Mr. Kim Jong-il
Chairman of the National Defense Commission
Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army
General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea
Pyongyang
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
August 10, 2009
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I am an American who lives in Brooklyn, New York. I am writing to you today because I am very glad there seem to be some opportunities for friendship between my country and yours. I have read recently in the newspaper that you released former Vice President Al Gore’s Chinese spy ladies, Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee, and I must say, I cannot think of a nicer thing you could have done in these tense times! If I had caught your Chinese spy ladies snooping around, I am not sure if I would have been so quick to let them go no matter how much former President Bill Clinton cried! I might have shot them! We have a saying here: You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
My wish, for one day that I am still alive, is to visit the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and see the Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang. Alas, such a travel expense is far beyond my reach and this makes me so sad! I have, however, seen film, and you, Mr. Chairman, really know how to put on a show! My hearty applause and cheers! I love (love!) a good spectacle, and I will say that no show in the world is anything other than distant second best to the Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang! Truly, honestly: Nice job! I mean it!
I believe in my heart that your great nation and our great nation want peace in the world. Fighting solves nothing, my father always said. There is not enough understanding between the USA and the DPRK … the more, the better! Together, I think your strong people and our strong people can become a “one people” … along with all of the other peoples of the planet we share. We have more in common than we have in difference!
For instance, perhaps you have a pet animal. I have a pet cat (feline) named Tokyo Roy. He is my stout and stalwart friend, a comfort to me (I am divorced), and I can hear him purring behind me as I write this letter. If you know the joy of a purring cat, or a sleeping puppy (baby dog) at your feet, then you know, indeed, what it is to be alive! We are all alive, Mr. Chairman, and I think we can be friendly with one another!
In this spirit of friendship, I am hoping you will mail me a statue of your head (”bust”). It does not need to be very large: I am thinking one or two feet high (30.5 centimeters to 61 centimeters). I am also writing friendship letters to my President (i.e. Barack Obama), and to other leaders of the world with whom my country sometimes has arguments. While I do not have a large apartment, I have a space in my living area where I will put a table for display, so that I may demonstrate to visitors that all of us are the same, and all of us want peace.
I am not a wealthy man, so I cannot offer you much in exchange for a statue of your head other than my good wishes. I do, however, enclose a picture of the aforementioned cat, Tokyo Roy, and I hope it will make you smile. All we have in our lives, in the end, are our smiles!
My sincere regards and warm good wishes,
Wenceslao Moreno
Enc.: Tokyo Roy the Cat!
