12. Life as an athlete (2)
To mark the anniversary of the founding of the Republic on September 9, 1983, our province organized a large sports competition. Each county in Yanggang Province sent their players to the city. The athletes who won the games will go to Pyongyang as representatives of the Yanggang Workers’ Sports Team at the National Workers’ Sports Competition next year.
The event featured a variety of sports. In addition to basic sports such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, and track and field, the competition included overcoming obstacles, Ssireum (Korean wrestling), swinging (그네뛰기), and Neolttwigi (a Korean jumping game similar to see-sawing, 널뛰기)
Our instructor, Eo Jung-gil, gave us a pair of track and field shoes to help us win the provincial game but we only had less than a month to train.
It was a 30-minute walk from my house to the city stadium. Although there was a city bus, it was always crowded and waiting for it took a lot of time. So, we walked to the stadium every day.
The competition on September 9 was held over two days. Since it was a competition to select athletes for the central competition in Pyongyang, participants gave their all in each event. In the 200m and 100m races, Jeong-nam and I finished in first, respectively. In the 400m race, I came in third, behind Choi Chun-hwa from Pungsan County.
Since only the 1st and 2nd place winners were selected in each event, we didn’t qualify for the 400m and 800m events. For me, sprinting events were fine, but the 400m dash was too exhausting; by the time I reached the finish line, I felt like I was almost walking. Coach Eo Jung-gil told us we could relax now because we won the 100m and 200m events.
Choi Chun-hwa, who won the 400m and 800m races, was a 28-year-old who had retired from the prestigious 4.25 Sports Team in Pyongyang and returned to her hometown. Jeong-nam mentioned that if Choi had competed in the 100m and 200m races, we might not have placed at all.
They say you never know until you actually compete, but I was praying I wouldn’t have to face her in any sports events because I was afraid of her.
I wanted to go to Pyongyang, a city I had never visited. It was my wish to see the city where my father, mother, and three older sisters were born.
I wanted to go to my parents’ hometown confidently as an athlete, not just as a tourist. Finally, it was time to announce the athletes who would participate in the central competition in Pyongyang.
The chairperson of the Yanggang Province sports committee called out the names of the selected athletes and their instructors for each event.
Each group lined up with signs bearing their county name. We stood behind the sign for Hyesan City. I whispered to Jeongnam, “I’m so nervous I feel like fainting. Do you think they’ll call our names?”
They chose athletes based on whether they could compete in multiple events to save costs. Jeong-nam also played basketball, so she would definitely be chosen. However, I was worried I might not be selected because I only won the sprint events in track and field.
Eight soccer players were selected from my factory’s sports team, and the rest were from other factories. I could barely make out the names of the athletes being announced because I was so nervous, I felt like my heart was about to burst.
Only the runners who finished first and second in track and field were selected; those who finished third were eliminated. Fortunately, Jeong-nam and I were selected from Hyesan City, along with Choi Chun-hwa from Pungsan County and two others. Our factory instructor, Eo Jeong-gil, was nominated as the track and field coach.
Most of those chosen were from Hyesan City. This was because it was easier to manage room and board for city residents. Players from counties or villages would have difficulty finding accommodation, so city residents were given priority.
Players participating in the central game had to arrange their own accommodation and meals. Those living in Hyesan City didn’t worry because they could go to the training ground from their homes. However, players from counties or villages had to stay with relatives or friends.
In principle, the provincial sports committee should cater to all these needs, but the players were burdened with the responsibility. Yanggang Province is a poor area with a very limited budget to support its representatives. Located inland, it is the hardest place to live in North Korea. There are no fruit trees, the sea is far away, and it is the coldest region. Fish and fruit can only be supplied to the people by importing them from other provinces.
Yanggang Province only produces bog bilberry wine, bog bilberry jelly, potatoes, and some mountain greens. We mainly grow potatoes, and wheat and corn are rarely grown due to the cold climate.
The province could only afford to provide each athlete with a suit and sportswear for the game, as well as accommodation and lodging at an inn in Pyongyang and train tickets to and from Pyongyang.
Given the province’s financial situation, the suits were made from the same fabric used for student uniforms, and the sportswear was made from nylon fabric from the Hyesan Textile Factory. Despite this, everyone appreciated receiving the suit and sportswear.
When I was measured for my suit and sportswear, I discovered that I had grown 15 cm in height since graduating from school.
The provincial sports committee decided to send back athletes from counties and villages for now. They would stay within their own areas and return in July of the following year. With plenty of time before the central game, this decision was made to avoid the inconvenience of arranging accommodation and lodging for those living outside the city.
As a result, my athletic team resumed training at the school playground I used to attend. It was great to be able to go to practice at a location less than five minutes from my home, instead of walking a long distance to the stadium every day.
With plenty of time before the game in Pyongyang, we sometimes helped out at the factory when it was busy.
Both the soccer team and the track team from our factory were part of the casting unit. My job was to shake off the sand from the iron products.
While working there, I met my first love, a memory that would stay with me forever.
The New Year passed, and July 1984 arrived. In July, we received orders to gather for comprehensive training and prepare for the trip to Pyongyang.
We packed our meals again and traveled back and forth to the city stadium for training. Every day, we ran around the stadium and along the city roads.
Sarambak Stadium was always crowded with students from the Yanggang Sports Team, Physical Education College students, and athletes preparing for the Workers’ Festival in Pyongyang. During training, there were quiet scuffles among the groups to secure the best training spots.
Jeong-nam and I trained intensely in the running shoes provided by our instructor. The front soles of the shoes had several blades, which gave us a great sense of speed when pushing off the ground.
A few days before we were set to leave for Pyongyang, the sports committee distributed our suits and sportswear. Around the same time, my father went on a business trip to Pyongyang.
Before leaving, my father told me to visit my aunt’s house in Pyongyang if I had the chance. Although I had often traveled by train to pick up books from my uncle’s house, this was my first time going to Pyongyang. Most of the selected athletes, including me, were country pumpkins who had lived in the countryside their whole lives.
After finishing our preparations, we gathered at Hyesan Station on October 14 to catch the express train to Pyongyang. One by one, we arrived at the station, dressed in our neat suits and carrying travel bags. People looked at each other and joked about how we, who had only eaten potatoes in the mountains, were heading all the way to Pyongyang in such fancy attire.
I was sitting with Jeong-nam among our athletic team members, waiting for the train. My bag was packed with the provided sportswear, extra clothes for the trip, meals prepared by my mother, and bog bilberry jelly—a special product from Yanggang-do that my father couldn’t bring on his business trip.
My mom packed it for me with instructions not to forget it, to take good care of it, and to bring it to my aunt’s house. While listening to her request, I thought about visiting Kim Il Sung University as well. My first love, whom I had started dating, had entered Kim Il Sung University last month and was studying there.
Knowing that I would be participating in a sports competition in Pyongyang in October, he asked me to visit him while I was there and said he would be waiting for me.
Finally, the train departed, and we arrived at Pyongyang Station the next night after exactly 24 hours on the train. Our Yanggang province athletes stayed at the Moranbong Inn which overlooked the Arch of Triumph. Athletes from various provinces were also staying at the inn.
What was really embarrassing was our sportswear. While athletes from other provinces wore natural colors with thin side stripes, our sportswear from Yanggang Province was hot pink with four thick white stripes on the side, which looked very rustic in comparison.
The opening ceremony of the games was held at Kim Il Sung Stadium next to the Arch of Triumph. However, our suits attracted attention and made people from other provinces smile. The fabric of our suits was the same as that used for student uniforms, so they could easily be mistaken for school uniforms at first glance.
The athletes from Pyongyang, North and South Pyongan Provinces were dressed the most naturally. Even people from South and North Hwanghae Provinces, South and North Hamgyeong Provinces, and Jagang Province wore much better clothing than we did from Yanggang Province.
From the opening ceremony, our Yanggang players felt a sense of disappointment. The excitement of competing with top athletes from across the country in the capital city was dampened from the very first day.
Starting on the first day of the competition, Yanggang Province lost in every event. Track and field athletes, including Jeong-nam and myself, were especially disheartened when we saw Kim Il Sung Stadium. Although we had trained in track and field shoes, we weren’t allowed to wear them in the actual competition because the ground was covered with carpet.
In preparation for the national event, the Choson Sports Commission required the athletes to run barefoot on the carpeted stadium grounds. Was it only the Yanggang Province athletes who weren’t informed? This was a major issue for us, as we had trained in track and field shoes.
Additionally, it seemed that athletes from other provinces had a chance to practice on the course the day before. In contrast, we, from the farthest region, arrived the night before the competition and had to compete the next day. As a result, the outcome was almost predictable.
On the first day of track and field events, none of our athletes ranked in the top three. Choi Chun-hwa, who had been a national athlete with the 4.25 Sports Team, also failed to place and finished 4th in the 800-meter race.
I was eliminated as well, finishing 4th in the 100 meters and 6th in the 200 meters. All the track and field team members were eliminated on the first day, leaving us with no further competitions. From then on, I had to watch and cheer for other events. Jeong-nam was still competing in basketball, so she avoided the immediate embarrassment of joining the cheering squad.
Two days after the competition, I spoke with instructor Eo and then went to visit my aunt. Her home was located in Munsu 1-dong, Daedonggang District. The Korean Central Broadcasting Commission was in front, and the 11th Hospital of the Korean People’s Army was behind, with an apartment complex in between. Many people from the Broadcasting Commission and actors from the Joseon Arts and Filming Station lived there.
When I arrived at my aunt’s house and rang the doorbell, she answered, and the door opened. “It’s Misun! Come in quickly. It’s Misun!” she called out excitedly.
When I followed my aunt through the living room and into the room, I saw my uncle, my father, and another uncle sitting around a drinking table. “Oh, my Misun, our scatterbrain has grown so much! Welcome,” the other uncle exclaimed, motioning me to sit down.
My whole family and relatives call me scatterbrain, and I don’t mind, as I admit I am a scatterbrain.
“When did you arrive? When does the game start?” my father asked. He then explained to his brother and brother-in-law, “I was always against her playing sports and even opposed her early admission to a physical education college in middle school. Yet, she continues to run, even at the age of 20.”
Despite his earlier objections, he seemed secretly proud that I had come to Pyongyang as the top athlete from Yanggang Province.
“My competition ended the day before yesterday. The other events are still ongoing,” I replied, lowering my head.
When my father said he was against me playing sports, my two uncles reacted. They said to him, “Oh, just let her do the sports she enjoys. Why oppose it? You’re being unreasonable.”
My father’s brother-in-law, who was more outspoken, spoke with more enthusiasm and a louder voice.
My uncle, who is my father’s biological brother, treats my father with a certain amount of respect because he is the oldest brother. However, my uncle (my father’s brother-in-law) interacts with my father more casually.
My father’s brother-in-law’s father was a fighter for independence who spent ten years at Seodaemun Prison in Seoul before Korea was liberated from Japan. He also became the first dean of Pyongyang Medical College. He had three sons with his first wife in Hamheung and had three more sons with a woman he met during the independence movement in Seoul.
After Korea’s liberation, he moved back to Pyongyang with his whole family from Seoul. However, the woman from Seoul didn’t like life in Pyongyang and returned to Seoul, leaving her three sons behind.
As the youngest son of this woman, my father’s brother-in-law was raised by his father’s first wife, not by his biological mother. He often mentioned feeling very lonely in his youth and proudly talked about the help he received from Kim Jong Il, whom he had studied with during school.
I said goodnight to my uncles and my father, who stayed at the liquor table until late, and went to sleep in the room my aunt had prepared for me. Early the next morning, I returned to the Moranbong Inn.
In the national workers’ sports competition, which lasted for several days, Yanggang Province faced a crushing defeat, failing to win any events and ranking last nationwide. Despite the months of hard training, we participated in the closing festival ceremony empty-handed.
North Pyongan Province ranked first overall, Pyongyang City came in second, and South Hwanghae Province was third. Yanggang Province, being an underdeveloped area, had no choice but to accept the bitter reality of our defeat.
The chairman of the Yanggang Province Sports Committee, who was responsible for our participation, seemed resigned to our loss. He remarked that it was already a significant achievement for us to come all the way to Pyongyang and take part in the national competition.
After spending 10 days at the Moranbong Inn in Pyongyang, we left and returned home to Hyesan by express train. During my time in Pyongyang, I also visited Kim Il Sung University and met with Yong-cheol whom I was dating.