Thread by @NKcomics

《A.T작전》의 종말 “The End of Operation AT”
Vol. 4 of 4

Will:
*Ryang U-gil & family make it back to #NorthKorea?
*Prosecutor Ma Yong-gum solve the mystery?
*the dastardly Hong Mae & Harrison get their comeuppance?
*#Zainichi Korean Cho Jang-il be reconciled to his homeland?

Size: 145x205
Pub: 문학예술출판사
Printer: 평양종합인쇄공장-2
Printed: 2008.7.25
Released: 2007.7.30
Pages: 112
Product code: ㄱ-86201
Text: 황명관 & 리재환
Illustrator: 최영석
Editor: 류인호
Cover: 최영석
Proofreading: 정경진
Layout: 강은정

2
Characters (vol.4)
Kim Chol-bom
Ma Yong-gum
O Ryong-bong
Ryang U-gil
Cho Chun-hwa
Cho Jang-il
Harrison
Hong Mae*
Choe Chang-dong

*This name means “red plum blossoms” in Korean but is also a brand of Chinese-made televisions in North Korea.
rfa.org/korean/weekly_…

3
[at a hotel]
Honey, it’s already been a few days. Let’s hurry and go back. I feel like we can’t let this wait any longer…

4
Good grief! You don’t even understand the situation. How can you know what’s on my mind?
-Huh? What kind of thing is that to say?

5
Darling, let’s go out for a bit.
Myong-san, have some candies and stay here.
-OK.

6
[outside the hotel (garden)]
Darling, now that it’s come to this, what’s the point of hiding it from the boy any longer?

7
I dunno, I trusted Hong Mae and now this…
-Huh?
-And even coming all the way here was actually…
-But why haven't you told me that all this time?
-Even if it meant me suffering all alone, I didn’t want to worry you…

8
Stop that nonsense. If I’m really a wife to you, then listen up.
It’s not too late even now to go back and ask our comrades for…

9
Argh…
-So you still don't trust me, your wife, nor the organisation, the group, nor even the...
-No, no, no, no, no. I absolutely…

10
Haha. Seeing husband & wife sharing a friendly conversation I feel envy. Right, Mr Ryang?
-Huh? Hong Mae…
-Let me ask you this: who the heck are you really?

11
Huh? OK, speaking for myself, I'm the kind soul who saved your husband when he almost died.
And now I’m the good-natured person helping your husband now that he’s in trouble once again.

12
Good-natured person?!...
-Huh? Darling!...
-What do you want us to do now that you've dragged us here?
Why, you!
[slap]

13
Hah. We’ll see what happens.
[in a room]
Hm?
Pathetic. How come you can’t control that bitch but instead she exposes you?
-I must take action quickly.

14
[hotel corridor]
[snatch]
Mummy!
-My boy!

15
[basement]
[storeroom]
Mum!

16
[next morning (basement)]
You?
-Haha. You hate me, don’t you?

17
You venomous bitch!
-Bitch?! Better that than an idiot.
And it’s such a shame. Your boy is suffering in the storeroom…
-Little Myong-san?!
-But there is a way for you to save your son.
-What?

18
Just call your father in Japan and tell him what we want you to say. Then we’ll let you see your boy and your whole family again.
-?!
I can’t do that.
-You can’t? No, you won’t be able to stand it if you don't.
[slam]

19
[billiards room]
What’s the result?
-That bitch is still…
-What? Then we must go to the next step…
[secluded yard]

20
You bastards!
[mmphh]
[vroom]
[Ryang U-gil’s room]
I didn't expect this to happen all of a sudden…
I must hurry and find our comrades and tell them what’s going on.

21
[Japan, Chonbu Corporation]
(sitting room)
Mr President, a visitor.
-Fujimoto-san. I'm not in a good mood these days, so…

22
Hehe. Mr Cho, you look very unwell.
-Goodness, what brings the Chongryon* branch president to my company?
-Mr Cho, why didn’t you let us know about the unfortunate accident within your family?

*The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, abbreviated as Chongryon or Chōsen Sōren. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongryon

23
I…How does the Chongryon branch…
-Come on, Mr Cho… We’re all fellow compatriots, but are we not supposed to know?
-Do you know where my Chun-hwa is now?
-She’s being held prisoner in Tambul.
-What?!

“탬불” Tambul = a fictitious place name

24
Right now the relevant agencies* in the Fatherland are rushing to take the necessary steps to solve your daughter’s problem.
-Huh?! You mean that there is concern in Fatherland because of my child?
-Yes, sir.

*relevant agencies = probably the Powibu (State Security Agency) and Foreign Ministry working together.

25
While we, her real parents, are sitting here helplessly, our child…
-So don't lose heart. Well, I'm going to have to excuse myself.
-Wow, we hardly ever see you here…
-Darling, he brought news about our Chun-hwa.

26
Really? Mr Branch President, thank you.
-Oh it’s nothing. Take care.
-Goodbye!

27
[back in the sitting room]
I must go quickly to where Chun-hwa is…
But getting there will be a problem.
If I go via Pyongyang, it'll cut costs exponentially…
-That’s your fault for poking yourself in the eye.

28
I shouldn't have set foot in the homeland back then…
Because I witnessed Kim Yong-sok's death with my own eyes.
That's right, it was back in the fall of 1950…
[Cho Jang-il is lost in reminiscence]
[a house in Japan]
You little shit…

29
Are you gonna keep up that act?
-I don’t know what you’re talking about.
-Oh you don’t know? Hey, Fujimoto!
-What is it, Father?

30
Bring me the documents Detective Kono gave me last night.
-Yes, sir.
-Sabura-san.
-Ah, Kono-san. You're here just in time. I was just about to take this jerk Cho Jang-il to you.
-Hm…

31
Here, Father.
-Cho Jang-il, a few years ago, when you were working as an errand boy at Rose Coffee House, Sabura-san was drunk & careless and you got his money bag, but instead of finding the owner & returning it, you rented a shop room with it.

32
[That did happen once. How did he figure it out it was me?]
You're wondering how something that not even a soul knew could have come to light, & you’re looking for a hole to crawl into, but that's stupid.
-Oh…

33
I bet you don’t have any idea how much Detective Kono has run around looking for you, you shit.
-[Huh?!]
-Are you gonna lock him up?
-Good idea. From today, your shop room is history!
-And you won’t be able to escape a prison sentence!
-Huh???

34
Please, Detective…
-What, let you off this one time? Hmph
-Hehe
-All right. But from now on, you do what Saburo-san says!

35
[shop room]
Jang-il oppa*, it’s late. Why is your light still on?
-Huh?
-Bong-im, we have alcohol, don’t we?
-Hey, Jang-il, you’ve never even said the word alcohol before. What’s up with you?

*oppa = older male brother

36
I’m burning up inside.
-What’s the matter?
-I’ll tell you later. If we don’t have any alcohol, at least get me a bowl of cold water.

37
[kitchen]
[back in the room]
[gulp gulp]
-Huh?

38
Bong-im, I have to go to Hokkaido for a few days. Look after the room while I’m gone.
-Why are you going there?
-Hm, wait and see. Once I’m back, we’ll be able to move to a much nicer room.

39
Really?
-Goodness?!
-Now go and sleep.
-Ok.

40
[next morning]
Cho-san, are you here?
-Yes, I’m coming.
-Cho-san, this is US Army Lieutenant James. He’ll go with you.

41
You’re all ready, right? As I stressed yesterday, don’t forget you are to find that thing and bring it back here. Got it?
-Yes.
[Sujinpo beach (hillside public graveyard)]

42
[at a grave]
I’ve gathered the grave removal workers at the bottom of the hill, as His Excellency Mr James ordered.
-Good. Bring them all here.

43
Good job.

44
Huh?
[Saburo’s house]
You have done well.
Here, Cho-san.
And tomorrow we are burying my father, so bring Bong-im here.
-Yes, sir.

45
[shop room]
Hey, how did you get all this money?
-Hey, why are your eyes as big as a bunny’s all of a sudden? That’s just the way it is.

46
[shrine]
Ack!

47
[mumble mumble]
[riverbank]
Bong-im!
Bong-im, why are you making a fool of yourself like this?
Gah! I can't believe you've become so crazy about money you dug up the remains of this batard who sucked my parents' blood out of them.

48
Argh!
[splash splash]
Argh!
-Bong-im! What are you doing?

49
Bong-im, you mustn’t die!
-Let me go!
-Sob!...Forgive me.
-Father!

50
[Cho Jang-il awakens from his flashback]
[How can I dare to set foot in the homeland when I did that? There’s no way. Impossible.]

51
[in a villa]
Sir, we got news from “Poisonous Leach” that Cho Jang-il is about to leave for here.
-Really?! Has Cho-Jang-il taken our bait?
-Yes. Hahaha.
-Mr Kimosu. You must make sure that Cho Jang-il does not travel via Pyongyang.

52
It's said he has given up travelling via Pyongyang, too.
-Hm…
[ a plane flying in the sky]
[at a hotel]
[ring ring]

53
Is that Chun-hwa’s father?
-Ah, it’s you? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But I haven’t found where she is yet. Ok, don’t worry about me.
[Where must I go to find my daughter Chun-hwa? … But haven't I always willingly been my daughter's protector?
[Cho Jang-il is lost in reminiscence]

54
[in school]
[mumble mumble]
And now as I call each pupil’s name, will the accompanying protector please answer?

55
Choe In-nam!
-Here.
-Yes, I am his grandfather.
-Oh really? … Pang Kum-suk!
-Here.
-And I am her mother.

56
Cho Chun-hwa!
-Yes.
-Yes.
Hahaha bwahaha
Both Chun-hwa’s mother and father have come here together.

57
Is Pak Hye-gyong’s mother here?
-Yes.
-Did you bring it?
Little Hye-gyong wore this skirt & jogori* on her first day of school. But Japanese gangsters attacked her & threatened to kill her if she wore it in public again. Thanks to them, the young girl's clothes look like this.

*skirt & jogori = traditional clothes known in South Korea as “Hanbok”, but North Korea does not use this word

58
In broad daylight…
-Such wicked & cruel bastards!
-This is why all of you here today must escort & protect the children every morning and evening like today until we have a school bus.
-Understood.
[school gate]

59 1/3
Father, what does the word ‘protector’ mean?

59 2/3
-Um, it means taking care of young children like you until they grow up, and like the school teacher said, mummy & daddy are always by your side to stop bad people from attacking you.

59 3/3
-Oh, that’s good. In that case I always want to hold onto mummy & daddy’s hand when I go somewhere, just like now. And when I sleep at night too. That way, bad people can’t touch me.

60
So even when you grow up, you're going to just hold onto your mother & father's hands?
-I only ever want to go together with you and daddy.
-Haha… We’re in trouble.

61
[Cho Jang-il’s house]
Dear, what if we send Chun-hwa to a Japanese school instead? I’m just worried that her skirt & jogori outfit might…
-But we can't make our child travel 30ri* and back again.
-Goodness me. This is tough…
-Dear, let’s just send her to the Korean school.**

*About 12 km
**The Chongryon/Chōsen Sōren runs a system of schools throughout Japan for Koreans. It teaches North Korean ideology.

62
[Cho Jang-il awakens from his flashback]
[ring]
Dear, something dreadful has happened!
They say you haven’t paid your taxes, and now there are writs of attachment stuck up all around the company office.
-Huh?

63 1/2
On top of that, the person who lent Fujimoto-san money for your travel expenses was indicted in a fraud case with Vice President Otsuki. That's why police are coming every day and putting pressure on us to hurry up & repay the money.

2/2
[Wow, have my fortunes changed so much overnight? I abandoned my homeland and now I’ve been left with no protector to watch over me.]

64
[in a room]
Cho came to find his daughter but ended up making the trip for nothing, like the terrapin who caught a rabbit by order of the Dragon King.*
-We must shut off the last airway so that he chokes. Hurry up & take care of Cho Chun-hwa’s little brat.
-As you command.

*This is a reference to the pansori tale Sugungga en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugungga

65
[in a forest]
Mother,* you need to deal with the little brat.
-What?
-Leave him in no man’s land so that the jackals get a scent of his trifling meat.
-What, the boy?
-Why the back talk?

*This word is also used for servants of one’s mother’s age, so she is probably not Hong Mae’s actual mother.

66
Damnable bitch! I'm gonna have to save that boy somehow.
[in a room]
So have you made up your mind?
-I’ve made up my mind to be true to my Fatherland.

67
Shut up! If you say Fatherland or Homeland one more time, you’ll pay for it.
You must know there are limits to our patience too.
-Patience? Humbug. I have no intention of receiving even an inch of that kind of hypocritical sympathy. That is why I must go to the Fatherland!

68
Haha…How naïve! Ok let’s say you go to the Fatherland. You want to be forgiven? Forget it. So listen to what we say.
-Get out of my sight right now!

69 1/2
O Motherland, I can't live for even a moment far away from you. How could I forget you, o bosom of my life, for even a moment?
[Cho Chun-hwa is lost in reminiscence]

2/2
[Cho Jang-il’s house]
We spoiled you as our only child… Are you letting yourself get pushed around with the Chongryon kids again? Did you hear me? Keep that up and you won’t be able to go to a Japanese school!
-Pah! I don’t want to go to a stupid Jap school. If I die, I die.

70
What? Come on! Get out of my house. From now on you’re no longer my daughter!
[crack]

71
Chun-hwa! Chun-hwa!
[under the bridge downtown]

72
[in a train car]
[in an alleyway]
[at a Western-style house]
What is this? Beggars at our house in the morning?

73
[at a shantytown shack]
Where did you come from?
-I…I have no home so I’m just wandering around…

74
Hm…You’d better come in then.
Dear, who’s this child?
-An orphan girl.
-Oh dear. She’s so cute.
-Darling, give her something to eat.
-Right.

75
[in the house]
Come on, eat up. You must be hungry.
-Darling. Since we have no kids of our own, why don’t we adopt this girl as our daughter and raise her? Unless you’re opposed…
-Well, I wonder if we’d make good parents…

76
[next morning]
[a little later (shantytown alley)]
Chun-hwa! It’s all right… Push gently. That’s it. It feels much lighter.
Looks like I, Song Mun-su, have been blessed with a good child.

77
[Chun-hwa’s mother is going everywhere looking for her]
[at a restaurant]
Do you perhaps have a young girl here working for you?
[the port of Niigata]
Mother!
-Chun-hwa!

78
Mommie!
-Chun-hwa! Chun-hwa!
-Chun-hwa, what’s the matter? Didn’t you say your parents passed away young?
-Please forgive me. Actually I have a mother and a father. Sob.
-What? So that woman is really your mother?
-Yes.
-Now what do we do?

79
-Chun-hwa!
[Cho Jang-il’s house]
What good is money in a house with no children? Your wealth increases but where do you spend it...
Darling, what kind of maudlin grumbling is this?
-Are you not going to talk about it? Our Chun-hwa has gone back to Korea.

80
What? What did you just say?
-She looked so anxious on the deck of the departing ship… Argh!
-What in the world…?
[two months after that, at Cho Jang-il’s house]
Dear, I just got this letter.
-A letter? Where from?
You’d better read it. I don’t know where my glasses are…

81 1/3
[My name is Song Mun-su. I’ve lately come to be embraced in the bosom of the socialist Fatherland.
The love I gratefully receive daily ensconced in the benefits of the Fatherland grows but I can't even swallow a spoonful of rice at my sorrow for having brought Chun-hwa

2/3
here as foster daughter under the belief that she was an orphan.
Even now, I am keen to send your daughter back to you 100 times a each day, but since she asked us to just let her stay in the Fatherland, there’s nothing we can do.

3/3
If you have no objection, I would like to become Chun-hwa’s uncle & raise her well so that I can present her to her parents in due course. Please understand.]

82
Wow, thank you, really.
-What an amazing couple.
-Dear, we can’t just sit here crying. We must write back.
-Of course we must. How much must Chun-hwa hate me as her dad?

83
[in an apartment]
[Mr Song Mun-su!
I received your letter amidst joy & tears. It's good just to know that our daughter is healthy, but I'm exceedingly grateful that you’re treating her like your own child.
If you have no objection, I hope that can become close like brothers…]

84
Did you hear that? Chun-hwa. So don’t worry about your parents but just study hard. Isn’t that the only way for you to be able to stand proudly in front of your parents when you meet them all grown up?
-Okay.

85 1/2
[Cho Chun-hwa awakens from her flashback]
O black kite, can you at least carry my heart back to my mother Fatherland? Say that this daughter earnestly seeks the bosom of home.

2/2
[Chief Prosecutor’s room]
In assisting the relevant institution,* something questionable was discovered in the process of re-investigating Pyo Mu-gil's background.
-Something questionable?

*Probably the Department of State Security/Powibu.

86 1/2
Pyo Mu-gil's hometown is a well village between the mining villages of Sohae-ri.* That place has now been transformed into a wide plain, but until after the War there were about 10 farming families living there.

2/2
But the issue is we discovered that when Pyo Mu-gil began school, he wrote down his birthplace with his own hand as SOhae-ri.**
-How old was Pyo at the time?
-He was 14.

*Sohae-ri = 서해리
**SOhae-ri = 소해리

87 1/2
At that age, it's when one’s love for the hometown burns bright.
I can't believe he couldn't even write the name of his precious hometown correctly.
-What's even more suspicious is that he never met his older cousin Pyo Dae-gil when he was alive.

2/2
Pyo Mu-gil’s family & relatives were all killed during the War, weren’t they?

88
The only ones left were him and Pyo Dae-gil.
-According to what we’ve dug up, even when Pyo Mu-gil received the telegram about his cousin’s death, he didn’t even go to express condolences, saying he was busy.
-Really?

89
And also, Pyo Mu-gil is said to have had dealings with Ryang U-gil.
-With Ryang U-gil too?
[ring]
This is U Sung-ryong. What? Yes, yes. Really? Yes, yes, ok.

90
They’ve found Cho Chun-hwa’s son Myong-san.
-Really?

91
[outside a foreign villa]
Mr Kimosu, hurry up, push ahead with the operation.
-We plan to get the “trunk” in using Kelsy company’s freighter the Solomon.
-I'll check the preparations myself.
[in a room]
Is this the “trunk” that will be handed over to Centipede?
-Yes, sir.

92
Hmm.
-The material of the “trunk” is made so that the “item” will not be revealed by an X-ray detector.
-And how many CDs can be put within the false bottom?
-We can conceal about a thousand CDs in there.

93 1/2
That's great if just one “trunk” can bring in that many CDs. If we can just insert this amount…
-No. We have to use various means and methods and insert more propaganda materials. This amount is no more than a signal flare for our operation.

2/2
Yes, indeed.
-Mr Choe Chang-dong, you'll have to be careful about everything as you go directly to rendezvous with Centipede.
-Got it.

94 1/2
[Pyo Mu-gil’s house (upper room)]
[The “trunk” is arriving, right? There’d better be no mistakes this time…

2/2
That SOB Song Chol-su, I thought he’d drifted south. Nobody expected him to come back alive. That was a failure, but I made it look like Im Ok-ran was poisoned to death & got Ryang U-gil caught by the scruff of his neck.

95 1/3
But now that that bastard Ryang U-gil has come back alive and suspects me…

2/3
[in a room]
Comr. Ryang has also reflected on his life & has performed serious self-criticism,* but I too have felt acutely that worldly desires are the source of ideological degeneration that can betray Party & Fatherland.

3/3
-Life is long, and we can give & get help from each other. But how close did you come, Comr. VP, to crossing the line?

*생활총화 = lit. “summing up [one’s] life” or “life review” = self criticism namu.wiki/w/%EC%83%9D%ED…

96 1/2
I hope you take this as a lesson and make a fresh start.
-Yes, sir.
[ring]
Ma Yong-gum here. We heard from the relevant agency. Word is Pyo Mu-gil has gone on a trip, saying he’s going to get boat parts.
[On a trip all of a sudden?]

2/2
[in a park forest]
They arrested a suspicious man who received the “trunk” from a sailor aboard the “Solomon”, anchored in Songpo Harbour. That man turned out to be Pyo Mu-gil. Our suspicions about him weren’t wrong.

97 1/2
Inasmuch as specific data supports it, the relevant agency is trying to launch an active operation to bring in Cho Chun-hwa. As Comrade Ryong-bong has also been included as a member of our delegation, please go to the airport and see him off.
-Ok.

2/2
[in a speeding car]
Is there treasure inside this box? Our orders were to treat it like a carton of eggs…
-Yes, a very valuable treasure. Haha…

98
Comr. Chol-bom said he wanted to give Cho Chun-hwa a whiff of the scent of the Fatherland, so he packed some cucumber in red chili paste, tomatoes, & green chilis.
-Really?!...When did he have time to think of all that?
[at a foreign government office]

99
[in a room]
Again, I advise you people to stay sane, and think & act rationally. Don't fool around at anyone's goading…
-Goading? What evidence do you have for that?
-If you really want to see it, I’d be happy to show it to you.
-Huh?!

100
[at a press conference]
My name is Choe Chang-dong (real name Choe Pyong-gu). I was arrested trying to smuggle a “trunk,” namely psywar CDs, into the northern part of the DPRK with the aim of fulfilling “Operation A.T.” by order of MacKid Harrison (pseudonym).

101
[mutter mutter]
…not only that, but in order to use Cho Jang-il, boss of Japan’s Chonbu Corporation for anti-DPRK propaganda purposes, I worked with Kimosu, Hong Mae (real name Kong Mi-ja) and others, to arrange the kidnapping of his daughter Cho Chun-hwa, a DPRK citizen…

102
[in a villa]
We have to shut this press conference down right now. Shut it down!
-Pah! Run after two hares, and you’ll catch neither…
[slam]

103
[back at press conference]
So these guys carried out the role of of psywar shock troops against our DPRK. They acted so viciously to get these vile CDs into our land that they instigated a certain Fujimoto to steal the trademark of the Chonbu Corp run by Korean Cho Chang-il.

104 1/2
[in a hotel room]
That bastard Fujimoto?! … Argh, all this time I’ve been fooled by those jerks and even turned my back on my homeland…

2/2
Now that all has been made clear, we hereby approve the departure of Cho Chun-hwa from this land unconditionally. In addition, I hereby proclaim all that all perpetrators who have infiltrated Tambul will be arrested immediately.
[mutter mutter]

105
[in a speeding car]
Why didn’t I realise it? The Fatherland cannot be exchanged for anything!
Chun-hwa!
-Father!

106
I’ve lived my whole life in vain up to now, Chun-hwa!
[plane flying in the sky]
[in front of the airport terminal]

107
[Cho Chun-hwa meeting her son Myong-san, who had come to the Fatherland first.]
Mummy!
-Myong-san!
Sob!
-Darling!

108
Comrade Chun-hwa! How hard it must have been for you all this time.
-I really missed the Fatherland.
[at a recreation area]

109
If there were no sun shining before me,
My fate would be like a ship that’s lost its lighthouse
Towards the glorious future that you gave me, General
I row with the oars of faith
O, my blessed life
O, my life*

*Lyrics of the North Korean song “축복받은 나의 삶”

110
That’s right, I'll always grip firmly the oars of faith & devote my life to my mother Fatherland.
Without a real protector, without a gunstock that watches over them, could our daughter & even our young grandchild sing songs of life & faith to their heart's content like this?

111
Like a millions of droplets of spray, tossed up by the raging waves before rejoining the great flow of the sea, the only thing they have to hold onto is the Father General.
O people, trust & obey only our General! Following him, shine forever as true citizens of the Republic!

THE END
of “The End of Operation AT”.

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