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GUEST LITERATURE – KOREA or shoes? Judging from the look on the faces of the uncle and aunts, it seems something different from such things. “There is absolutely no question about it: you must set out together with Jesus Christ.Whenever you face difficulties, cry out ‘Lord, hallelujah, Amen!’Then Jesus Christ will guide the way for you. Do you understand?” “Yes,” they all answer in unison, though in weak voices. “Please! Don’t answer with ‘Yes,’ but with ‘Trust in God, amen!’” says the minister with a broad smile. “Amen!” saysYông-su as loudly as he can.The minister smiles again and strokes the boy’s head. His touch feels soft and warm like that of a mother zebra’s tongue licking her young. “As for other practical details, please discuss them with Mr Pak here. I must go now. I’ve got some other things to prepare.” Once the minister is gone, Mr Pak clears his throat a couple of times. He begins talking as Aunt Sun-dôk comes back in after seeing the minister out. “First, you’ll leave for Beijing by train.You’ll stay one night there and then take a different train thatgoes to Urumqi. Before Urumqi there is a small town called Eren.You have to cross the border there. A Korean guide will help you and guide you as far as Eren. Then, once on the other side of the border, you must do everything you can to be captured by Mongolian soldiers. If you get captured by People’s Liberation Army soldiers there is no hope for you, none whatsoever.You must remember that. Also, if you wander through the plain for too long, there is a good chance of dying from cold. Also, the plain has a capricious climate and you can get frostbite very easily.The best thing is to be captured by Mongolian soldiers as soon as possible.” The word “plain” catches the boy’s attention, while all the adults look very nervous. “Now, we need to talk about practical matters.You – er – must pay the exact amount.We use all the money collected to help you people, leaving not even a single penny for ourselves. As you can see, our work here is for charities. At the same time, you must understand, it is part of our missionary project. However, whether it is charitable or missionary work, you shouldn’t expect us to take care of all your expenses as well. Do you follow me?” Yông-su doesn’t have a clue about what Mr Pak has just said. The 150 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES
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JEONG DO-SANG grown-ups, on the other hand, nod their heads, though reluctantly. “Okay! Then you all know it is – er – five million won per person, don’t you?” asks Mr Pak. The boy can’t understand how much money five million won is, but he reckons that perhaps it is even more than what one pays for ten plates of dumplings. “You should pay twenty thousand yuan in advance. Once you get to Korea and receive the settlement money, you must pay off the remainder, that is, three million won.You already know that, don’t you? All right, then.” As soon as Mr Pak finishes his talk, Aunt Sun-dôk takes a bulging envelope out of her purse and lays it down on the floor. “You did a good job,” says Mr Pak, taking the money and then patting her on the shoulder. “I will pay when I get to Eren,” says Aunt Chung-sim in a calm but emphatic tone. Mr Pak’s smiling face immediately turns into an icy expression. “What do you mean by that, Chung-sim?” Aunt Sun-dôk, looking terribly startled, reproaches Aunt Chung-sim. “Well, last time, I paid the fee up front, but the plan folded even before I could leave and that Korean guy disappeared with all the money that had been collected. Chu-hyôn worked for two years and I worked as a masseuse for over two to save all the money.We earned it sweating blood. Even while we were being chased, when we were starving and wearing rags, we somehow pinched pennies. How . . . How could any Korean extort it from us so easily? It’s not that I don’t trust the minister and you, but I must hang on to the money until I get to Eren.” Uncle Man-bok nods, agreeing with Aunt Chung-sim. In the mean time, Mr Pak repeats several times under his breath: “Oh, Lord, our Father!” Now all the adults seem to feel uncomfortable and awkward. “Chung-sim, how dare you say such things to the minister and missionary? The minister is our saviour! Without his help, we couldn’t even dream of going to South Korea. Don’t you know that? How could you be so thankless?” Aunt Sun-dôk berates Aunt Chung-sim with an angry glare.Yông-su has never seen Aunt Sun-sôk so angry as to be red in the face. It seems that Aunt Chung-sim is doing something terribly wrong. BANIPAL 43 – SPRING 2012 151

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GUEST LITERATURE – KOREA

or shoes? Judging from the look on the faces of the uncle and aunts, it seems something different from such things.

“There is absolutely no question about it: you must set out together with Jesus Christ.Whenever you face difficulties, cry out ‘Lord, hallelujah, Amen!’Then Jesus Christ will guide the way for you. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” they all answer in unison, though in weak voices. “Please! Don’t answer with ‘Yes,’ but with ‘Trust in God, amen!’” says the minister with a broad smile.

“Amen!” saysYông-su as loudly as he can.The minister smiles again and strokes the boy’s head. His touch feels soft and warm like that of a mother zebra’s tongue licking her young.

“As for other practical details, please discuss them with Mr Pak here. I must go now. I’ve got some other things to prepare.” Once the minister is gone, Mr Pak clears his throat a couple of times. He begins talking as Aunt Sun-dôk comes back in after seeing the minister out.

“First, you’ll leave for Beijing by train.You’ll stay one night there and then take a different train thatgoes to Urumqi. Before Urumqi there is a small town called Eren.You have to cross the border there. A Korean guide will help you and guide you as far as Eren. Then, once on the other side of the border, you must do everything you can to be captured by Mongolian soldiers. If you get captured by People’s Liberation Army soldiers there is no hope for you, none whatsoever.You must remember that. Also, if you wander through the plain for too long, there is a good chance of dying from cold. Also, the plain has a capricious climate and you can get frostbite very easily.The best thing is to be captured by Mongolian soldiers as soon as possible.”

The word “plain” catches the boy’s attention, while all the adults look very nervous.

“Now, we need to talk about practical matters.You – er – must pay the exact amount.We use all the money collected to help you people, leaving not even a single penny for ourselves. As you can see, our work here is for charities. At the same time, you must understand, it is part of our missionary project. However, whether it is charitable or missionary work, you shouldn’t expect us to take care of all your expenses as well. Do you follow me?”

Yông-su doesn’t have a clue about what Mr Pak has just said. The

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