11. Joining Workplace Sports Team
After the New Year’s holidays in 1983, my routine remained the same: working during the day and attending night school afterward. As March arrived, the cold winter gradually gave way to the first signs of spring.
Each morning and evening, soon-to-be middle school graduates visited the Military Mobilization Department (군사동원부) located downtown for their physical exams before starting military service. Occasionally, I saw some boys with freshly shaved heads and tilted student hats whenever I finished work.
Every day, I felt uneasy at work as I saw groups of students discussing their upcoming military service on the city streets. I thought, “I couldn’t go to college because of my father. I’m just working and standing in front of the lathe. Should I head to the army like my oldest sister?”
Feeling unsettled, I remembered Cheong-geum, a former classmate who had also been assigned to work as a lathe operator in the same factory. I decided to go find her.
Cheong-geum worked in a different department but in the same building. She was a quiet and gentle person with big, round double-eyelid eyes, and we had studied together in the same class.
We both attended night school together. Even though we were in different departments, we often visited each other, chatted, and sometimes got scolded because of it.
My temper would flare up quickly and cool down just as fast, but now I was on fire. Sneaking glances at Hwa-ok, my mentor, I walked over to Cheong-geum, who was working on a lathe at the back, and said:
“Hey, Cheong-geum, are you going to keep working on these lathes all day?”
“What’s up?” she asked.
When I suddenly posed the question, Cheong-geum responded without looking up, placing the material on the lathe and adjusting its angle. I said:
“Hey, shall we go to the army? The military is doing physical exams right now.”
I tried to convince Cheong-geum to come with me to the Military Mobilization Department. She looked at me suspiciously and said, “Would they let us join that easily just because we showed up?”
I continued coaxing her to join me.
“Hey, you don’t know until you try it, so let’s go. They might let us join the army if we beg them.”
Cheong-geum paused, blinking her big eyes as she put the lathe on hold. She was in thought for a long time, then resumed working on the lathe with a half-hearted expression, saying, “Let’s go then.”
The next week, I was on night duty. “After work at night, let’s go home, get some sleep, and then head to the Military Mobilization Department (군사동원부) downtown,” I persistently persuaded Cheong-geum.
“I’m on night shift next week, too. Shall we go? I want to join the military, too.” Cheong-geum, still working on the lathe, finally responded and laughed.
Thus, we decided to go to the Military Mobilization Department after our night shift. A few days later, my working hours changed as scheduled, and early one morning, Cheong-geum and I headed to the city. We got off the city bus at the square and walked to the Military Mobilization Department. The department was a two-story building behind the Aprok River bank, located next to Hyesan Square.
The yard of the department was already full of school graduates. Cheong-geum and I navigated through the groups of students like a maze and entered the building. The hallway ran down the center, with doors facing each other on both sides, but it was very dark because daylight did not come in well, even in the morning.
Even in the dark corridor, people were standing here and there, but Cheong-geum and I held hands, sticking to the edge of the corridor as we walked further inside. As we approached a sign that read “Manager’s Office,” the door in front of us opened, and a person in a military uniform emerged, holding a pile of paper sheets.
Seeing us standing in front of the door, he asked, “What brings you here?”
I hesitated, blushing with shame, and said, “Hello. We are here to join the army.”
In response to my sudden offer, the officer smiled and asked, “Are you two in this year’s class?”
“No, we graduated last year and now we work in a factory. We really want to join the military,” I answered at once, feeling a little relieved by his friendly smile.
He chuckled. “Did you bring your documents? Since you graduated last year and are now working, you need a letter of recommendation from the Sarochong, a food suspension document, and a transfer document.”
The officer said this, glancing at me and Cheong-geum with a look that was both amused and slightly pitying. As he walked down the corridor, he saluted the people he encountered.
Seeing that Cheong-geum and I were following him, the officer looked at me and asked, “How tall are you? I don’t think you can enlist because you’re short.”
Then he went out to the yard and shouted at the group of enlistees, “Fall in!”
The students who had gathered in the yard formed rough lines as instructed. The officer called out names while flipping through the documents in his hand.
Another officer, standing off to the side, verified each enlisted person’s name and directed them to form a separate line. Cheong-geum and I exchanged bitter smiles, knowing that the documents the officer was holding were the ones we lacked. I felt ashamed for our reckless decision to come to the city’s Military Mobilization Department without proper preparation, hoping that our mere desire to join would be enough.
I was especially offended by the officer’s comment about my height. I thought, “There isn’t much difference between Cheong-geum and me. How can she be tall enough to join the army if she has the right documents, but not me?” I felt embarrassed and frustrated by his remark that I wouldn’t be admitted because I was short. Disheartened, Cheong-geum and I dragged our tired bodies home, having achieved nothing from our visit to the Military Mobilization Department.
I kept grumbling on the way home, “What’s wrong with my height? My sister told me I was tall enough to join the army…”
I knew I was short because they measured my height at school before giving us our uniforms, but I never imagined I was too short to enlist. I had always been told that sports kids like me would grow taller.
As soon as I got home, I pulled out a tape measure from my father’s toolbox and measured my height. It was only 145 centimeters. ‘Why am I still the same height as I was in school?!’ (I grew to 160 cm the following year.)
Realizing this, Cheong-geum and I completely gave up on the army option and decided to focus on our work instead, despite our earlier enthusiasm for joining the military.
Every year on May 8, our factory holds a sports day to commemorate the day Kim Il Sung visited our region. Although I had been upset about my height, the upcoming factory-wide sports event lifted my spirits. I eagerly awaited May 8 to participate in the games.
On the morning of May 8, I arrived at the factory early, helped my friends set up chairs, and distributed cheering tools to everyone. For events like this, the Sarochong is in full charge.
The chairman of the Sarochong Committee for our unit was Kyung-ok’s boyfriend, who was very enthusiastic and rallied us up. Later, Mr. Kwak, who was chosen to join the shock brigade, was sent to a construction site in Pyongyang and unfortunately died there.
Later on, Kyung-ok visited me at the private residence where military families lived and stayed overnight at my house.
During her visit, she shared that she hadn’t liked him at the time but had married him because of his persistence. She mourned his loss deeply saying that he died so soon, leaving behind only one daughter.
My coworkers cheered with enthusiasm, determined to win the game and secure the pork award, which was promised to the winning teams. Several matches had taken place, and then the loudspeaker announced that two athletes from each unit were needed for the 100-meter race.
The announcer, despite his hoarse voice, shouted, “Get two people from each unit quickly!” At his command, athletes who had been chosen rushed out from their units.
My unit pushed me forward, calling my name. The crowd applauded and said, “We’ve already won the 100-meter race thanks to her!” I ran to the starting line of the 100-meter race with a military veteran from my unit.
The last time I ran was on April 15 of the previous year at the city stadium, and it had been a year since then—this time on the factory grounds. I felt a bit nervous because this was my first race against adults.
We were told we would run in two groups, with the top runners from each group advancing to the final round. Each group had 12 runners. The veteran from my unit ran in the first group but didn’t make it to the second round, so he returned to his seat.
Now it was my turn. As soon as the whistle blew, I took off. The crowd’s cheers echoed throughout the factory complex. I finished first, which meant I had to run again. As I stood back at the starting line, the official with the whistle said, “Hey, your running speed was amazing.”
His compliment lifted my spirits. Hearing praise for my running made me feel like I was on top of the world.
On that day, I won first place in the 100-meter race. When I returned to my seat, I was greeted with generous applause and cheers. The factory workers enjoyed a fantastic day filled with activities like tug-of-war, basketball, volleyball, and more.
Our workplace secured second place overall and won pork as a prize. Each person received 700 grams of pork to take home, and everyone left with joy.
A few days after the event, I joined the workplace sports team as an athlete. Kim Jeong-nam, who had participated in track and field with me since school, later joined the company’s sports team as well.
When I joined the athletic team, the factory labor department moved me to the same unit as the other athletes. Although the workplace sports team was supposed to participate in games while working, we actually practiced year-round and competed in city-wide and province-wide games. As athletes, we were nominally affiliated with the steel-casting unit.
I wasn’t able to attend physical education college because my father opposed it, but less than a year after graduating from school, I finally felt the joy of being an athlete again on the factory’s sports team.