일석이조

One stone, two birds.

Air Defense Position 132, Sinuiju, September 25th, 1951

Ho Jong-suk looked up at the big, imposing barrel of the one-hundred millmeter gun, its barrel ending in an imposing, blackened muzzle brake. Used casings from the big shells littered the outside of the circular position. The ground around it had been churned up by bomb near-misses.

She turned to look at the cameramen who followed her everywhere, which was only natural given her role as Minister of Propaganda and Culture. The men of the Air Defense Position, who'd spent the morning driving away an American B-26 attack, stood around. Their faces were sweat-stained and filthy, small powder burns encrusting their uniforms.

She began to speak. "It is a momentous time for Korea. You all know this. Were it not for the inherent justice of the cause in which we are now engaged, were the face of our nation and the safety of our people not at risk, it would not be just for us to call you to this work you are now engaged it. And yet, it is just. We need men like you, men who choose to do what is right, to engage in the defense of our country from a monstrous, imperialist grip.

"And yet, I come this day to tell you that your country requires more of you. I come this day to ask you - in the spirit of fraternity and union between the sexes, that the 377th Air Defense Regiment shall be the first converted to an all-female crew."

Photographers snapped her Air Defense Speech, which quickly became the most well-read international feminist text to come from the early Democratic People's Republic. About 100 women volunteers stood at the entrance to the position, surveying it with interest, concern, excitement, and determination.

"The women volunteers here come from farms, from mills, from homes and from workshops. They come in much the same spirit as you. They come out of love of country, out of a sense of justice, out of an indignation at the wrongs wrought upon them by the Imperial Evil. They come to help you in your fight. They do this not because you are incapable, but because they are capable. They do this to join you, not to replace you. And, I speak for the Cabinet Ministries when I say their bravery is without compare, both in their spirit to the defense of their country and their spirit towards the enliberation of their sex."

Thus is was, signed into law by Kim Il-Sung, that the next chapter of the equalization of the sexes in Korea under the Democratic People's Republic continued. "Worker, Soldier, Woman" was the watchword of the program, soon adorning pamphlets, leaflets and posters all across the peninsula.

To be continued...