자구다복

Oneself seeking their own happiness.

Tongdaewon-Dong, Pyongyang, June 9th, 1950

The factions were the issue now. While the Domestic faction was kneecapped by the roll-purge of 1947, it was nonetheless still a large power base; even if many of those adherents had rather loose connections to Domestic ideologies. It had been the preeminent and really the only faction in the south before the parties merged, and now inducting many of the southern members had boosted the rolls of the Domestic faction. Yet it was no matter to Pak Il-u. He had removed his opponents, those "addicted to individual heroism." Ri Kang-guk, the former foreign minister, had been one of these - he had upstaged the Chairman too many times in his firey speeches, and now he was gone. O Ki-Sop, the kowtowing Labour Department head was gone too. Not purged - no, it was not time for that level of violence. Only removed, as one cuts a vexing scab off. Yet some fools remained. And that was even without the matter of the parties - the Social Democrats and the Chondoist Chongu party counted many of the ministers within their ranks.

Pak Il-u was a penman sans pareil, which benefited one who had the habit of keeping everyone else's secrets for when they needed to be used later. His journal, which he practically kept chained to himself, laid out on the bench next to him as he sat in the Taedong riverside park. Behind him, one of the new trams clattered by. It made him think of Ho Nam-hui, that spineless 'independent' (he hated the word) who had somehow made it through his purge into the role of Minister of Transportation. He opened the journal to re-read what he had been writing the nights before.

The Factions of the People's Republic

We are democratic, are we not? For we keep the endless bickering and jousting and backalley dealings that "rule by the people" necessitates. The factions are disgusting and ostentatious, but we are no government without them.

Guerillas

The illustrious faction, the old guard of fighters and killers and grenade-lobbers who only bothered to learn to write as it is compulsory. This faction centers around those who had fought in Manchuria and many in the Soviet Red Army. To hear them talk, they all shot a dozen imperialists a day for a decade and a half before returning gloriously to our fatherland. Especially that boar Lee Chang-ok. You would think he threw back the Japanese on his own. This faction was tiny at one time, and its only relevance comes from Kim Il-Sung belonging to it. Now, the head of the Army and one of the Vice Premiers are also Guerillas, and Lee heads the Security Department. While they are boars and gorillas, they must be accommodated - they know how to shoot the people that require being shot.

Soviet Koreans

Ho Ka-i is not someone to be trusted. He leads the Soviet Korean faction, the people who returned from the lands north, to a man speaking Korean with thick accents or not at all. Yet we need Russian speakers. We need the Soviets to come along in our plans, to assist us, to arm us and to feed us. Perhaps we are setting ourselves up for another dependency, but what can be done about it now? The faction itself is one of strong, strong opinions. Ho Ka-i has very particular ideas about where he wants the party to go. But, if not for them then our Communist institutions would look very different, or not appear at all. For that, they are useful. Their message to the Russians is useful. I have hopes that the Commerce Minister Yi Chu-yon shall prove the primary useful member of this faction.

Yan'an

If I must be put into a faction, it is this. The "Chinese" faction as some call us, the exiles from Shaanxi province. Many fought alongside the People's Liberation Army, many have close ties to China, to Mao there and to other Chinese besides. Much of them have subsidiary affection for the Hwagyo, and want to see closer relations between China and Korea. My own feelings on this need not be stated. If anyone is to stand up against the Ilminists and the Culturalists in the south, it shall be the Yan'an faction. Our faction controls many of the most important functions of the state, so its power is unquestioned.

Domestic

Perhaps it is even trying to still call them a faction? After all, the Domestic ideals were gutted in a few instances before the present. Yet they are still present. We have not driven them out completely. The Domestics are those who did not leave the country for their Education in Toil. Much of the Domestics have been active in Communist circles since long before the Worldwide Anti-Fascist War. Many languished in the Japanese prisons. And, in that way, they have ties to the Communist Party in Seoul. They have designs on the leadership that are not entitled Kim Become-the-Sun. And, for that reason, they are unacceptable, and they must be watched and controlled closely. While many are useful administrators, they cannot be trusted with policycraft.

Social Democrats

These are not ideologues, they are "realists." Their alliance is useful, it is attractive to those fencesitters that remain in the north and those that predominate in the south. But the Social Democrats are not Communists, nor are they spineful enough to pretend that they are. They will come along with us. Perhaps there are many more of them in the South than we realize. They are not worthy of leadership in the People's Republic.

Chondoist Chongu

The Peasant Utopians, perhaps the useful idiots, perhaps the religious fanatics, perhaps the most purgeworthy yet the least harmful of the factions. Their ideals are at least not repugnant to our program, and for that reason Kim has not ordered their large-scale execution. Their message of equality resonates well with many of the peasantry who have not succeeded in freeing themselves from the theistic grip - yet.

He closed the book again, thinking heavily on the state of affairs. It was clear that the intrigue and scheming was far from finished within the North.

To be continued...