Sohlberg and the White Death by Jens Amundsen

death.
    Ju was lost in thought when he heard the Supreme Leader berate the Chairman of the National Planning Commission. The Supreme Leader finished his tirade by saying:
    “This is not good! . . . It’s unacceptable!”
    Ju was ecstatic. His scalp tingled. At least he had nothing to do with economic planning. It was hard if not impossible to plan successfully for an economy in ruins. He still remembered when 77-year-old Pak Nam Gi was dragged kicking and screaming from a politburo meeting to a brutal torture session before public execution by firing squad.
    The Supreme Leader must have read Ju’s mind because he looked around the room and said:
    “Doesn’t anyone here remember what my father did to Pak?”
    The dragon of terror charged into the conference room. Pak had been a top official—Director of the Planning and Finance Department of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party. The arrogant bureaucrat had sent the ailing economy into a death spiral when he ordered the currency to be changed and devalued. The financial “reform” targeted private farmers and other black market sources who were getting too rich and powerful for the Dear Leader’s liking. Food immediately disappeared from markets when farmers lost their life savings. Not a smart decision when famine had already raged in the land.
    “I,” said the Supreme Leader, “won’t tolerate this type of incompetence when planning our economy.”
    The dragon eased its grip on Ju. He was extremely lucky to be a member of the National Defense Commission and the Deputy Director of the Machine-Building Industry Department of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. Work on military issues meant that the Leader would grant him a certain level of protection and favoritism—unless Ju and his underlings were extremely incompetent. Best of all, Ju’s exalted credentials entitled him and his immediate family to receive a daily adult ration of 1,800 calories—the most he could get in his high-level position.
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    Only those at the very highest ranks of the military, police, and Korean Workers’ Party received 2,000 calories. Of course the Supreme Leader and his immediate family received any and all food and calories that they wanted. Only the top 1% of the population of 24 million actually received food under their ration cards. All of this meant that 99% of the adult population ate a subsistence-level 1,000 calories a day if they were very lucky and active in black market activities.
    Floods routinely cut into the subsistence level of the lucky ones. The rest began dying or shriveling into a stunted and retarded generation.
    Cannibalism and death by starvation prowled the streets and homes of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Ju had seen plenty of it as his chauffeur drove past the skeletal zombies who populated cities and villages beyond Pyongyang. He had lost count of how many times he had witnessed human vultures skulking over a corpse that would soon be dismembered in the streets and fields for cooking at home.
    None of this bothered Ju Kyu Chang. After all people were no better than insects. We are nothing more than an evolutionary collection of molecules. Human beings only exist to serve the state. The Supreme and Glorious Leader and his all-knowing all-powerful government are all that matter.
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    Yesterday’s meeting with the Supreme Leader had droned on for hours. Vice Premier Ro Tu Chol began his report at midnight. Ju was sleepy. He could barely keep his head in an upright position. A sudden commotion jolted him awake.
    “Enough!” yelled the Supreme Leader. “I’ve heard enough. The economic reports are a disaster . . . totally unacceptable. Vice Premier Ro will submit himself to self-criticism sessions immediately. This meeting is over.”
    Ro Tu Chol shook and whimpered. The Vice Premier and State Planning Commission Chairman no longer looked so high and mighty.
    Although a collective sigh of relief