutenant Choi, Kyung, and the three children had boarded the same bus carrying the commandos and the eleven rescued women. Nam Min-soo approached the three women. Lieutenant Ryu was amazed at him because of his diminutive stature. He was shorter than five feet tall, yet he was in his 20s and full-grown. He nearly died from starvation more than once and it greatly affected his growth. Lieutenant Choi and Kyung were not surprised, as they had seen it many times before. "Ladies, we need to take passport photos of the children. And we need to determine the proper personal data, even if that data is fictitious. I need to know which of you will be the official parents of the children. I have a passport machine in the very rear of the bus which I already used for the eleven women the commandos rescued. After you re-enter Korea, the false passports will be collected," explained Nam. "Does he know where my mama is?" Hak-chul asked Lieutenant Choi. "I do not think so. Wait until we reach North Korea, okay?" asked Lieutenant Choi as her eyes misted up. * * * * * "Colonel, the children of Diao Shaojie are in fine hands with him in terms of parental love. However, they live at the very edge of existence. The children look like skeletons. If they become sick, they could quickly die," declared Captain Roh via phone. "Okay, Captain, this is what we will do," answered Colonel Jang. * * * * * Colonel Ko, Mi-ja, and Yun-bok were walking through the now empty Camp 22. "Your mother was right; she would not have made it here. The food was disgusting at best, usually corn mush filled with insects. I lost about one third of my body weight in just the one year I was here. I saw so many people simply not wake-up in the morning, having died during the night. I even saw a few people who ran to the electrified fence and threw themselves on it to escape their living hell," offered Colonel Ko. "And of course there were many people who were executed. I had no idea there were so many ways to murder someone." "Many people would eat any small animal that crossed their path, but I deduced that it actually made things worse. Snakes always had parasites which caused diarrhea, resulting in more weight loss. Some people died because they lost too much of their body's fluids, and of course, it was impossible to obtain medicine," added Colonel Ko. "Cooking the animals would have made it okay, but prisoners would have been beaten to death before their meal was properly cooked." "Father, how could people do that to their fellow Koreans? Were the guards chosen for their brutality?" asked Yun-bok. "Yes and no. I never saw an organized effort to populate the camps with psychopaths, but they volunteered for duty there. And guards who had a conscience tried everything they could to leave if they were stationed here. Not every last guard had a never-ending urge to murder, but most of them did," answered Colonel Ko. "The crazies convinced themselves that the prisoners were less than human and deserving of of their fate. They were true believers in song-bun and the other evil philosophies of the Kim family." "Did you ever try to escape?" asked Mi-ja. "No, because I saw what happened to those who were unsuccessful. They were hacked apart with axes, ripped apart with automatic weapons fire, set on fire, and beaten to death," responded Colonel Ko. "Pregnant women were given abortions regardless of how far along they were. Many were raped." "This place will never leave me," added Colonel Ko. * * * * * Doctor Lee was waiting for the group of commandos and rescued women. "Ladies, we would like to give you a medical examination, as we do for all refugees. Please come with me," he said. The eleven women first turned to the commandos and gave each one of them a hug in thanks. They then turned and followed Doctor Lee into the examination area. "Let's get something to eat. Then we will find Colonel Jang and get another assignment," declared Captain Sobong. * * * * * Lieutenant Nam used her satellite phone to call Colonel Jang. "Colonel, I need a bus for all of the children I have found!" "How large of a bus?" asked Colonel Jang. "I have 20 children so far and I have not completely searched the hiding places the children tell me they use here. I'll have to give you my GPS coordinates because I am not sure where I am," sheepishly admitted Lieutenant Nam. "I take it that map and compass were not your favorite tools in training. Never mind, I'll get a bus out to you pronto," promised Colonel Jang. * * * * * Lieutenant Ryu, Lieutenant Choi, and Kyung separated at the refugee camp. Kyung took her two children and went in the camp along with the other refugees. Everyone hugged each other, knowing that they might never see each other again. Kyung walked to a table where her parents were sitting. "Father, mother, this is Sung-hoon and Eun-hee. Children, these are my parents, your grandparents." * * * * * Talvela, Lieutenant Song, and the twins entered the conference room of South Korean President Shon Joon-ho. Lieutenant Song and the twins walked to the end of the conference table. Executives from South Korea's chaibol were already present. "Mr. President, thank you for holding this meeting. Gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice," began Talvela. "Very soon, North Korea will be able to hold talks on future business. There are prime locations to be assigned. As is always true, some locations will have perfect access to mass transit and a railway line. Less desirable locations will require the use of trucks to move products. Of course, you will want to build all future factories in North Korea because of the drastically improved transportation, not to mention that your new factories will operate under your native tongue," continued Talvela. "However, we have a severe problem with orphans. Very soon we will have thousands of orphans in need of housing. We simply do not have the space to hold them all. So here is my proposal. We will give you, the chief executives of the major South Korean companies, prime locations for your next factories. We will, in conjunction with South Korea, improve the metro lines and the notoriously poor railway system so you can transport your products most efficiently," added Talvela. Tan-na and Kan-na giggled at the end of the table, drawing everyone's attention to them. Talvela and Lieutenant Song's eyes met for a fleeting moment. "And in return, you will supply project management, all building equipment and supplies, and trained foremen to build new orphanages in Pyongyang. North Korea has plenty of workmen. Given that Internet access will not be available outside Pyongyang for years, maybe many years, we need to situate all of the orphans in Pyongyang so that get the best start in life," continued Talvela. "You will provide basic laptops to all orphans, both from the North and South, for the foreseeable future. Their life sucks enough as it is, so giving them an educational leg-up is essential," added Talvela. "There will be a substantial tax advantage for companies which build all future factories on the Korean peninsula," added President Shon. “The degree of sexual violence in the North Korean military is simply astounding, with around 70% of all military women having been coerced into having sex. The only way to fix that is to appoint a woman to head the combined military of the two Koreas,” continued Talvela. “There are far too many soldiers in the combined armies. I suggest you create three entities. The first is an anti-terrorist team. Take the best parts from my country’s Delta Force, SEALs, and Special Forces by training your soldiers to be the best possible shooters, with some trained to assault from the sea and others trained to assault by helicopter, and all of them speaking multiple languages. They will be employed to board ships that have been assaulted by pirates off Somalia and other African countries. The second is an earthquake rescue team, which would be employed when Korea or other countries suffer a major earthquake. Specialized equipment would be created to make rescues must faster and safer. The third involves the million or so mines situated in the DMZ which must be removed before people can use it for recreation. It must be a priority that there are zero casualties in this removal process, which will be accomplished by creating specialized equipment to detect and remove mines. Some people will be tempted to quicken the removal process by placing explosive charges on top of the mines, but the noise would result in all of the animals running to China – where they would be eaten. No, as many as possible of the mines must be removed and detonated in a pit a good distance from the DMZ. The equipment I mentioned, both for mine removal and earthquake rescue, will be built by a consortium of Samsung, Hyundai, and other companies,” continued Talvela. "And speaking of the DMZ. I realize that South Korean businessmen have plans to build a new city there. It's not gonna happen. The DMZ will be converted to a nature preserve for the red crane, sun bear, and other animals of the Korean peninsula. I think we will actually increase the size of the DMZ, adding adjacent hills that cannot be farmed. We will need to have scientists choose the route, but the DMZ will contain a hiking trail running from coast to coast, something quite unique in the world. We'll add feeder trails so Koreans can day-hike a portion of the main trail. We'll also build hotels on the edge of the DMZ for tourists who want to stay in the area, with these hotels being designed in a similar manner to the majestic ones in my country in the national parks," finished Talvela. “In the past the DMZ kept Koreans apart, but now the DMZ will bring them together.” * * * * * Lieutenants Ryu and Choi took Hak-chul to the house of his grandparents, the sole remaining relatives he had left. "I realize you have never met your grandparents, but I am sure they will give you a good home," said Lieutenant Choi. Lieutenant Ryu knocked on the door. Hak-chul's grandparents opened the door and the three of them went inside. "Do you know where my mama is?" asked Hak-chul of his grandparents. All four adults just looked at each other, not quite sure of what to say. Hak-chul's grandfather bent down in front of him. "Come and sit by me. I have a story to tell you." * * * * * For the first time in well over 60 years there were no weapons to be seen in Panmunjom. "Father, do you remember me? I am Min-kyu, your son. The North Korean authorities took me away to work as a logger, but I escaped and made my way to South Korea with the help of Christian missionaries," exclaimed Min-kyu. "Yes, I remember. You have grown up," answered Lieutenant Kok. "This is my wife, Seul-ki. I have two sons who are both in the army; they are very busy right now. These are their two wives, Ji-yeong and Eun-ju. And these are your great-grandchildren, Hyun-woo and Jin-hye," continued Min-kyu. "Lieutenant Kok, I am President Shon Joon-ho. Welcome home. I am so sorry we could not bring you home sooner," apologized President Shon. "Thank you, Mr. President. It is so good to finally be home," declared Lieutenant Kok. "I do not intend to be impolite, but I would very much like to have something to eat. I am starving." * * * * * "I would like to be the temporary mother of the next orphan we find," said Lieutenant Ryu on their way from Hak-chul's grandparent's house back to the refugee camp. "Of course, it is the Christian thing to do," replied Lieutenant Choi. * * * * * The bus pulled up at the entrance to the refugee camp. Lieutenant Nam emerged and stood next to the door. "Okay, children, it is time to get out and eat dinner," she announced. One after another they exited the bus, with Lieutenant Nam counting to make sure they were all accounted for. 36 hungry children and teenagers walked as fast as their starved bodies would allow to the canteen with Lieutenant Nam following them like a mother duck and her ducklings in reverse order. "Maybe this military thing is okay after all," she thought. Copyright 2020 Pete Prunskunas - All rights reserved.
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April 2024
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