21.10.12

Future of Korea ,Future of the World

World Harmony and the Korean Peninsula

I miss my hometown so much that I visit it often in my dreams. My
hometown is far beyond Seoul, in Jungju, North Korea. It is an area
that has both mountains and the sea. Wherever I am and whatever
time it may be, my heart is always reaching out to that place where there
is love and life. All of us are born into our parents’ lineage, and as we
grow up we are nourished by our parents’ love. We cannot forget our
hometowns because that is where the ground is soaked with our parents’
love. That is why the older we get, the more we miss our hometowns.
It is where our roots are and where we must return. It is difficult for
people to cut themselves off from things that are fundamentally important
to them. In 2004, I ended my activities in the United States after
thirty-four years and returned to the Korean peninsula, where heavenly
fortune resides.
We are not aware of the exact time when morning becomes noon.
Neither are we aware of the exact time that evening becomes night.
In the same way, human beings have no way of knowing the moment
when Heaven does its work. That is how it is with our lives as well. Our
moments of success and failure all pass us by without our being fully
aware of exactly when they began to unfold. The same is true with nations.
We cannot know the moment when good or ill fortune comes to a
nation. Heavenly fortune is a force that moves the world; it is a principle
that makes the universe go around. Though we may not know it, there is
clearly something called heavenly fortune, which the One who created
this world uses to conduct His providence.
The universe moves in perfect accordance with its own order. All beings
in the world bear within them a certain principle that is put there
even before they exist. When a baby is born, no one has to teach it
how to breathe or to open its eyes. The baby does these things without
being compelled. Things that happen on their own hold within them
important keys to the secrets of the universe.
Many natural phenomena seem to just happen on their own. In
reality, though, they don’t happen in this way. Hidden within natural
phenomena in the universe is a directional force that we are not aware
of and do not understand. This is the same with the forces of fortune
in the universe, or heavenly fortune. As the universe turns, it is certain
that there will be a period of powerful fortune. If we understand the
principle of the universe whereby spring follows winter and is then followed
by summer, then we can foresee a bright future for Korea after a
long winter of misfortune.
Those who are wise will align themselves with the laws and rhythms
of the universe. When I was in America I would often fish in the Hudson
River near my home. I have been a very skilled fisherman since I
was a young boy, but there were days on the Hudson when I could not
catch so much as a tiny minnow and had to return home disheartened.
Fish have paths that they travel and certain times when they pass along
those paths. If we don’t know where these paths are and what times they
are on these paths, we won’t catch any fish. Just because there is water,
it does not mean that there will always be fish passing by. A person who
doesn’t understand this could keep his line in the water all day and all
night, and it won’t do him any good. The same is true with heavenly fortune.
If we don’t have an eye to see the future, we will not see heavenly
fortune, even if it is staring us in the face. That is why it is important to
have a keen understanding of heavenly fortune and an ability to sense
its movements.
World civilization has developed throughout history in a westerly
direction. Egypt’s continental civilization gave way to the peninsular
civilizations of Greece and Rome and then developed to the island civilization
of Britain before moving on to another continental civilization,
this time in America. Civilization continued its westerly move, crossing
the Pacific Ocean to Japan. The movement of human civilization didn’t
stop there. The force that raised Japan up to such a great position is now
moving to the Korean peninsula. Human civilization is about to come
to its fruition on the Korean peninsula.
For Japan’s island civilization to link up with the continent, it must
pass through a peninsula. Asia, of course, has other peninsulas, but only
Korea possesses sufficient foundation to inherit contemporary civilization.
The Korean peninsula is in a most exquisite geopolitical position.
It faces Japan and the United States across the Pacific Ocean. It also is
connected to the continents of Asia and Europe and shares common
borders with China and Russia. This is the reason that Korea has been a
focal point in the power struggles among the world’s great powers and
has suffered a great deal as a result.
During the Cold War, we fought for our very existence in a war against
communism. Even now, the concerns and interests of the world’s great
powers continue to involve the Korean peninsula, so Korea remains a
divided country unable to be completely at peace. The time has come
when the Korean peninsula, where the interests of the great powers collide,
will take on an important role in preventing conflict between these
countries. As a result it will be in a position to lead the rest of the world
into prosperity and peace.
Heavenly fortune comes with tremendous responsibility. Now that
the Korean peninsula has come into its heavenly fortune, it must play a
role similar to a ball bearing, making sure that these countries not only
do not collide with each other but instead cooperate closely for the sake
of the prosperity and peace of the world. The functions of a ball bearing
are to hold the axle of a machine in place while also allowing the axle
to rotate freely. Korea needs to maintain smooth relationships with the
great powers and thus become a ball bearing that allows peace to rotate
freely throughout the world.
For a long time I have been making intensive preparations for
Korea to play this role. I supported the glasnost policies of President
Gorbachev and pushed the goal of improving relations with the Soviet
Union. I also supported the reform and openness policies of Deng Xiao
Ping in China, starting in the late 1980s. I began my work in China
by supporting Yanbian University to establish a college of engineering.
Even after the Tiananmen Square incident, when foreign capital was
leaving China, we remained in China and invested hundreds of millions
of dollars in Huizhou, in Kwangtung Province.
I did not do this just for economic reasons. I am a religious person,
not a businessman. A religious person is someone who sees into the
future and prepares for it. Russia, China, Japan, and the United States
must learn to cooperate with each other while using the spiritual
bearings of the Korean peninsula. The Korean peninsula is destined to
become the axis for world peace.
When I began working to improve relations between Korea and
the Soviet Union and China, I discovered that Korea did not even
have something as basic as a Russian or Chinese dictionary. Very
little was going to get done as long as we could not understand each
other’s languages. When I heard that there were groups of academics
who had the foresight to begin work on a Chinese–Korean dictionary
and a Russian–Korean dictionary, I supported these two projects.
The Chinese–Korean Dictionary Project was led by Professor Il Seok
Hong of the Korea University’s Institute of Korean Culture, and several
professors in the university’s Russian studies department were behind
the effort to publish a Russian–Korean dictionary. These dictionaries
are playing crucial roles in the exchanges between the two Koreas and
China and Russia.
When a rock sits atop the highest mountain peak, once it begins to
fall it will fall all the way to the deepest part of the valley. This describes
the changing fortunes of Western civilization. It is common knowledge
that the West achieved incredible development through the use of science,
but now moral decay is sending it down to the depths of the valley
floor. That valley floor is the East, which has been developing a spiritual
culture for thousands of years.
In particular, the Korean peninsula is the place where Eastern and
Western cultures meet, as well as the place where continental and oceanic
civilizations meet. The historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler put
forth a cyclical theory of the rise and decline of civilizations that took a
dim view of democracy and described it as the type of government that
is leading Western civilization into decline. He argued that democracy
is driven by money and that democracy’s corrupting power and its signs
of moral decline include the rise of materialism and cults of science.
Looking at today’s Western culture, it appears that some of his thoughts
were prophetic. The Atlantic civilization that has prospered until now
is clearly facing a new era, the era of a pan-Pacific civilization that is on
the rise. Asia, with Korea poised to take a central role, is becoming the
lead actor in a new world history. Two-thirds of the world’s population
lives in Asia. All the world’s major religions began in Asia. It has long
served as humanity’s spiritual root.
It is inevitable that the Western and Eastern civilizations come
together in harmony on the Korean peninsula. As the world rapidly
changes, heavenly fortune is moving in Korea’s direction at an ever-increasing
speed. However, if the Korean peninsula is to properly perform
its important role in leading the world to harmony and peace during an
era of chaos, then it must prepare itself well. It must do away with a past
marked with prejudice and selfishness and greet the new age with clear
eyes and a new heart.

20.10.12

Not by Guns or Swords, but by True Love

It is not just the cease-fire line that divides our people. The Youngnam
and Honam regions are also divided by an invisible line.
Also, Koreans who live in Japan are divided between the Korean
Residents Union in Japan, or Mindan, which has ties to South Korea,
and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon,
which has ties to North Korea. The conflict between the two
organizations in Japan is based on the hometowns of their respective
members. Second- and third-generation Korean residents in Japan,
who have never been to their parents’ hometowns, still live in conflict
with each other, as they live within the lines drawn by their parents. The
members of the two organizations use slightly different language, send
their children to different schools, and do not intermarry.
In 2005, I put into effect my long-held plan to create oneness among
Koreans in Japan, as well as among Koreans in the Youngnam and Honam
regions. I invited one thousand members of Mindan and one thousand
members of Chongryon to Seoul, and matched them in sisterhood and
brotherhood relationships to one thousand people from the Youngnam
region and one thousand people from the Honam region. It is next to
impossible for Chongryon and Mindan to sit down together in Japan
and talk about the peaceful unification of North and South. The task
of gathering these people in one place was difficult, but it was deeply
moving for me to see them sitting together and embracing each other.
One Chongryon official at the event was visiting Seoul for the first time.
He spoke in tears as he commented that he deeply regretted the many
years he had spent fighting a war that was not his own, particularly as
he was not even certain which part of the peninsula his father actually
came from. He said he felt immeasurably ashamed for having lived his
life with a meaningless line of division drawn in his heart.
To fully understand the division of the Korean peninsula and the
conflict between the two sides, we must be able to look comprehensively
at the past, present, and future. Every incident has a root cause.
The division of the Korean peninsula was created by the history of
struggle between good and evil. When the Korean War broke out, the
Soviet Union, China, and other communist countries came to the aid
of North Korea. In a similar way, sixteen countries, led by the United
States, sent armed forces to the aid of South Korea. Also, five countries
sent medical teams, and twenty nations provided war supplies. What
other war in history involved so many countries in the fighting? The
reason that the entire world became involved in a war that took place in
the tiny country of Korea is that this was a proxy war between the forces
of communism and the forces of freedom. It could be said that Korea came
to represent the world, and that good and evil fought fiercely on its soil.
Retired general and former U.S. secretary of state Alexander Haig
made an unexpected statement in his congratulatory remarks at the
tenth anniversary of The Washington Times, celebrated in 1992.
“I am a veteran of the Korean War,” he said. “As a commander, I was
in charge of the attack against Heungnam, and we staged the strongest
attack we could. I am deeply moved to hear that Reverend Moon was
being held by the communists and was set free by that day’s attack. It
seems I was sent there to free Reverend Moon. Now, Reverend Moon is
here to save America. The Washington Times is a newspaper that will
save the American people by providing a balanced view of history that
is neither right nor left, and show us the way forward. As we see, there
is no such thing as coincidence in history.”
A few years ago in Korea, there were people making the argument
that the famous statue of General Douglas MacArthur in an Incheon
park should be removed. If United Nations Forces had not joined the
war effort, the country would not be divided between North and South,
as it is today, this argument went. I was shocked to hear this. Such an
argument can only be made from the position of the communist party
of North Korea.
Great sacrifices were made on a global level, and yet the peninsula
remains divided. We do not know the exact date when unification will
come, but it is clear that we are making strong strides in that direction.
There are many obstacles to be overcome on the road to unification. As
we come face to face with each obstacle, we need to work to tear it down
and then move on. Though it may take a long time and prove difficult,
unification will absolutely come if we work with the same desperation
we would have if we were swimming across the Yalu River.
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Romania resisted change
the longest among the communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Then, at the end of 1989, Romania experienced a bloody uprising
by its people. As soon as the regime was toppled, Nicolae Ceauşescu,
who had ruled the country for twenty-four years, was executed, along
with his wife. He was a brutal dictator who mercilessly massacred those
who opposed his policies. In any country, one reason a dictator will
tend to tighten his grip is that he fears for his life in the event he may
lose power. I think that if a dictator can be certain that his own life will
not be placed in danger, he will not go headlong down a dead-end street
in the manner of Ceauşescu.
Our country, too, will be unified before long, by one means or another.
So politicians and economists need to make the necessary preparations
in their own fields of expertise. As a religious person, I will work hard
to prepare to greet the unified Korea in which we can embrace North
Korean people with love and share in a common peace.
I have studied the unification of Germany for a long time. I have
listened to the experiences of those who were involved with regard to
how it was that unification could come without a single bullet being
fired or a single drop of blood being spilled. In so doing, my hope has
been to find a way that is appropriate for Korea. I have learned that the
main reason Germany could be unified peacefully was that East German
leaders were made to understand that their lives would not be in
danger following unification. If East German leaders had not believed this
would be so, they would not have allowed unification to occur so easily.
I came to believe we need to give a similar understanding toward the
rulers of North Korea. A novel based on North Korea was published
in Japan not long ago. In this fictional novel, the rulers of North Korea
repeatedly watch a video of Ceauşescu’s execution and cry out, “That is
what will happen to us if we lose power. Under no circumstances can
we lose our hold on power!” Of course, that is only a novel published
in Japan. We should, however, devote our attention to this real problem
and find a solution for North Korean leaders, to bring about Korea’s
speedy unification.
Building a world of peace on the Korean peninsula is not as difficult
as we may think. When South Korea lives fully for the sake of North
Korea, North Korea will not try to fight the South, and peace will come
naturally to the peninsula. The power that can move a rebellious child is
not the fist or brute power. It is the power of love that wells up naturally
from within the heart. More than rice or fertilizer, it is important for
us to give love to North Korea. We must never forget that it is only
when we consider North Korea’s situation and live for its sake with a
loving and sincere heart that the North will open its heart to us and the
world.

19.10.12

The Land May Be Divided, but Not Its People

The Korean peninsula is one of the last remaining divided countries
on earth. We have the responsibility to unify the peninsula.
We cannot pass a divided homeland on to our descendants. It
is impermissible that a single people should be divided and for peaceloving
people to be unable to see their parents or siblings. The line that
divides North and South Korea was drawn by human beings. Land can
be divided that way, but not people. That we do not forget each other
and continue to yearn for each other even after more than fifty years of
separation shows that we are one people.
The Korean people were traditionally known as “people of white
clothing,” because of the color of our clothes. White is the symbol of
peace. Our people are people of peace. During the time of the Japanese
occupation, Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese lived in Manchuria and
Siberia, sometimes helping each other and at other times killing each
other. During that time, Koreans never carried swords or knives as did
the Japanese and Chinese. Instead, we carried flint rocks. Lighting fires
in the frozen land of Manchuria and Siberia was a way of protecting
life. This is the kind of people we are. We respect Heaven, uphold moral
principles, and love peace. Our people shed much blood during the
time of the Japanese occupation and the Korean War. This, however,
did not bring about the unification of our country or the establishment
of a sovereignty of peace. Our country was broken at the waist into two
pieces, and half became a dark world of communism.
We need unification to restore the sovereignty of our people. We
must end the division between North and South so we can have peace.
Only after we first accomplish peaceful unification and restore our
sovereignty can we bring peace to the world. The Korean people were
created to bring peace to the world. Everything has a name, and names
have meaning. The clothes of the “people of white clothing” are easy to
see, both by day and night. White is good to use for signs during the
night because it is easy to see in the dark. Our people are destined to
convey messages of peace around the world, both day and night.
North and South are divided by a cease-fire line, but this is not the problem.
Once we remove that line, we will find an even larger barrier between
us and Russia and China. For our people to enjoy true peace, we will need
to overcome those cease-fire lines as well. It will be difficult, but it is not
impossible. The important thing is our own attitude.
I believe that when a person sweats, he should sweat every last drop
that he has in him. He should sweat even the last little bit that is in his
heart. That way, he will have no regrets, and everything will become
clean and set in order. The same is true when we attempt anything difficult.
The difficulty will end only when you have gained victory at every
stage, and everything has been made clear. Whatever you are dealing
with needs to be completely put in order. Then it can bear fruit. We cannot
restore our people’s full sovereignty without going through such
tearful difficulties.
Today, many people talk about peaceful unification. I, however,
spoke about this at a time when people did not dare even use the phrase
“peaceful unification,” for fear of being charged with violating the Anti-
Communist Law and the National Security Law. Today, when people
ask me what must be done to bring about unification, I tell them what
I have always said on this matter: “If South Koreans love North Korea
more than they love the South, and North Koreans love South Korea
more than they love the North, we could unify the peninsula today.”
I was able to risk my life to go to North Korea in 1991 and meet
President Kim because I had a foundation of such love within me. I
made agreements then with him regarding meetings of separated families,
North-South economic cooperation, development of Mount Kumgang,
denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and working toward a
North-South summit conference. No one thought an anti-communist
could go to a communist country and open the floodgate of unification,
but I surprised the world.
Before my meeting with President Kim, I delivered a two-hour address
titled “Blood Is Thicker Than Water,” at the Mansudae Assembly
Hall, seat of the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s legislature.
I spoke that day to the leadership of North Korea about a way to unify
North and South through love. I stood before the leadership of North
Korea, who were armed with Kim Il Sung’s philosophy, and told them
exactly what I believed.
“North and South must be unified,” I said, “but guns and swords
will not make us one. North-South unification will not happen with
military force. Even the Korean War failed in this respect, and it is foolish
for anyone to think they can make another attempt through military
force. Neither will unification happen with the juche ideology that you
espouse. What will do it, then? The world does not operate only by the
power of human beings. Because God exists, nothing can be done by
human effort alone. Even in situations of evil, such as war, God carries
out His providence. That is why North and South cannot be unified
through the juche ideology that puts man at the center.
“Bringing about a unified homeland can be done only with
Godism,” I continued. “God is protecting us, and our time of unification
is coming. Unification is the destiny; it is the task that must be
accomplished in our era. If we cannot accomplish the sacred task of
unifying the homeland in our time, we will not be able to hold our
heads high in the presence of our ancestors or descendants for the rest
of eternity.
“What is Godism? It is the practice of God’s perfect love. Neither the
right wing nor the left wing can unify North and South. It will be possible
only when there is a ‘headwing thought’ that is able to harmonize
these two.
“To travel the path of love, you must apologize before the world
for your invasion of the South. I understand that North Korea has
planted twenty thousand resident espionage agents in the South.
Send an order immediately to all of them, instructing them to turn
themselves in to the South Korean authorities. If you do that, I will
give them an education that will rectify their ideology and turn
them into patriots who will contribute to the peaceful unification of
North and South.”
I pounded on the table in front of me as I spoke. The expressions
of Mr. Yun Ki Bok and Vice Premier Kim Dal Hyun grew tense with
fear. I was aware of what dangers I might be exposed to for making such
statements, but I needed to say what I had come to say. I was not simply
trying to shock the audience. I knew that my speech would be reported
immediately, word for word, to President Kim and his son, Chairman
Kim Jong Il. So I wanted to state my purpose clearly.
When I finished, some of the North Koreans present even protested,
demanding to know how I could dare to speak in such a manner. I
looked at my entourage and saw that their faces were white with fear.
Our members who were with me told me: “The speech had a very
strong tone, and the atmosphere of the audience was not good.” I was
adamant, however.
“Why did I come here?” I asked them. “I didn’t come to see the land
of North Korea. If I were to leave here without saying what needed to be
said, Heaven would punish me. Even if today’s speech is used by them
as an excuse to deny me a meeting with President Kim and to expel us
from the country, I still needed to say what I came to say.”
On July 8, 1994, President Kim suddenly died. His death came when
North-South relations were at an all-time low. Patriot missiles had been
deployed on South Korean soil, and war hawks in the United States
advocated the destruction of nuclear facilities in Yongbyon. It appeared
that war might break out at any time. North Korea announced it would
not receive any mourners from outside the country, but I felt it was
important we send someone. I wanted to fulfill my obligation, as I had
formed a brotherly relationship with President Kim.
I called Bo Hi Pak. “Go immediately to North Korea as my representative
to mourn President Kim’s death.” I said.
“No one can get into North Korea now,” he said.
“I know it’s difficult, but somehow you have to go. I don’t care if
you have to swim across the Yalu River. Get in there and convey my
condolences.”
Bo Hi Pak first traveled to Beijing and risked his life to communicate
with North Korea. Then, Chairman Kim Jong Il gave the instruction,
“An exception will be made for a mourning representative from President
Moon. Escort him to Pyongyang.”
After condolences had been expressed, Chairman Kim Jong Il met
with Bo Hi Pak and politely greeted him, saying, “My father always
said that President Moon was working hard for the unification of our
homeland. I am glad you came.”
In 1994, the Korean peninsula was in such a crisis that it could have
exploded at any time. In that moment, we were able to resolve the
nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula because of the relationship I had
formed with President Kim Il Sung. Sending a representative to express
my condolences was not a simple matter of mourning.
I described my meeting with President Kim in considerable detail to
illustrate my point about the importance of faith and loyalty between
two people. I met him for the sake of the peaceful unification of our
homeland. I was able to convey my concerns for the destiny of our
people with faith and loyalty. As a result, after his death, his son, Chairman
Kim Jong Il, accepted our mourning representative. There is no
wall that cannot be scaled and no dream that cannot be realized when
we share our love with a sincere heart.
When I went to North Korea, I thought of it as my homeland and
the home of my brother. I didn’t go there with a desire to get something
from them. I went with the purpose to share with them my heart of
love. The power of love touched not only President Kim Il Sung but
also his son, Chairman Kim Jong Il. Since then, and continuing to this
day, we have maintained a special relationship with North Korea. Each
time North-South relations become difficult, we have played a role in
opening the gateway. It is all based on the fact that I met with President
Kim Il Sung, conveyed to him my sincere heart, and built a relationship
of trust with him. That is the importance of trust.
Following my meeting with President Kim, we now operate the
Pyonghwa Motors plant, the Potonggang Hotel, and the World Peace
Center in North Korea. There are eight billboards for Pyonghwa Motors
around Pyongyang. When the South Korean president visited North
Korea, North Korean officials took him to the Pyonghwa Motors plant.
South Korean business leaders who accompanied the president stayed at
the Potonggang Hotel. Non-North Korean members of our church who
work in North Korea gather at the World Peace Center each Sunday for
worship service. All of these projects are efforts for the sake of peaceful
exchanges and unification of North and South. They are not being
done to make a profit. They are efforts to contribute to the unification of
North and South as an expression of love for the Korean people.
=============================

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18.10.12

My Meeting with President Kim Il Sung

I had not gone to North Korea because I wanted to see my hometown,
or because I wanted to tour Mount Kumgang. I wanted to
meet President Kim Il Sung and have a serious discussion on the
future of our homeland. Yet, six days into my visit, there was no word

on whether a meeting with President Kim could be arranged. When we
arrived back at Pyongyang’s Sunan Airport by helicopter after visiting
my hometown, however, I found that Vice Premier Kim Dal Hyun had
unexpectedly come to meet me.
“The Great Leader Kim Il Sung will receive you tomorrow,” he told
me. “The place will be the Majeon Presidential Residence in Heungnam,
so you will need to board a special flight immediately, and go to
Heungnam.”
I thought to myself, “They say he has many presidential residences.
Why, of all places, Heungnam?”
On my way, I noticed a large sign for the Heungnam Nitrogen Fertilizer
Factory, where I had been forced to labor. It reminded me of
my time in prison and gave me an odd feeling. I spent the night in a
guesthouse and went the next day to meet the president.
As I approached the official residence, I found President Kim at the
entrance, waiting to greet me. The two of us simultaneously embraced
each other. I was an anti-communist and he was the leader of a communist
party, but ideology and philosophies were not important in the
context of our meeting. We were like brothers who were meeting for the
first time after a long separation. This was the power of belonging to the
same people and sharing the same blood.
Right at the outset, I said to him: “Mr. President, because of your
warm consideration, I have been able to meet my family. There are,
however, 10 million Koreans who are members of families separated
between North and South, and they are unable even to know whether
their relatives on the other side are alive or dead. I would like to ask you
to grant them the opportunity to meet each other.”
I spent a little more time telling him about my visit to my hometown,
and appealed to his love for the Korean people. He and I spoke the same
dialect, so we were at ease with one another.
President Kim responded, “I feel the same way. From next year, let’s
begin a movement that allows separated compatriots of North and South
to meet one another.” His acceptance of my proposal was as natural as
the snow melting in spring.
After speaking of my visit to Jeong-ju, I moved on to my views on
nuclear weapons. I respectfully proposed that North Korea agree to a
declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and sign a
safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
President Kim responded with candor, “President Moon. Think for
a moment. Who am I going to kill by making nuclear weapons? Kill
my own people? Do I look like that kind of person? I agree that nuclear
energy should be used only for peaceful purposes. I have listened attentively
to what you have to say, and I expect it will be all right.”
At the time, North-South relations were at a difficult point over the
issue of nuclear inspections in North Korea, and so I had made my proposal
with some reluctance. Everyone present, however, was surprised
that President Kim responded in such a pleasant tone. At this point, we
adjourned our meeting to a dining room, where we took an early lunch.
“President Moon, are you familiar with ‘frozen potato noodles’? It’s a
dish I ate quite often when I was active as a partisan on Mount Baekdu.
Please try some.”
“Well, of course I know it,” I said, responding to his words with delight.
“We used to enjoy this dish in my hometown.”
“Well, I’m sure in your hometown you ate it as a delicacy,” he continued.
“I ate it to survive. The Japanese police used to search for us all the
way to the top of Mount Baekdu. We didn’t have a chance to sit down
to a decent meal. What else is there to eat at the top of Mount Baekdu
other than potatoes?
“We would start to boil some potatoes, and if the Japanese police
came after us, we would bury the potatoes in the ground and run away.
It would be so cold that by the time we got back, the potatoes would
be frozen solid in the ground. The only thing we could do was dig up
the potatoes, thaw them, and then turn them into powder, so we could
make noodles out of them.”
“Mr. President,” I said, “you are an expert on frozen potato noodles.”
“That’s right. They taste good mixed in bean soup, and they also taste
very good if you eat them in sesame soup. It’s a dish that is easy on the
digestion, and because potatoes have a tendency to stick together, it is
very filling.
“Also, President Moon,” he continued, “it tastes really good if you
do like they do in Ham-gyung Province and take some leaf mustard
kimchi, like this, and put it over the noodles. You should try it.”
I did as he suggested and ate my frozen potato noodles with some
leaf mustard kimchi over them. The tasty flavor of the noodles matched
well the spicy kimchi and left my stomach feeling light.
“There are many delicacies in the world,” President Kim said. “I’m
not interested in any of those. There’s nothing better than the potato
cakes, corn, and sweet potatoes that I used to eat in my hometown.”
“You and I even share similar tastes in food,” I said. “It’s good that
people who share the same homeland can meet like this.”
“How was it when you visited your hometown?” he asked me.
“I was filled with many emotions,” I said. “The home where I lived
was still there, and I sat in the main room to think about the past. I
almost expected to hear the voice of my late mother, calling me. It was
an emotional feeling.”
“I see,” he said. “It shows that our country needs to be unified immediately.
I hear that when you were young, you were quite mischievous.
Did you have a chance to run around while you were there this time?”
Everyone at the table laughed at the president’s comment.
“I wanted to climb a tree and go fishing, but I heard that you were
waiting for me, so I quickly came here. I hope you will invite me to
come again sometime.”
“Well, of course. Of course I will. President Moon, do you like to
hunt? I like hunting very much. I think if you go bear hunting on Mount
Baekdu, you will enjoy it very much. Bears have big bodies and look
uncoordinated, but they are actually very nimble.
“I once came face to face with a bear,” he continued. “The bear
looked at me and didn’t move a muscle. If I had started to run, you
know what would have happened, don’t you? So what was I going to do?
I stared right back at him and just stood there. One hour passed, then
two hours, three hours. But the bear just kept staring at me. You know
how Mount Baekdu is famous for being cold. I was afraid I might freeze
to death before the bear ate me.”
“So what happened?”
“Well, President Moon, do you see the bear sitting here, or do you
see me?”
I laughed out loud, and President Kim immediately followed with a
suggestion.
“President Moon,” he said, “the next time you come, let’s go hunting
together on Mount Baekdu.”
I responded quickly with my own invitation.
“Mr. President, you like to fish, don’t you? On Kodiak Island in
Alaska, you can catch halibut that are as big as bears. Let’s go fishing for
those sometime.”
“Halibut as big as bears? Well, I will definitely have to go.”
The two of us were able to communicate well about our shared hobbies
of hunting and fishing. At one point, we each felt we had so much
to say to the other that we just started talking like old friends meeting
after a long separation. Our laughter echoed around the dining room.
I also talked about Mount Kumgang.
“I went to Mount Kumgang, and it really is a beautiful mountain,”
I said. “It needs to be developed as a tourism destination for our
people.”
“Mount Kumgang will be an asset to our unified homeland,” President Kim
said. “So I have made sure that only certain people can touch it. If it’s developed
in the wrong way, it could be ruined. You have an international eye,
and I could trust someone like you to take it over and develop it for us.”
President Kim went so far as to ask that we develop Mount Kumgang.
“Mr. President,” I said, “you are older than me, so you are like my
older brother.”
He responded, “President Moon, from now, let’s refer to each other as
older brother and younger brother,” and he grasped my hand tightly.
President Kim and I held each other’s hand as we walked down the
hallway and took commemorative photographs. Then I left the residence.
After I had gone, I was told that President Kim told his son, Kim
Jong Il, “President Moon is a great man. I have met many people in my
life, but none were like him. He has a broad scale of thinking, and he
overflows with heart. I felt close to him. It made me feel good to be with
him, and I wanted him to stay for a long time. I want to meet him again.
After I die, if there are things to discuss pertaining to North-South relations,
you must always seek the advice of President Moon.”
So it seemed that we had communicated very well.
Soon after I ended my weeklong stay and left Pyongyang, Prime
Minister Hyung Muk Yeon led a North Korean delegation to Seoul.
Prime Minister Yon signed an agreement to denuclearize the Korean
peninsula. On January 30 of the following year, North Korea signed
a nuclear safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy
Agency, thus fulfilling the commitments that President Kim had made
to me. These were the results I accomplished by going to Pyongyang at
the risk of my life.

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