The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, held a state funeral never telling their citizens that the coffins were empty. In fact, they really wanted to release a statement that it was reasonable to believe everyone was still alive, for no bodies were recovered. The bombs decimated the monster-sized squid bodies destroying everything they might have been holding within their digestive tract, but mentioning whose bombs succeeded in destroying the sea monsters would have been an awkward sign of weakness.
While the North Koreans held their very private memorial service, the United States was having inquiries with everyone who survived onboard the research vessel. No doubt, secret investigations were also taking place among all of the officers of the ships and submarines who changed course to come to the aid of the scientific expedition. StLF and MYKA were debriefed individually. All passengers were interrogated, the entire crew and all science team members, and even one stowaway who was treated for serious abrasions but otherwise doing well.
No one knew much about the Ukrainian, why he was there, or where he thought he was going. Too bad he chose to try boarding the Korean raft. He became the first victim and must have had some inkling of his imminent death. The foul smelling blackish ink released by the squid quickly hid them both.
The North Korean ceremonies seemed unusually festive. The deceased Supreme Leader's widow, Ri-Sol-ju appeared very stoic and beautiful (another Jackie Kennedy they said) as she watched the parade of hearses. Each hearse accompanied by eight high stepping, high-ranking soldiers, four marching on each side, passed the viewing stand. She had with her, her first born child, daughter Kim Ju-ae, who was suspected to have been born in 2009. Her birth was made known by Dennis Rodman's casual remark after a visit to North Korea and to hang out with Chicago Bulls fan, Kim Jong-un. Dennis Rodman's later visits made no mention of children of his pal, Kim Jong-un.
The Hermit Kingdom had shared so little to the public, even to their own people who worried more about their own survival. Most of the population dealt with daily struggles to not die of starvation or torture. Or kidnapping. Apparently kidnapping had continued right to the end of Kim Jong-Un's reign, and neighboring countries had been helpless in getting their citizens back. Everyone was now optimistic that the veil of secrecy was being pulled back.
The highly secretive birth of a younger child in late 2016 had not been proved because no one revealed details of the child's sex or birth date or location. All that had been commented on during that time period was the absence of Kim Jong-Un's wife for a period of 36 weeks and then her re-emergence by his side for public affairs.
What was now being publicly declared by Kim Jong-Un's most trusted generals was that he had planned his successor to be Kim Jong-Il, a secretly adopted son renamed after Kim Jong-un's father. This young man was groomed by the Supreme Leader since 2009, when he was a mere fourteen years old. Kim Jong-un feared for his life and wanted to be able to control his country's future even from the grave. He worried that his wife and future young son would not be able to maintain the family dynasty. He needed someone experienced and ready to take command. Adopting the boy at the age of 14 and giving him the family name of Kim Jong-Il was not enough to secure the dynasty. Because his country was patriarchal, the heir had to be male but it would be even better to have someone who had more than one family tie. So a private arranged marriage took place with the groom being Kim Jong-Il and the bride being little Kim Ju-ae, only seven years old at the time. It put a whole new meaning to being "groomed" to lead the family business. Knowing that her daughter would be part of the ruling family dynasty and a true descendant of Kim Jong-Un, was intended to be reassuring to Ri Sol-ju.
Such extreme measures seemed necessary after Kim Jong-Un's older half-brother had been assassinated in Malaysia in 2015. Kim Jong-Un became quite paranoid over concerns for his safety and continued rule. This was a man who traveled by private train, with a train car holding a commode only he could use, to visit his country's work sites and military sites. He had his younger sister watched constantly as she expressed anger towards his wife and children. His wife seemed unswerving in her allegiance to her husband and content to do as he dictated.
The only family member that held no worries, was his older brother Kim Jong- Chul, who was passed over for succeeding his father. Even though he had Army backing, his father thought he was too soft to rule a country. Kim Jong-Chul was all too happy to follow his own dreams. He was a poet and he was a musician who loved to play riffs on his guitars and attend concerts incognito and his favorite musician by far is Eric Clapton. The two brothers, Kim Jong-Chul and Kim Jong-Un both enjoyed their education in Zurich, Switzerland. They enjoyed skiing and other sports and making friends with Swiss citizens. ("MYKA" had described Kim Jong-Chul's musical interests back when sharing stories relayed by those older cousin schoolmates to "StLF".)
The Supreme Ruler Kim Jong-un created his own prison by being paranoid about his safety in ruling his kingdom. When he first became ruler, he had many of his father's military officers imprisoned and many were then executed. He ruled with no compassion for anyone but those who were devout in their obedience to him.
His brother was no obstacle or worry to Kim Jong-Un. His brother had no followers and kept a very low profile. He could be counted on remaining silent and never speaking against his brother, the Supreme Ruler. Kim Jong-Un had superior confidence that he could dismiss his brother as inconsequential and just allow him to live his life as a loner in peace. Kim Jong-Un also had reason to believe his wife could be trusted to follow his every direction. She had not objected to his plan to have the adopted son become the new ruler, in the event of something (unlikely) happening to Kim Jong-Un. He had assured her that on his 21st birthday, their first born son would be able to reclaim his rightful place as the Supreme Ruler following a long family tradition of handing down the power from father to son. He also had his wife Ri Sol-Ju watched wherever she went and kept track of every conversation in which she was included.
Ri Sol-Ju was a very smart and talented young woman. She had been a singer and performed and even served as a state cheerleader. She was very fashionable in a Kate Middleton kind of way, although she was chastised for carrying a $1,700 purse in public. She had great approval among the more elite of her country, and no one else had mattered. Her love for music and self-expression, had taken a backseat to serving as "First Lady", but as she grew older some dissatisfaction with the boring routines of her cloistered life began to set in. She wanted more opportunities for travel in Europe, and she hatched a plan.
Confiding to her husband that she was pregnant once again, she explained that traveling in secrecy to Switzerland would allow her excellent doctors and protection against those who wanted to stop the birth of a male heir. She persuaded the officers who accompanied her abroad, to give her some freedom to enjoy her respite from her public duties. They themselves enjoyed the freedom to sight see and enjoy European culinary delights. They gradually paid less and less attention to Ri Sol-Ju as she visited friends and attended social gatherings under an assumed name. She had a surprise encounter with an attractive Korean man who was none other than Kim Jon-Chul, her playboy brother-in-law who had enjoyed the company of several former girlfriends but had never married. The two enjoyed each other's company as they discovered their similar tastes in music and films, and realized that they had found soul mates in one another.
And so, it came to pass, that Kim Jong-Chul was invited to his younger brother's memorial service in North Korea at Ri Sol-Ju's insistence and with her personal bodyguards at his disposal. As the widow and older brother traveled about the country leading memorial services and providing uplifting music ("Tears in Heaven" was a crowd favorite.) to the throngs who gathered, a change of policy swept over North Korea, ushering in a desire for worldwide peace and reform in government. An election was held and Kim Jong-Chul became the new leader and a truly democratic president for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Many countries welcomed the new policies, most especially South Korea, who allowed open borders and dismantled the DMZ.
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