시작이 반이다

Well begun is half done.

Sunan District, September 18th, 1947

It was not a popular program from the beginning. Transportation Department Head No Nam-hui, a rather unpopular independent, a political unknown, was nonetheless a thorough modernist. He believed in the Three Ways of travel (his own private belief system) - travel upon the land, meaning railways; travel upon the sea, and travel upon the air. He believed in thorough investment in the promise of air travel, a belief in which he was almost alone. It was only through an extreme act of political wrangling between Kim Il-Sung, who had something of a fondness for Nam-hui, and Vice Chairman Kim Chaek, who wanted him removed from the Committee (and purged, for that matter), that Nam-hui's program, the Sky-Road, was allowed to go ahead.

"And so," No said in his rather grunting tones, "Sunan airfield will soon become a nexus of travel, a nexus of revolutionary spirit flowing into the people of Korea, filling them with a breath of jubilance and excitement towards the spreading of our program in all places of the world." He dropped the fifth page of his speech, the others floating in the light breeze of the open field. Just then there was a commotion behind him. No turned to see Kim Chaek strolling forward, gesturing and smiling - before half-pulling him away from the podium.

"Well said," the Vice Chairman intoned. "The Party thanks you, Comrade No. To the ends of Socialist fraternity and connection, we are glad to inaugurate this airfield, and to re-iterate the party's commitment to commerce and industry. And -" he gestured down the field to two Tachikawa Ki-9 trainer aircraft, leftovers of the Japanese imperialists "- may Korean dominance extend to the sky!"

A cheer erupted from the re-energized crowd, as the two Ki-9s lined up and took off in a rather dilatory fashion. No looked on, half-embarrassed and half-wanderstruck.

The Sky-Road program was thus established, with the following goals:

• The creation of a Korean civil aviation sector, drawing from those already trained in the Korean Aviation Society (which was formed in 1945) and assigning them to "civilian aviation tasks" such as navigation practice, aerial photography, etc.

• The training of new pilots, especially those not previously affiliated with the IJAAF

• The beginning of arrangements with friendly nations, notably the Soviet Union, to fly civil aircraft between Sunan airfield, near Pyongyang, and foreign countries

• The training of maintenance personnel, as well as the production of spare parts for aircraft within Korea

As with much of the Five Year Plan, this program would be funded through the generous $100 Million USD aid provided by the USSR.