• That evening it appeared that there would be no contract, but we had
previously scheduled a final dinner at a very nice Chinese restaurant and
decided to go ahead with those plans. The company chairman was the host,
and the DPRK ambassador to the United Nations was in attendance as well.
The mood was subdued, with “Big Oh” and “Little Oh” seated as far from
each other as possible. Throughout the meal, they periodically glared at each
other. Once during a toast and remarks by “Big Oh,” “Little Oh” pretended
to doze off, even producing a few snoring sounds for the purpose of show-
ing further disrespect. At the end of the evening, the North Korean U.N. am-
bassador pulled both “Ohs” to the corner and spoke to them firmly and
authoritatively in Korean. As we prepared to break up, “Big Oh” suddenly
announced that his side wanted to meet again. At about : P.M. on the
final night, we returned to company headquarters to reopen the negotia-
tions.
Even with this added emphasis, “Little Oh” continued to do everything
possible to delay and disrupt the proceedings. Well after midnight, I finally
pulled him aside during a break to explain, in Korean, that if we could not
sign a contract in the next hour, it would be impossible for us to get their
group to the airport early enough to have time to shop at the duty-free store,
where we had intended on buying departure gifts of premium Scotch and
cigarettes. Whether it was this final enticement or the thought of spending
the next winter on a work farm somewhere in the North Korean boondocks
is unclear, but “Little Oh” soon dropped his objections, signed the contract,
and we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours of rest before leaving
for JFK.
In retrospect, the magnesite-contract adventure was what might be called
a character-building experience. The North Koreans were eventually only
able to fulfill part of their contractual responsibilities, but it was a useful
meeting in that we learned more about their motivations and what can re-
alistically be expected when doing business with the DPRK. In the period
since that event, I have had some other dealings with the North Koreans,
which went more smoothly, probably because of lowered expectations. I
have also formed some opinions about the best way of dealing with them in
the future.