Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

Director Nian looked down at him with a half-smile: "Brother Lao, are you trying to give Kim Il-sung a sugar-coated pill?"

“If he were willing to hand over the Yongbyon line to us, and integrate North Korea’s nuclear technicians, equipment, and fuel processing into our system, that secret route for plutonium production would be cut off. I think this offer is worthwhile.”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Shortly afterward, the door opened, and the North Korean delegation filed in.

Leading the group was 75-year-old Kim Il-sung. This "Great Leader" was still in relatively good health, but time waits for no one—the famous calcification on the back of his neck had grown quite large, even requiring careful angles for photographs to avoid it.

He walked at the very front, and the air of someone who had held absolute power for decades was something no one could fake.

The people following behind him each had their own backgrounds. One was Hwang Jang-yop, the Party Central Committee Secretary and the main proponent of Juche ideology; another was O Jin-woo, the Minister of the People's Armed Forces, a marshal, standing ramrod straight in his military uniform; and the third was Kim Jong-il, the 45-year-old successor on whom Kim Il-sung had placed high hopes.

PS: Hwang Jang-yop, the proponent of Juche ideology, defected to South Korea in 1997, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean official to defect in history.

Pleasantries were inevitable. Slava adopted a very formal tone, first thanking Kim Il-sung for personally leading the delegation to Moscow to attend the 70th anniversary celebrations, and then recounting, in a few flattering words, the decades-long joint struggle between China and North Korea, and between the Soviet Union and North Korea. Kim Il-sung responded impeccably, his words conveying the brotherly affection of the socialist family and praising the Soviet Union as a pillar of support during this great capitalist crisis.

But both of them knew exactly what was going on beneath those polite words.

Slava knew that the old man before him was not happy. The Soviet Union's series of actions—implementing OGAS, computer programs, abundant consumer goods, and harmonious relations with Europe—were putting double pressure on Kim Il-sung.

On one hand, with the Sino-Soviet reconciliation, it would be difficult for Pyongyang to play a balancing act between the two major powers and enjoy the benefits from both sides; on the other hand, the Soviet Union proved with irrefutable facts that the Soviet model could successfully build socialism, and the method of success was still the self-reliance approach of its Juche ideology.

After a few rounds of tea, Slava subtly steered the conversation toward serious business.

“Comrade Kim Il-sung,” Slava leaned forward slightly, “I have always felt it was a pity that the nuclear power plant agreement our two countries signed in 1985 has been shelved for so long. We have seen North Korea’s energy shortage. This time, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union decided to restart that project, and we will help North Korea build four VVERs.”

Kim Il-sung nodded. Electricity was North Korea's biggest concern at the moment; with factories shutting down shift after shift, he knew better than anyone what that meant.

Slava struck while the iron was hot, offering everything from discounted oil prices to MiG-29s and cooperative development of the Tumen River basin.

Kim Jong-il's expression remained unchanged. He knew all too well that there was no such thing as a free lunch, and that the Soviets' repeated offerings of sweeteners were always followed by a hidden agenda!

really.

After laying out all the carrots, Slava changed the subject: "Comrade Kim Il-sung, we have been revolutionary comrades for decades, so I will be frank with some things. We have shown our utmost sincerity in this large-scale cooperation, but sincerity must be mutual."

He looked into Kim Il-sung's eyes.

“The Olympics will be held in Seoul, South Korea next year. I know this is a thorn in your side, and we understand that feeling.” Slava paused.

"But I have to be upfront with you—we have some concerns about certain 'activities' that might occur during that period."

Comrade Kim Il-sung, whether you're anti-American or anti-South Korean, that's your country's policy, and we won't interfere. However, international terrorist activities—the kind that would make the whole world point the finger at the socialist camp, forcing us, your backers, and everyone else to take the blame and clean up your messes on the international stage—

This line must never be crossed.

The reception room fell silent.

Kim Il-sung's warm smile froze for a moment, while his son Kim Jong-il, sitting next to him, had a face so dark it could drip water.

They realized that their country was not as impenetrable as they had imagined; there were traitors! Some were disloyal to the supreme leader! Someone had leaked secrets!

Once they returned, North Korea would surely be plunged into chaos and bloodshed, but that had nothing to do with the Soviet Union.

Slava, seemingly oblivious to the undercurrents in the room, said, “Comrade Kim Il-sung, not a single word in our entire plan asks North Korea to abandon its own path.”

The Juche ideology has been your party's banner for decades; that's your own business, and we have no right to interfere, nor do we intend to. We are talking about concrete technological cooperation, cooperation that will bring more food to the North Korean people's pots.

As for the IAEA safeguards agreement—it was already stipulated in the 1985 agreement; signing it will only benefit your country in proving the legitimacy of its nuclear program.

Slava has already given Kim Il-sung plenty of face; if Kim Il-sung doesn't say something, he'll be asking for trouble.

Tsar Ivanov always offered the best terms the first time.

Kim Il-sung picked up his teacup, took a sip, and finally spoke slowly: "I have felt Comrade Ivanov's sincerity. Socialist countries should help each other like this."

He paused, then added meaningfully, "As for those 'activities' you're worried about, comrade—North Korea has always been a peace-loving country."

That's exactly what Slava wanted to hear.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The day after meeting with the North Korean representative, Slava was to meet with another equally tough nut to crack—East Germany.

East Germany was the only country in the entire Warsaw Pact that had one foot firmly planted in the Western economic sphere.

Honecker and his economic strategist Mitag have been pursuing a model called "consumer socialism" since the 1970s—the core of which is: using Western loans to support the domestic supply of consumer goods, and then using the supply of consumer goods to exchange for political stability.

By 1987, East Germany's foreign debt to the West had exceeded 20 billion West German marks, and the annual interest payments alone would eat up a large portion of its foreign exchange earnings.

The fact that East Germany could still provide financial support to the Warsaw Pact under such circumstances demonstrates just how dire the internal situation of the Eastern European bloc, excluding East Germany, was at the time.

The relationship between East and West Germany was very ambiguous: transit fees, family visit fees, political prisoner ransoms... West Germany spent hundreds of millions of marks every year to "buy" political prisoners from East Germany, and more than 30,000 people were ransomed from 1963 to the present.

There was also the interest-free overdraft loan, and East Germany using its West German identity to sell goods into the European Community market duty-free.

PS: On the one hand, Germany had a strong industrial base; on the other hand, it had deep contact with Western Europe; and on the other hand, West Germany provided interest-free loans and even allowed overdrafts. All these factors contributed to East Germany's ability to receive financial support.

The more than 3 billion marks that East Germany received from West Germany each year were the mainstay of its foreign exchange earnings. Even if the Soviet economy recovered, the Soviet Union had neither the ability nor the motivation to provide this lifeline to East Germany on behalf of West Germany.

You can't milk a cow with two people at the same time. East Germany either had to continue relying on West Germany or be incorporated into the Soviet Union's computer planning system.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the afternoon, the East German delegation arrived.

Leading the group was 75-year-old Erich Honecker.

This General Secretary, who led East Germany for sixteen years, is now standing at the pinnacle of his political career. Just two months earlier, in September, he made an official visit to West Germany as the head of state of the German Democratic Republic. West German President Kohl received him in the capital Bonn with the honors due to a state guest, played the East German national anthem, and raised the East German flag.

This marks the first time since the division of Germany that the leaders of East Germany have set foot on West German soil as representatives of an equal sovereign state.

Honecker considers this trip to Bonn to be the most glorious medal of his life.

Slava recognized the men following behind him:

Economic Secretary Mitag—Honecker's most trusted economic strategist and the chief architect of the "consumer socialism" approach. Slava knew that among everyone in the room, he was the one who understood the true state of the East German economy best.

There was also Krenz, who was being groomed as a successor, and then there was Axon, the secretary in charge of international relations.

As usual, they exchanged pleasantries before departing. After a few words of mutual flattery, Slava changed the subject:

"However, Comrade Honecker, as an old friend, I also have a few heartfelt words I'd like to share with you."

The collapse in the US is now spreading to West Germany. I've been reading reports these past few days, and it seems West Germany's banking system has been severely damaged. Moreover, the Americans are constantly shifting blame onto West Germany, causing considerable unpleasantness between the two countries.

I'm really worried for you guys. What's the current situation with your East German loans in West Germany? What if—I mean, what if the West German banks can't hold on and start pressuring you to repay early and tighten credit? How do you plan to deal with that?

Honecker really wanted to say "Let's avoid this sensitive issue" for a moment, but he really couldn't avoid it.

He knew perfectly well that East Germany's meager foreign exchange reserves were simply insufficient to cover its maturing debts. Once West Germany's lifeline dried up, East Germany's finances would immediately face the precipice of default.

This is also one of the reasons why East Germany originally agreed to promote the reunification of Germany and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

Mittag, sitting to the side, nodded. As the only one in the room who had ever considered the matter thoroughly, he realized earlier and more clearly than Honecker that the old ways were coming to an end.

Honecker, a seasoned veteran who had held power for sixteen years, quickly regained his composure and delivered the standard rhetoric that East German leaders had used to deal with Moscow in recent years.

"I appreciate Comrade Ivanov's concern. However, East Germany had the best economy among the Warsaw Pact countries, with the highest per capita output and the strongest industrial base."

We've made steady progress over the years, just like our Comrade Mitag often says—if your neighbor re-wallpapers, does that mean you have to tear down your perfectly good wallpaper and re-wallpaper everything?

This statement was directed at Gorbachev's reforms in the Soviet Union, implying that East Germany didn't need to follow suit because the Soviet Union had done things its way, and that East Germany could do them better on its own.

Slava understood:

"Comrade Mitag's analogy is excellent. But the problem right now isn't whether or not to re-wallpaper; the problem right now is that the neighbor's house, which has new wallpaper, is on fire."

"You borrowed so much money from him. Once his fire goes out, how will you settle the debt you owe him?"

East Germany's stability was built on the support of West Germany; once West Germany, this great tree, fell, East Germany, this vine, withered as well.

Having cornered the other party, Slava calmly handed over the carrot that had been prepared beforehand.

“But Comrade Honecker, let’s be honest, we’ve been comrades for decades, brothers in the same trench. The Soviet Union won’t stand idly by if you’re in trouble.” Slava leaned forward slightly. “I’ve come here with sincerity.”

In fact, East Germany was the one that came from elsewhere.

Slava proposed a solution: the Soviet Union could step in and take over a portion of East Germany's Western foreign debt by exchanging rubles for marks, thus plugging the most critical hole of default.

Because Americans absolutely cannot swallow the bitter pill of the Great Depression. If the US can't touch the Soviet Union, can't it at least touch West Germany? When the US sacrifices its allies to save its own economy, the Deutsche Mark and the Yen will be affected.

The Soviet Union could expand its supply of oil and raw materials to East Germany at friendly prices. And most importantly, the Soviet Union's basic consumer goods have now recovered and can replace East Germany's imports from the West. East Germany no longer needs to rely on selling high-end products to the West in exchange for West German marks to buy necessities to stabilize its people's livelihood.

Prior to this, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) operated on a bilateral settlement system using "transferable rubles," not as a truly multilateral convertible currency. East Germany's trade surplus with the Soviet Union could not be used to purchase goods from West Germany; it could only continue to circulate within the COMECON.

Therefore, East Germany could only use the "transferable rubles" it received from selling machine tools to the Soviet Union to exchange for things that the Soviet Union was willing to export, and the hard currency-level export products that the Soviet Union had were energy and raw materials.

This was problematic because East Germany's debt repayment predicament stemmed from its reliance on hard currency; its foreign debt to the West required it to obtain hard currency through exports to the West. This led to East Germany's infamous three-tiered system:

Top-grade products were exported to the West in exchange for West German marks, second-grade products were exported within the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) in exchange for petroleum raw materials, and third-grade products were kept for the domestic market.

East Germany was caught in a three-way squeeze liquidation structure: the West demanded hard currency to pay off its debts, the Soviet Union tied it to oil subsidies with deferred pricing, and the supply of domestic consumer goods was pushed to the bottom.

Slava needed to untangle this knot. Simply changing the Soviet Union's own internal plans wouldn't work. On the one hand, he needed to improve the quality of his domestic products and make the volume and variety of Soviet consumer goods exports large enough to replace Western imports. On the other hand, he needed to change the COMECON's clearing and pricing structure itself—which, in turn, would trigger an impact on the Soviet Union's own energy export revenue.

So after talking with East Germany, we also need to discuss the reform of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) with the smaller members of the Eastern European Group.

“Of course, Comrade Honecker, such deep cooperation requires a mechanism that can seamlessly connect the economies of both sides,” Slava said casually.

"What I mean is, could East Germany's economy try to integrate into our Soviet computerized planning system? Not all of it, I think we can start with a few key areas—energy allocation, foreign trade settlement, and heavy industry targets."

These were well-chosen words, but every East German present understood their implications. It meant connecting the nerve center of the East German economy, line by line, to Moscow's servers.

The last vestiges of East German industry were thus laid bare before the Soviet Union's algorithms.

This was forcing East Germany to become more deeply bound to the Soviet Union.

The reception room fell silent for a moment.

"Comrade Honecker, I know that East Germany has had a tough time these past years. You have been on the front lines, backed by the Warsaw Pact and facing NATO, shielding the entire socialist camp from the Western winds for decades."

East Germany served as a bridge between Moscow and Western Europe; this contribution is remembered by the Party and by history.

Slava's voice softened: "But comrade, the world has changed. The relationship between the Soviet Union and Western Europe is no longer what it used to be. We can sit down and talk directly in Vienna, Rome, and Paris."

This isn't to say that the bridge in East Germany was unimportant; it's that the world itself had changed—East Berlin was no longer the only window through which the Soviet Union connected to the West.

East Germany did nothing wrong; it's just that the Soviet Union no longer needed East Germany to play that old role.

“So, Comrade Honecker,” Slava concluded, “East Germany’s special mission is complete. You no longer need to be the most tense frontline. From now on, you can be a normal, strong, and distinctively German socialist country.”

Comrade Honecker, we are not enemies!

Historically, East Germany was ostensibly one of the most loyal allies of the Warsaw Pact, but it grew increasingly distant after 1985, and by 1988 it was openly resisting reformists. This was a particularly perplexing paradox at the end of the Cold War—East Germany under Honecker transformed from a model student into the biggest thorn in the side of the Soviet reform movement.

When Gorbachev came to power in March 1985, Honecker initially expressed his support, as was customary. Official relations between the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union remained close, and the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was renewed in May 1985. However, internal signals were beginning to diverge—Honecker's generation's legitimacy was based on the anti-fascist narrative and "established socialism," while Gorbachev's reform rhetoric implicitly suggested:

There is a problem with existing socialism!

This poses a direct threat to Honecker's ideological foundation.

In April 1987, the Neues Deutsche Zeitung published that iconic quote, spoken by Kurt Hager, then East Germany's head of ideology, in an interview with the West German newspaper Bild (Sunday edition):

"If your neighbor changes their wallpaper, are you obligated to change yours too?"

This is tantamount to openly telling Moscow: You can change your ways, we won't follow. This is an extremely rare stance within the Warsaw Pact.

In 88, East Germany removed the Soviet German-language magazine Sputnik (which had previously been seen as a window to Soviet friendship) from its list of permitted publications, citing its inclusion of articles that distorted history.

This article discusses the re-evaluation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Stalin and Hitler and the Great Purge, while also banning several Soviet films.

The banning of Soviet publications by member states of the socialist bloc was unthinkable during the Brezhnev era and amounted to a declaration of ideological autonomy.

Ordinary East Germans, especially intellectuals and young people, reacted very strongly because they were reading Soviet reformist publications as a window to the world!

The legitimacy of East Germany's existence depended entirely on the rhetoric of "two Germanys, two social systems." Once the Soviet Union itself began to deny the legacy of Stalinism and talk about a common European homeland, the justification for East Germany's existence became meaningless.

Hungary can become democratic Hungary, but it will still be Hungary; it's just a matter of the red flag falling and the blue flag rising!

But if East Germany is no longer socialist, then why can't it be Germany?

This is a dead question.

No national leader wants to accept that their country loses its legitimacy and is annexed, even if such an annexation is referred to as a "merger" by outsiders.

At the time, the East German leadership genuinely believed that they were a developed country within the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), so why should they follow the example of the "backward" Soviet Union in reforming? Before the 1988 report revealed the dire financial situation of East Germany, Honecker himself probably didn't fully realize how close the country was to bankruptcy.

In the original timeline, Honecker, Mirk (Minister of State Security), and Mitag (Economic Secretary) were all veterans of the Communist Party of Germany in the 1930s, and their entire political personas were constructed from the anti-fascist struggle and Soviet exile/concentration camps.

For them to admit that Gorbachev's line was correct is tantamount to denying their own entire lives!

Fortunately, Slava was not Gorbachev. He did not choose to change the Soviet Union's color. He remained firmly on the side of the anti-fascist struggle. He was willing to uphold the foundation of East Germany's nation-building. He was genuinely willing to help East Germany solve its extremely high foreign debt problem and even offered East Germany a solution.

Honecker could continue serving as General Secretary until his natural retirement, and his trip to Bonn could continue to be touted by East German propaganda as an unprecedented diplomatic victory.

The elderly man received every ounce of dignity he needed, and Slava provided him with everything he needed.