Comic book of Legends of 3 Great Generals of Mt Paektu (vol. 1)
Taming the Typhoon
Kumsong Youth Publishing House
Juche 102 (2013)
Product code ㄱ-36072
ISBN 978-9946-21-360-6 #NorthKorea#miracles#magicalrealism
The next story to be translated and shared here is the title story from the 2013 book "Taming the Typhoon", in which a passenger ship carrying ethnic Koreans from Japan to the DPRK was caught in a storm. It resembles a New Testament story in which Jesus tames a storm.
The passenger ship Samijyon is pictured on a North Korean stamp from 1988. alamy.com/moscow-russia-…
The Samjiyon was built in the Netherlands and is a passenger ship. From August 1979 it ran mainly for the transportation of Chosen Soren's "Short-term Visit to the Fatherland" delegations uniedu.go.kr/uniedu/home/br…
Other major ships plying the waters between North Korea and Japan include Mangyongbong and Mangyongbong92. Japan put a stop to all passenger ship traffic from North Korea in 2004.
This comic book contains adaptations of legendary stories of the 3 Great Generals of Mt Paektu.
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Story 5
Taming the Typhoon
Adaptation: Kim Hye-kyong
Illustration and colouring: Jin Yong-hun
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On October 26, 1980, recorded as a Day of Death in world maritime history, there was a ship that safely sailed through this typhoon area. That ship is none other than the Korean passenger ship Samjiyon. At that time, dozens of ships weighing more than 10,000 tons each that
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were passing through these waters sank. How could only the small liner Samjiyon be safe?
The hearts of the members of the delegation on the Samjiyon were excited with the joy of going to their fatherland.
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[I'll soon set foot in my fatherland. Until now I've only seen in books]
Tal-su, what are you thinking?
-Chol-hyok, I can't believe I'm going to the fatherland.
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Me too.
-I can see the Fatherland.
-What? We're already in the Fatherland?
-Where's the Fatherland?
-I can't see it.
-I just said it because I missed the Fatherland so much. I was wrong.
-We really thought it was true. hahaha
-Comrades, it's dark. Let's go in and rest now.
-Ok
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Early morning Oct 26th
[Ack!]
[Whoa!]
[Thud]
Why is the ship rocking so much?
-It's not the ship, it's because you toss & turn in your sleep.
-Sorry. Let's go back to bed.
Ok.
[Thwack]
Is today a day of high geomagnetic activity?
-I don't know. I can't keep my balance.
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[Whine]
[boom]
[Explosive]
Hey, let's hurry & go up on deck.
[Ack!]
Did you hurt yourself?
It's okay, Chol-hyok. I need to stick to the wall as I go.
-Yeah. Let's go up quickly.
[Huh?!]
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[tumble]
[Argh!]
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Ladies & gentlemen, our ship is in the centre of a typhoon. It’s not safe to be on deck here. Everyone, you must go inside.
[Whoa!]
[Thwack]
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[Argh]
Comrade. If you close your eyes like that you might have an accident.
-I'm scared. You’ve been on ships a long time. You've probably experienced this before, right?
-No, I've never been in a typhoon like this before. But we’ll definitely be saved. We mustn’t lose hope.
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Thank you.
[smash]
[tumble]
[Ack]
The windows on the third floor are broken. Oh! The water’s coming in.
-Quick, comrades, let's bail out.
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[smash]
[whoosh]
Comrade Bosun, let’s block it together.
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But their power was so feeble before the raging sea. Seawater continued to rush in, and the cabins filled with water, so the ship began to list severely.
[The ship is listing]
Samjiyon, why no response after the typhoon warning? Report your status quo.
4 windows in 3rd floor cabins broken. Cabins flooded. Cannot proceed. Danger!
[Don't give up the struggle until the rescue team arrives!]
Comrade Captain, a telegram.
-Show me.
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Hurry up and let the people know.
[Comrades]
Our beloved Comrade Kim Jong Il says that a rescue team has been sent from the Fatherland, so we mustn’t lose faith but fight until the rescue team arrives. And he himself is leading the rescue battle.
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[Hurray! Hurray!]
Love live Comrade Kim Jong Il!
-Comrade Kim Jong Il, thank you.
-We’re saved. We’re saved.
[The Fatherland is coming to save us]
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Comrades, our mother the Fatherland is protecting us. Let's all work together to fight the storm and become victorious.
[Let's be victorious! Let’s go to the Fatherland]
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Wait. Has it gone quiet?
-I think so.
-Weird. Let's go up on deck.
-Hey, it's all foggy.
-Where did that suddenly come from?
-Comrades, look over there. The fog is lifting.
-The raging typhoon is now a breeze, and the fog that appeared has disappeared in an instant. Amazing!
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Comrade Bosun! Something amazing here, too. Look down.
-The waves have calmed only in front of our ship.
-It’s really true.
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Chol-hyok, as soon as we got word from Comrade Kim Jong Il, the storm subsided. An incredible natural phenomenon.
-Yes, He commanded the sea and put the typhoon to sleep. Our beloved Comrade Kim Jong Il is really a heaven-sent One who tames typhoons.
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-Like I said. We're going to be saved.
[Hoot~ Hoot~]
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It’s the rescue team!
-Our mother the Fatherland is here to save us!
[Hurray for the Great Suryong Comrade Kim Il Sung!]
[Hurray for Comrade Kim Jong Il the Great Leader!]
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[The young Japanese Koreans (Zainichi) looked around the sky and the sea and shed tears of emotion. On this day, the Samjiyon safely reached the shores of the Fatherland, escorted by aeroplanes and ships.]
Title: Dr Know-it-All (만능박사)
Type: science comic
Size 182x125mm
Publ: Children’s Book Publishing
Printed 20.6.1965
Released 30.6.1965
Pages 88
Price 32jon
Prod. code ㄱ-550182
Text: Jong Myong-hak, Kim Jun-ok
Illustrations Kim Jun-ok, So Sung-wan
Editor An Jong-sil
Proofreader Jong Jong-sun
Print run 100,000 copies
2
Contents
In the lab - 3
The invaders of the harvest - 34
Dr Know-it-all’s gift - 53
The next #NorthKorean#comicbook translation project will be volume 2 of the series “The End of Operation AT” [《A.T작전》의 종말]
It's a prosecutorial procedural drama about some missing #DPRK citizens, with many flashbacks and even more characters.
《A.T작전》의 종말 The End of Operation A.T
145x205mm
Vol. 2 of 4
Publ 문학예술출판사
Printer 평양종합인쇄공장
Printed 2007.7.20
Released 2007.7.25
Pages 99
Product code ㄱ-960170
Text 황명관 & 리재환
Illustrator 최영석
Editor 류인호
Cover 최영석
Proofreader 정경진
Layout 강은정
This book offers some insights into North Korean civic life, the duty of each DPRK citizen to keep an eye on each other, and how state institutions and state owned enterprises work.
The next story will come from this anthology:
Comic book of Legends of 3 Great Generals of Mt Paektu (vol. 7)
The Tale of 3 Commanders
Writer: Kim U-kyong
Kumsong Youth Publishing House
Juche 102 (2019)
Product code ㄱ-1961029
ISBN 978-9946-21-565-5
More DPRK magical realism!
This comic book contains adaptations of legendary stories of the 3 Great Generals of Mt Paektu
Comic book
"The Snare of the Plot"
An anthology of 6 stories.
Published by Kumsong Youth Publishing House 2013
Product codeㄱ-36286
ISBN 978-9946-21-369-9
From page 75, story 6:
World famous comic
“The Wizard of Oz”
Illustrations: Pak Sun-ho
[In a house with a garden there lived a girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto.]
Toto, try and catch me. Ha ha ha
[pant pant]
Toto, you lose.
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[pant pant]
[WHOOSH]
Huh?
[WHOOSH]
Hey, my hat.
-Dorothy, what are you doing?
-Uncle Henry, I’m scared.
-Let’s go. A scary tornado is coming.
"The End of Operation AT" vol.1
Literature and Arts Publishing Company
Printed: Jun 5 2007
Released: Jun 15 2007
Size: 145x205
108 pages
Product code: ㄱ-760118
Text: Hwang Myong-kwan & Ri Jae-hwan
Illustrator: Paek Hak-hun (People's Artist)
Cover: Choe Yong-sok
Editor: Ryu In-ho
This is the next book to be translated. Its content shows a lot about how contemporary NK society works. The authors of this 4-volume series have never written any comics before or since. People's Artist Paek Hak-hun only illustrated vol.1 and has not done any comics since.
Inside front and back covers, showing the basic publication information.
Title “I'm 9 Years Old Too”
Author Ri Jun-gil
Illustrator Ri Yong-gwang
Kumsong Youth Publishing House
Printed 10 Feb 2013
Released 20 Feb 2013
Product code ㄱ-26539
ISBN 978-9946-362-0
“This comic book is an adaptation of the true story mid-length book 'I'm 9 Years Old Too'.”
Here is the 186-page book it is based on.
Title "I'm 9 Years Old Too"
Author Ri Jun-gil
Illustrator Han Myong-sin
Printed 1 May 2008
Released 15 May 2008
Product code ㄱ-760548
It tells the true life story and heroic deed of a 9-year-old girl in Pyongyang, who died in Jan 2003.
It does not comport to Western comic book style in that there are no speech balloons and there is only one image per page with a paragraph of prose and dialogue. Each page is a vignette to itself. But there is much to learn from this book about North Korean culture and education.