[KS] The second James Church novel

[Jim Hoare]

In the hope that the moderators allow it, I give below a review of the first
Inspector O book that appeared in Asian Affairs, the journal of the
London-based Royal 

Society of Asian Affairs. From this you will see that I thought that
Inspector O had much to tell us about the DPRK and how it functions. I have
read Hidden Moon and found it equally illuminating; I also believe that
there is another episode on the way.

 

I did not meet any people who quoted Burns, but there were those who knew
their Shakespeare, and after all, Burns was very popular in the Soviet Union
(and I believe China before the Cultural Revolution) as an example of a
proletarian poet.

 

Jim Hoare

(British Chargé d’Affaires, Pyongyang 2001-02)

 

Asian Affairs does not carry many reviews of novels, and perhaps has never
had one of a mystery story before. But then, there are few novels or mystery
stories set in North Korea, and even fewer than come with praise from Newt
Gingrich, former speaker of the United States’ House of Representatives, Don
Oberdorfer, the doyen of American journalists on Korea, and Professor Ezra
Vogel of Harvard University. And the fact that we are told that James Church
is the pseudonym of a former Western intelligence officer with over thirty
years’ experience in Asia, might increase its appeal for readers of this
journal. Although as the reviews’ pages show, books on North Korea are being
published at a rapid rate, we still know very little of how North Koreans
think or of what really motivates them. A corpse in the Koryo helps on both
counts. Read this book, enjoy its clever plots and you will learn much about
North Korea.

 

The story, as befits a mystery tale, is one of great complexity, with
numerous competing strands. The corpse and how it came to be in a guest room
in Pyongyang’s Koryo Hotel is by no means the most important of these, and
in any case, does not make an appearance until well into the book. What is
really fascinating is the relationship between the various Koreans, from
Inspector O and his boss, Pak, both ordinary police officers - yes, they do
exist - in Pyongyang, to the more sinister figures from the many powerful
investigative bureaux that exist in North Korea. O and Pak appear to trust
each other, from long years working together, but the trust does not extend
beyond their small circle. Like all in Pyongyang, they owe their positions
to having a ‘good’ family background; O’s grandfather was a guerrilla
fighter against the Japanese. But even having a good background and living
in Pyongyang does not guarantee luxury or safety. O’s apartment in
crumbling, lacking running water and with paper thin walls. Petty
officialdom strikes even police officers. O, cycling to work, tries to cross
a junction only to be confronted by a traffic lady, who insists that he
dismounts and carries his bike through an underpass; only cars can cross the
junction, even if there are no cars in sight. Simple consumer goods such as
kettles are unavailable. O’s attempt to take a crucial photograph right at
the beginning of the tale fails because the official camera’s battery is
flat. Decrepit trains take days to reach their destination. To show O that
he is vulnerable, his flat is raided not once but several times. As the
story unfolds, it is clear that nobody is secure, and the shadow of
denunciation, followed by banishment from the city and its privileges, or
worse,  hangs over all, high and low together. Among these North Koreans,
the ideals of the revolution have long since dissipated in the struggle for
survival. Ideology matters little except as a means of wrong-footing your
opponents. Energies are directed at crooked schemes and for personal power.
When these contesting forces interact, the violence is spectacular. 

 

For me, one of the pleasures of this book was periodic flashes of
recognition. Like the Inspector, I had a similar confrontation with a
traffic lady over crossing an empty road, which I also lost. I met many like
he innkeeper on the border who rants about the quality of Chinese goods, yet
is still keen to have them. I know the beerhall in the Koryo Hotel where O
meets various contacts and I have seen Korean officials gathered there - few
would have drunk Pyongyang Beer, however, as the Inspector does. Like us,
they preferred the home brewed draft beer. Indeed, having spent six months
in the Koryo, I know it all too well, down to the very room in which the
corpse is found! I did not see anything like the casual shootings that
Church describes, but I have seen sufficient violence in North Korea not to
be too surprised. Newt Gingrich argues that the story shows how precarious
North Korea is. I am not so sure. The story has echoes of 1920s Chicago or
even 2006 Naples, rather than the end of an era, and Inspector O survives.
Let us hope that James Church will tell us more about his world.

 

 

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