Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
In the last moment of the team, when North Korean team knew they would be out, only one player who truly saw what had gone and about to end.
Pak Kwang-ryong.
Pak Kwang-ryong is one of few North Koreans being ruled for exception. He was allowed to play abroad, and Pak was happy to be there. Unlike other North Koreans, he got understanding by global contact.
Pak saw what the national team did in the tournament, he had witnessed the national team's demise. North Korea used to be one of Asian hegemon, but with the political isolation of the country, and North Korea started to demise, to weaken itself. The national team had been no longer capable to challenge. Poor nutrition and economic collapse had made North Korean team dampened to dust.
The Chollima was no longer itself. When the team went to the tournament, they had to struggle greatly to qualify and the team was defeated twice, to the Saudis and the Qataris. Against Lebanon, North Korea had determined to win, but Pak found very hard to overcome, since Lebanon wanted to win desperately.
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When North Korea was about to set up, Pak Kwang-ryong walked to the field, and practiced the last lesson before the final showdown. Suddenly, he got some clamps.
"Bravo, bravo."
"Who are you anyway?" Pak asked.
"My name is Arsène." The man politely talked: "Just, today so boring, so I took my time there, seeing the lone player there. Just want to talk."
The night fell when the talk was ongoing. So Pak demanded the mysterious man named Arsène to be fast.
"C'mon. Why harsh? I bet you're North Korean."
"Very funny when you mention my nationality."
"Best for the best. As you're playing in Austria, be happy that Austrians are still opening hand for North Koreans. By the way, I have good medicine, you should have interest."
"So what do you want?"
"Be energetic, North Korean. You still have a career to end. You're not that stupid. Try to be … great. Take the book."
"Book. What book?"
"Cooking one. Learn to cook something before become stupid." Arsène requested, and then he ended shortly: "And figure who you're, Pak."
Surprisingly, he folded away like dust, and Pak Kwang-ryong tried to understand who was Arsène, but only a book was left.
However, the book later Pak claims, turned out to be different one. The mean of "cooking", in fact, was a book of outside world, painted in Korean, which encouraging Pak Kwang-ryong to be motivate and realizing the outside world, become a clear guidance for people to escape.
Because of strict nature, North Korea is always a mystery. And he knew that there were always secret regime's agents ready to murder them once they attempted to escape.
And, what Pak Kwang-ryong remembered, was big. And he never thought …
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