Dear Comrade

Chapter 2. Iron Man (1)

Episode 3. Iron Man (1)

Volvo’s 144 model, a Swedish car brand, is a Volvo hit with over 1 million sold worldwide, and over 1,000 imported into North Korea, mainly used for taxis.

Unlike South Korea, where the mica era is slowly approaching, private cars are still not very common in North Korea.

Maybe that’s why, looking at Hyerim waiting for Jeonghwan with the car door open, she glanced at the students around him and looked envious of him.

However, Jung Hwan’s mind was somewhere else.

“There is still some time left for the learning center to close, wouldn’t it be okay to study a little more?”

“Comrade Kim Myung-ae tells Comrade Jeong Hwan that he has something to say. You have to go home early today.”

“mother…..?”

Jeonghwan frowned for a moment at Yoo Hye-rim, who answered in an insensitive tone, and then got into the car without a sound.

Soon, she skillfully drove out of the learning center and headed for Jeonghwan’s ‘home’.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“sorry. I don’t know either.”

Hyerim Yoo, as always, was obedient as always, but at the same time responded indifferently to his question thrown from the car on the road.

Jeonghwan closed his mouth without asking any more questions, but he shed a cold cynicism inside.

‘Even though he is a watchman disguised as a secretary, he seems to be under a lot of work stress. I mean, it’s good that you’re playing the role of a nanny for a kid like me, not the core of the Central Party.’

Hyerim Yoo, 25 years old.

In Jeonghwan’s memory, the North Korean army… No, she belonged to the escort command of the Korean People’s Army and was tasked with escorting, training, and assisting Jeonghwan’s father, Kim Il-sung, and his family at close range. It was.

Even within the complex North Korean military system, the escort command is made up of elites, who are well-treated and have a clear origin as they have been given the core task of guarding the leader and his family.

Of course, this is only a superficial story…

‘I don’t know if it’s good or bad because there’s only one watcher, but it’s clear that Kim Jong-il doesn’t consider this friend Kim Jeong-hwan as his main competitor.’

Jeonghwan thought so as he took in the panoramic view of Pyongyang passing through the window.

Proximity security means that you are watching the person’s every move.

Considering that Kim Jong-il had long since seized military power by concurrently serving as both a standing member and a military member of the Party Politburo in 1983, given the timing, what that woman named Yoo Hye-rim is actually doing is not escorting Jeong-hwan, but surveillance or, in the event of an assassination, likely. was high.

……..Well, considering that he is in charge of guarding a ‘side branch’ of Baekdu blood like himself, he doesn’t seem to have a very high position within the escort command.

‘I’ll have to pull out the thorn under the nail first. Broadening the range of movement is a priority.’

Junghwan came to a conclusion on the problem that had been tormenting his head before and hinted at Yoo Hye-rim, who was concentrating on driving with an expressionless face.

Come to think of it, the word iron man has other meanings besides the meaning of ‘qualified leader’.

Man of Steel, Iron Man, or… The enemy of Steel?

“Comrade Hyerim, do you know about the word ‘iron man’?”

“yes?”

Yoo Hye-rim tilted her head in response to a random question posed by her boss sitting in the back seat.

“Comrade Jeonghwan, I’m sorry, but I don’t know. What does that mean?”

“I mean, iron man. It’s a word that came up while I was doing an assignment given to me by a professor at the learning center today, but it didn’t leave my head. What does the word ‘cheolman’ that Comrade Hyerim knows mean?”

To Jeonghwan’s question, Hyerim responded with an expression of ‘what is this comrade going to do?

Meanwhile, Jung-hwan, who asked the question, was inadvertently thinking that her flickering eyelashes reflected through the mirror were quite beautiful.

“That’s… doesn’t that mean you’re a human made of iron?”

“It was written that way in the dictionary. But there are many other meanings other than that. In the meantime, I’ve seen Comrade Hyerim all the time, but you have a good brain, so think about it (guess it).”

“…………”

To Jeonghwan’s question, Hyerim Yoo chewed her lips for a while, then answered lightly without thinking much.

“High and low… (So…) When you say an iron man, a man made of iron, after all, doesn’t it mean that he, the ‘Great Marshal’? When referring to his great leadership and deeds, doesn’t he mainly draw steel?”

Hyerim Yoo replied indifferently, but at that moment, Jeonghwan’s eyes, who were sitting in the back seat, gleamed and twinkled.

However, Yoo Hye-rim, who was concentrating on driving, could not see Jung-hwan’s expression change.

“right? After all, the great leaders of socialism who remain in our history (history) are often compared to iron men.”

“you’re right. Even in Russia, the great Marshal, Comrade Stalin, is often referred to as the Great Marshal of Steel…”

When Hyerim said that without much thought, Jeonghwan coughed and even made a little fuss as if he was deliberately surprised.

“Uh, Comrade Stalin? This was a misunderstanding. When I said ‘Daewon-sun-nim’, of course, I was referring to Comrade Kim Il-sung, the great leader and president of the Korean People’s Republic. Comrade Hyerim seems to have lived in Russia for a long time?”

Jeonghwan’s words were blunt, but Yoo Hyerim’s response was swift and immediate.

As soon as he heard Jeonghwan’s point, Hyerim’s face turned white immediately, and the hand holding the steering wheel trembled and even the car they were riding in shook slightly.

Jeonghwan clicked his tongue slightly as he grabbed his body shaking at the vibration of the rattling seat.

‘Ttt, I forgot for a moment that that woman was driving. I have to stop provoking more here.’

“That, that, right? Sin, sorry! Comrade Jeonghwan. I accidentally…”

“Hmm, when I say a military officer of the escort command, I would think of the marshal as leader Kim Il-sung, but Comrade Hyerim seems to lack loyalty to the party.”

As Jung-hwan continued to press, Hye-rim Yoo’s face, who had been pretending to be calm for a while, was now completely gray.

Soon enough, she could not drive any more, so she stopped the car and turned to Jeonghwan in the back seat to beg.

“Lord, I have sinned to death. comrade! If you do not notify the escort command by all means, I will consider it an eternal blessing!”

“Oh, put your mind at ease, Comrade Hyerim. Because I’m not that clumsy either. But there’s something I want to ask you. I’d appreciate it if you could answer me without lies.”

“………………”

The escort command strictly escorts the Kim family, the de facto royal family of North Korea, from a close range, so not only their abilities, but also their background and loyalty.

Of course, it goes without saying that loyalty here should be directed not to the people, the state, or the Workers’ Party of Korea, but to the members of the Kim family, especially Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, who are called ‘Suryong’ and ‘General’.

Of course, even those who enter the escort command after such strict screening can make a mistake, and the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union and North Korea are essentially the same socialist camps…

‘The year 1985 is a time when the confrontation between the Soviet Union and North Korea is gradually coming to the surface. Although they wear masks that smile at each other because of the common enemy of the United States, the Soviet Union has long been portrayed as an unreliable foreign power within North Korea.’

Although it is not overtly frowned upon because of the realistic problem that the regime would be difficult to survive without economic and political support from the Soviet Union.

While Yoo Hye-rim is shivering for a mortal sin, not a mortal sin, that an elite from the escort command misunderstood the title of Kim Il-sung and nowhere else, Jung-hwan spent the past month studying at the Learning Center day and night, studying and preparing with future knowledge. took the first step in

“Did Comrade Hyerim graduated from college in Russia?”

“Yeah, yes.”

“Which university?”

“F, this is Frunze Military Academy (Военной академии имени М. В. Фрунзе, MV Frunze Military Academy).”

Frunzera…. as well.

“So, does that mean that Comrade Hyerim studied abroad at Frunze? Are there any other military comrades studying abroad in Frunze within the escort command?”

“Yeah, yes. I and the other comrades received in-depth political and military training in Russia for one year with consideration from the Party Central Committee, and then returned to Joseon and reassigned to their current positions.”

“Hmm.”

Jeonghwan sighed inconspicuously after confirming that his knowledge was ‘verified’, but Hyerim’s face, who seemed even more puzzled by the gesture, became even more contemplative.

However, Jeonghwan quickly released his expression and quickly reassured her.

“I know that Prungera and Russia are places where only the best people go, but I didn’t know that Comrade Hyerim came out of such a higher education institution in a female (female) body. It’s a dreadful thing. Thanks to people like Comrade Hyerim, the future of North Korea is bright.”

Of course, my future too.

Hyerim Yoo was perplexed by Junghwan’s sudden praise, but then cautiously spoke again.

“Comrade Jeonghwan, I committed a crime of treason by saying that word turned my tongue. In the future, I will not forget the kindness like Ha Hae of the leader, general, and comrade Jeong Hwan, so please just notify the party center…”

…remember that.

Hyerim, who had committed the crime of mistaking the title of Kim Il-sung in front of the Baekdu bloodline, was not someone else, but Jeonghwan reassured her and gave her a warm smile.

“Relax, Comrade Hyerim. As I said before, I’m not that tough of a person either. Please don’t make such mistakes in the future. Please don’t let the party know about this.”

“Go, thank you, thank you! Comrade Junghwan!”

“Then let’s go home now. Because I wonder what your mother is talking about.”

Soon the car started again and Hyerim Yoo started driving again with a noticeably polite attitude.

However, for Jung-hwan, such a change in Yoo Hye-rim did not matter.

His mind was filled with only plans he had made based on the information he knew, who had returned from the future.

“Mother, you are back.”

“It’s Jeonghwan, come sit down.”

Jung-hwan’s mother, Kim Myung-ae, was a former party interpreter and fell in love with Kim Il-sung and gave birth to Jeong-hwan.

Although he has retired from the front line and is enjoying a leisurely life in Pyongyang, he is smart and sensitive to the direction of power as his original job was a job.

Of course, she was far from a villain or a fairy who will go down in history like Jang Hee-bin or Yekaterina.

But at least he knew enough that he and his son’s lives could be ruined by a single word from the sun and leader of the Korean People’s Republic, Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il, and a moment’s whim.

“Junghwan-ah, don’t you know that the Koryo Hotel is opening soon?”

‘I saw that.’

Junghwan, who was in deep thought in the car, opened his eyes wide at the words of his mother, Myeongae Kim, and nodded.

The Koryo Hotel, a representative luxury hotel in North Korea opened in 1985, that is, this year, is located on Changgwang Street in the Jung District of Pyongyang, operated by an international tourism agency, and has 45 floors above the ground and more than a thousand beds (based on this era). It is a modern building.

Up to this point, Jung-hwan, who had returned, knew the information, but the information that came out of Kim Myung-ae’s mouth the next moment was the first he had heard of his life in South Korea.

“The leader’s birthday party is held there. Don’t forget that the central officials, General Kim Jong-il, and his blood and blood were all taught to be able to attend.”

‘Look at this?’

In fact, it was a fact that Jung-hwan could not know until a few days later that it was Kim Il-sung’s birthday.

In North Korea, the birthday of Kim Il-sung is designated and celebrated as a national holiday because it is called 4.15 (later it will be renamed to a more grandiose name, Day of the Sun).

Moreover, since several months ago, placards were put up all over Pyongyang and students were mobilized for various events to prepare for this event, so it was a fact that there was nothing new for Jeonghwan.

However, the fact that the event was held at the Koryo Hotel and that he was invited to it was a first-of-its-kind statement.

“This is an opportunity to put a stamp on the leader of Abajji, so prepare well. and….”

“……?”

“Take care of General Kim Jong-il and always behave well so that you do not only see him. You are all grown up now, do you know what I mean? Please, come back to your hometown.”

“…………”

can’t you know

Jeonghwan raised his head and looked at the ‘mother’, Kim Myung-ae, who looked at him worriedly.

Her eyes, who had lived in the shadows unintentionally all her life, were mixed with worries and concerns about her only son, and faint anxiety and fear.

Jeonghwan, who knows who the fear was, saw him, and even though he was not a mother, something hot rose in his heart.

“Don’t worry, mother.”

Jeonghwan, who had not felt that motherhood in a long time, made a promise to become a little emotional, unlike that.

For some reason, the first human body temperature he felt after reincarnation reminded him of Kyungsoo, the only friend he had in his previous life, he did not know.

And time passed, and finally, the birthday of Kim Il-sung, verse 4.15 .