뒷목 잡다잡다

Grabbing the back of one's neck.

Chung-guyok, Pyongyang, December 20th, 1951

As Lee Chang-Ok told it, it wasn't right for a military man to die in any other way than violently, on the battlefield. Dying of disease behind the lines, slowly wasting away with a happy set of stars and fatuous medals was below the dignity of the warrior caste. If you lived to see someone else's son, or, even worse, your own son taking bullets that should've been meant for you - you were an absolute failure and a disgrace. That's how he told it, at least.

Pak Il-u was someone whom Lee Chang-ok had harboured contempt for since the days of the Provisional People's Committee. In every way, he was the opposite of Lee Chang-ok: a Yan'anist rather than a Guerilla. A desk jockey, a man who moved chips on the Baduk board far from where the consequences of those actions would be felt. Lee Chang-ok did not forget that it was Pak Il-u who'd forced him to spend two of his years of service to the Socialist cause in Korea chasing bandits around the countryside. Finishing the campaign had been bittersweet, and again he had been called away to war - this time tasked with subverting and destroying the National Defense Corps in the south.

Now named the Minister of Public Security, an appointment he hated, he had gone south with enthusiasm to crush the guerilla threat. He had been a guerilla, so he knew their operating methods. Yet the populace had been singularly unhelpful - those not already a part of the KWP were not forthcoming about information on the NDC. Some scant information, lists of enrollment and other documents had been captured about them - leading to hundreds of arrests and executions.

Yet the attacks had continued for the months that the KPA had occupied the south. Seoul in particular was still a hotbed of NDC activity. Lee Chang-ok had been asking for military assistance in quashing the threat, but none was available as everything was thrown into the path of stopping the coalition's advance north. That was without saying how underfunded and poorly run his ministry was - his disdain for organizational minutiae and documentation was well-known within the government, and most of that work had fallen to his loyal personal secretary, Yoon Si-u.

Yoon was accompanying his master on the journey north after the latest round of NDC summary executions in Seongdong district. The train to Wonsan then west to Pyongyang was the safest, and what most officers took - the direct Seoul-Pyongyang route was needed for military supplies, and was frequently attacked by enemy airplanes. Most trains would only move at night, and frustration at the slow progress had caused Lee Chang-ok to deboard at Sepo, striking out west along dirt roads to hitch a ride on the back of a supply truck heading to the largest city in the north.

They arrived, picking their way through bomb-ravaged districts and crossing the Taedong river via small ferry boat to the government district in Chung-guyok. Damage here was extensive. Many buildings had corners and roofs missing - bricks and bits of concrete and steel littered every street. Trucks could only move with difficulty. The tram system had been wrecked, and the buses didn't run to save petrol for the truck fleet supplying the south. Gangs of repair workers and engineers roamed the city, effecting ad-hoc repairs wherever they went to try and keep some semblance of a functioning infrastructure. The government complex had taken several direct hits, but was surprisingly still standing. The front steps had been half-shorn away and the courtyard was off limits due to an unexploded Mark 65 1,000 lb bomb dropped within it the previous Sunday. Guard troops of the Ministry of Public Security stood guard with Japanese rifles.

Lee Chang-ok was directed through the shattered building not to Lee Chang-ok's office, but to a loading area at the base of the building. Yoon Si-U immediately grew suspicious, yet he had learned that voicing his doubts to Lee Chang-ok was an unproductive exercise. In any event, Lee had been in the habit of carrying a Mauser C-96 of Chinese stock with him everywhere he went, even to bathe since the war started. He seemed unconcerned as they were led into the basement of the building.

In the loading area, Pak Il-u stood, gazing out the yawning garage door at the swirling snow and reconstruction efforts. A group of Public Security Ministry troops were huddled around a campstove in the corner, seemingly unconcerned by the presence of the Interior Minister. When the two reached the foot of the stairs he twirled around, his smile standing into sneer territory.

“Lee Chang-ok, I thank you for coming at such short notice,” Pak Il-u said.

“And why so short a notice?” Lee Chang-ok asked, stepping through the doorway. Yoon Si-U lingered for a moment as he realized what was about to happen, then -

Three troops of the Public Security Ministry were upon Lee Chang-ok, struggling and wrestling with him. His age began to show as he struggled against them, managing to withdraw his Mauser from its holster before it was swatted away, clattering across the floor. One of the troops wrapped an army bandage around Lee’s throat, pulling at its ends with all his might as his two comrades held the Minister’s arms.

“Lee Chang-ok, you have failed in the discharge of your duty and brought disgrace upon the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea through your incompetence and poor command. I relieve you of your command,” Pak Il-u said with the coldest heart.

It took Lee Chang-ok a long time to die in this way. One of his last thoughts was that he would’ve preferred a firing squad to this back-alley ignominy. At length, his struggles became weaker and weaker. Lee Chang-ok kicked his last kick of defiance before expiring, slumping onto the floor heavily. The army bandage was coated with surface blood, Lee’s neck rubbed raw by the exertion.

Yoon Si-U hovered in the doorway, watching the man he had followed for four years be murdered. He knew that he should feel some measure of sadness and loss. He knew he should be chastising himself for not intervening. He knew that the loss of his chief should devastate him. Yet, he was overwhelmed by the feeling he’d had since the beginning - that it was always going to end this way.

As the body was being wrapped into a blanket, Pak Il-U reached down to retrieve the Mauser pistol. He examined it for a moment, sliding it into a pocket before approaching Yoon. His voice broke the spell of shocked silence.

“I am saddened by your witnessing of these events, but your presence is fortuitous. You are the individual whom I have selected to replace Lee Chang-ok. I am well aware that your organizational efforts have been the only thing allowing the Ministry of Public Security to function. Your ministry shall be renamed the Ministry of Social Security, and subsumed under the Interior Ministry, as it should have been from the start. I congratulate you on your promotion, Yoon Si-U.”

Minister Yoon could only bow and agree.

To be continued…